Sorelianism
Sorelianism is advocacy for or support of the ideology and thinking of French revolutionary syndicalist Georges Sorel. Sorelians oppose bourgeois democracy, the developments of the 18th century, the secular spirit, and the French Revolution, while supporting tradition.[1] A revisionist interpretation of Marxism,[1] Sorel believed that the victory of the proletariat in class conflict could be achieved only through the power of myth and a general strike.[2] To Sorel, the aftermath of class conflict would involve rejuvenation of both the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.[3]
With the seeming failure of syndicalism, in 1910 he announced his abandonment of socialist literature and claimed in 1914, using an aphorism of Benedetto Croce that "socialism is dead" due to the "decomposition of Marxism".[1] Sorel became a supporter of integral nationalism beginning in 1909, which he considered as having similar moral aims to syndicalism despite being enemies materially.[1] In this sense, Sorelianism is considered to be a precursor to fascism.[4] However, he became disillusioned with these ideas with World War I, and from 1918 until his death in 1922 he would be a supporter of the then Russian Revolution and communism, which he considered a revival of syndicalism.
Benito Mussolini, early on, held various positions towards Sorelianism at times. Mussolini stated that he became a syndicalist during the 1904 Italian general strike; his close contact with syndicalists dates to 1902.[5] Mussolini reviewed Sorel's Reflections on Violence in 1909 and supported Sorel's view of consciousness as being a part of protracted struggle, where people display uplifting and self-sacrificing virtues akin to the heroes of antiquity.[6] Mussolini also supported the Sorelian view of the necessity of violence in revolution.[6] He followed Sorel in denouncing humanitarianism.[6] By 1909, Mussolini became a propagandist for the use of "regenerative violence".[6] When Sorelians initially began to come close to identifying themselves with nationalism and monarchism in 1911, Mussolini believed that such association would destroy their credibility.[7] [8]. [9]. [10]. [11]. [12]. [13]. [14]. [15]. [16]. [17]. [18]. [19]. [20]. [21]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Sternhell et al., p. 78.
- ↑ Sternhell et al., p. 76.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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- ↑ Sternhell et al., p. 90.
- ↑ Sternhell et al., p. 33.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Gregor, p. 96.
- ↑ Gregor, p. 123.
- ↑ Peter Bien. Kazantzakis: politics of the spirit, Volume 2. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2007.
- ↑ RHans Dam Christensen, Øystein Hjort, Niels Marup Jensen. Rethinking art between the wars: new perspectives in art history. Aarhus, Denmark: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2001.
- ↑ Jean L. Cohen, Andrew Arato. Civil society and political theory. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1994.
- ↑ Stephen Gill. Power and resistance in the new world order. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
- ↑ Anthony James Gregor, University of California, Berkeley. Young Mussolini and the intellectual origins of fascism. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press, 1979.
- ↑ John Hellman. The communitarian third way: Alexandre Marc's ordre nouveau, 1930–2000. McGill-Queen's University Press, 2002.
- ↑ RDouglas R. Holmes. Integral Europe: fast-capitalism, multiculturalism, neofascism. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2000.
- ↑ Manus I. Midlarsky. Origins of Political Extremism: Mass Violence in the Twentieth Century and Beyond. Cambridge University Press, 2011.
- ↑ ROfelia Schutte. Cultural identity and social liberation in Latin American thought. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1993.
- ↑ John Stanley. Mainlining Marx. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 2002.
- ↑ Stanley, John (1981). The Sociology of Virtue: The Political & Social Theories of Georges Sorel p. 20 University of California Press.
- ↑ Zeev Sternhell. Neither right nor left: fascist ideology in France. 2nd edition. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1986.
- ↑ Zeev Sternhell, Mario Sznajder, Maia Ashéri. The Birth of Fascist Ideology: From Cultural Rebellion to Political Revolution. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1994
- ↑ Robert Stuart. Marxism and National Identity: Socialism, Nationalism, and National Socialism during the French fin de siècle. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 2006.