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Teoria „rewolucji antyliberalnej”. W kręgu interpretacji totalizmu w polskiej myśli politycznej (1918–1939)

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Kornat M.

Studia nad Faszyzmem i Zbrodniami Hitlerowskimi

2011

vol. 33

191-207

Interwar Polish debates on the nature of totalitarian regimes require attention and reconsideration from the long-time perspective. It permits us to discuss the early visions of the totalitarian era in statu nascendi. The authors of the first interpretations of “the totalitarian revolution” perfectly recognized the phenomenon of “anti-liberal revolution” in Europe. They tried to compare the essential similarities of Stalinist Bolshevism, Fascism and National Socialism in the framework of a vast and dynamic vision. “Anti-liberal revolution” preceded the triumph of totalitarianism. It signified the crises and decline of liberal values like the ideas of the rule of law or of individual rights. In the reality of the years 1930–1939 the shadows of the rationalist patterns of the Enlightenment were on the wane. Upon the remnants of rationalist civilization there appeared a new phenomenon — collectivist, irrational and ideocratic utopia based on force, regarded as a principal instrument of the social life. The theory of “anti-liberal revolution” appeared in Polish sovietology and was promoted by many scholars participating in the debate on “total states.” The most developed form of this conception could be found in the essays and studies written by Kazimierz Zakrzewski, historian and political writer. Among the promoters of the theory of “anti-liberal revolution” we can also include other historians, lawyers and sociologists, like Roman Rybarski, Antoni Wereszczyński, Sawa Frydman and Zygmunt Mysłakowski.

RITUALS, PROPAGANDA, AND SOCIAL REGULATION: TOTALISM AS A QUASI-RELIGIOUS SYSTEM

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Kiper J., Sosis R.

Slovenský národopis (Slovak Ethnology)

2022

vol. 70

issue 2

273 – 296

Recent scholarship on mass mobilization and totalism has approached propaganda as a solution to political cooperation, whereby inflammatory speeches, mis- or dis-information, and rumours function not to persuade audiences but rather to coordinate coalitions. Propaganda, it has been argued, aligns the attention of individuals already disposed to conflict. However, propaganda does not operate in a vacuum. Here we argue that movements and regimes that contend for total political power do so by employing a combination of propaganda and ritual. Rituals function to sanctify, connect individuals, and signal commitments. Further, rituals bind individuals into emerging social orders that enable the very communication of propaganda as a means of coordinating coalitions and instantiating methods for coercing behaviours. By examining historical case studies of totalism, we provide an exploration of ritual in totalist regimes and thereby argue that totalism is a quasi-religious system that employs elements of religion in an attempt to regulate social behaviour. In describing totalism as a quasi-religious system, we outline five phases in the life course of totalist movements: preformation, cadre formation, coalitional building, collective power, and breakdown. Totalism ultimately results in considerable negative effects on the population, such as loss of health, material resources, and social trust, and closes important channels for socioecological feedback, which are essential for the proper functioning of any system. Accordingly, unlike most religious systems, totalism over-sanctifies power, overregulates meanings, and fails to achieve cooperation and coordination beyond cadres or coalitions of enthusiasts. Consequently, totalist movements are relatively short-lived compared to successful religions.

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1 Slovenský národopis (Slovak Ethnology)

1 Studia nad Faszyzmem i Zbrodniami Hitlerowskimi

1 Kiper J.

1 Kornat M.

1 Sosis R.

1 2022

1 2011

Search results

Teoria „rewolucji antyliberalnej”. W kręgu interpretacji totalizmu w polskiej myśli politycznej (1918–1939)

RITUALS, PROPAGANDA, AND SOCIAL REGULATION: TOTALISM AS A QUASI-RELIGIOUS SYSTEM