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monteharris1010 's review for:
The Anatomy of Fascism
by Robert O. Paxton
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I liked Paxton's inductive approach. Rather than begin with a definition and show how data fit it, he presented data in a "stages" framework (early seeds, taking root, getting power, exercising power), and ended with a flexible definition. While he gave leaders due attention, he focused more on process and how leaders garnered ascent and accommodated groups. Less emphasis on ideology (not really there after its origin) and more on actions and networks of social relations. Even so, I don't feel Paxton descends into a closed structuralism (if x and y, then inevitably z), but shows choices all along the way. I also liked how he differentiated fascism from authoritarianism, and showed shortcomings in discursive use of "totalitarianism."