The Search for Neofascism: The Use and Abuse of Social Science

Description

A study of the informal logic that has governed the half-century of academic writing devoted to what has been generally identified as 'neofascism', together with a careful assessment of those political movements and regimes considered the proper objects of inquiry. The intent of the study is both pedagogical and cautionary. Its central thesis of the work is that terms like 'fascism', 'generic fascism', and 'neofascism' are often used with considerable indifference, applied uniquely to political movements and regimes considered on the 'right' rather than the 'left', intended more often to denigrate rather than inform. The result has been confusion. Within that context some of the most important political movements of our time are considered, including, among others, the Alleanza Nazionale of Italy and the Bharatiya Janata Party of India, both of which have discharged leadership roles in their respective governments: identifying either as 'neofascism' has clear implications for international relations.

A. James Gregor is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of 24 books, most recently including The Faces of Janus: Marxism and Fascism in the Twentieth Century, Phoenix: Fascism in Our Time, Interpretations of Fascism, and Marxism, China and Development. He is a previous Guggenheim Fellow. Gregor has published 100 professional articles and has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Strategic Studies, Strategic Review, and Society.

"A. James Gregor's forceful and highly informative book is mandatory reading for anybody interested in neofascism as a global phenomenon. Even those who do not agree with some of his conclusions will admire his scholartship, his analytical skills, and his rich insights. Gregor belongs to the endangered species of social scientists who have a deep knowledge of contemporary history; his work constitutes a most timely and valuable contribution to an often misunderstood subject." Zeev Sternhell, The Hebrew University in Jerusalem "This is a very instructive analytical tool in the study of neofascism, of what is not neofascism, and in the ways political terminology is abused. An important blow for scholarly precision and analytical clarity." Stanley Payne, University of Wisconsin at Madison "The Search for Neofascism, both methodologically accurate and conceptually rigorous, criticizes the extensive and ideological use that many scholars make of the word 'fascism.' By calling attention to the danger of 'neofascism' in contemporary China, this book offers an original, innovative, and sophisticated contribution to the study of fascism and contemporary political radicalism." Alessandro Campi, University of Perugia