This blog is designed to present to the LRC reader an introduction to totalitarianism.
- Totalitarianism and Political Religions, Volume 1 (Totalitarianism Movements and Political Religions) — by Hans Maier (Editor)
We are used to distinguishing the despotic regimes of the 20th century – communism, fascism, National Socialism, Maoism – very precisely according to place and time, origins and influences. But what should we call that which they have in common? On this question, there has been and is still a passionate debate.
This book documents the first international conference on this theme, a conference that took place in September of 1994 at the University of Munich. The book shows how new models for understanding political history arose from the experience of modern despotic regimes. Here, the most important concepts – totalitarianism and political religions – are discussed and tested in terms of their usefulness.
- Totalitarianism and Political Religions, Volume II: Concepts for the Comparison of Dictatorships (Totalitarianism Movements and Political Religions) — by Hans Maier (Editor), Michael Schäfer (Editor).
Available for the first time in English language translation, this is the long-awaited second volume of the three part set on Totalitarianism and Political Religions, edited by the eminent Professor Hans Maier. This represents a major study, with contributions from leading scholars of political extremism, sociology and modern history, the book shows how new models for understanding political history arose from the experience of modern despotic regimes. We are used to distinguishing the despotic regimes of the twentieth century – Communism, Fascism, National Socialism, Maoism – very precisely according to place and time, origins and influences. But what should we call that which they have in common? On this question, there has been, and still is, a passionate debate. Indeed, the question seemed for a long time not even to be admissible. Clearly this state of affairs is unsatisfactory. The debate has been renewed in the past few years.
After the collapse of the communist systems in Central, East and Southern Europe, a (scarcely surveyable) mass of archival material has become available. Following the lead of Fascism and National Socialism, communist and socialist regimes throughout the world now belong to the historical past as well. This leads to the resumption of old questions: what place do modern despotisms assume in the history of the twentieth century? What is their relation to one another? Should they be captured using traditional concepts – autocracy, tyranny, despotism, dictatorship – or are new concepts required? Here, the most important concepts – totalitarianism and political religions – are discussed and tested in terms of their usefulness. This set of volumes is as topical and relevant to current world events in the twenty first century.
- Totalitarianism and Political Religions Volume III: Concepts for the Comparison of Dictatorships – Theory & History of Interpretations — by Hans Maier (Editor).
Available for the first time in English language translation, the third volume of Totalitarianism and Political Religions completes the set. It provides a comprehensive overview of key theories and theorists of totalitarianism and of political religions, from Hannah Arendt and Raymond Aron to Leo Strauss and Simone Weill. Edited by the eminent Professor Hans Maier, it represents a major study, examining how new models for understanding political history arose from the experience of modern despotic regimes. Where volumes one and two were concerned with questioning the common elements between twentieth century despotic regimes – Communism, Fascism, National Socialism, Maoism – this volume draws a general balance. It brings together the findings of research undertaken during the decade 1992-2002 with the cooperation of leading philosophers, historians and social scientists for the Institute of Philosophy at the University of Munich. Following the demise of Italian Fascism (1943-45), German National Socialism (1945) and Soviet Communism (1989-91), a comparative approach to the three regimes is possible.
- Modernity Without Restraint: The Political Religions, The New Science of Politics, and Science, Politics, and Gnosticism — Books by Eric Voegelin.
Eric Voegelin was one of our most distinguished political philosophers. This marvelous collection provides the best introduction to the study of gnostic political religions, especially as it applied to National Socialism and Communism.
- Utopian Nightmares and Gnostic Political Religions — Amazon.com Book List
