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A New Consensus? Recent Research on Fascism in Europe, 1918–1945*
Author(s) -
Bauerkämper Arnd
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
history compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.121
H-Index - 1
ISSN - 1478-0542
DOI - 10.1111/j.1478-0542.2006.00316.x
Subject(s) - reactionary , modernity , ambivalence , ambiguity , scholarship , ideology , ideal (ethics) , aesthetics , epistemology , sociology , phenomenon , political science , psychology , law , psychoanalysis , politics , philosophy , linguistics
The article surveys historical research on European fascism since the 1980s. On the basis of some general considerations on the fruitfulness of theories of fascism as well as on the exhaustive controversies about the ‘nature’ of the phenomenon, the contribution provides an overview and evaluation of recent scholarship on the ideology, dynamics and style of fascist movements and regimes. Moreover, fascism’s ambivalent relationship to modernity receives attention. Altogether, the author argues that concepts and ideal types of fascism are to be considered heuristic devices which should integrate the fascist actors, their world‐views, interpretations and appropriations of ‘reality’. Conceptualisations of fascism should also avoid the pitfall of plastering over the ambivalence of reactionary and radical aspirations on the part of the fascists and the ambiguity rooted in their efforts to achieve a national renewal by supporting universal fascism.