Cloister or cluster? The implications of Emilio Gentile’s ecumenical theory of political religion for the study of extremism
An important feature of Emilio Gentile’s theory of political religion is the way he conceives it explicitly as one factor within a constellation of related political, social, and cultural phenomena centring on ‘totalitarianism’. He thus presents it as forming an integral part of a conceptual cluster...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
2005
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| In: |
Totalitarian movements and political religions
Year: 2005, Volume: 6, Issue: 1, Pages: 33-52 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | An important feature of Emilio Gentile’s theory of political religion is the way he conceives it explicitly as one factor within a constellation of related political, social, and cultural phenomena centring on ‘totalitarianism’. He thus presents it as forming an integral part of a conceptual cluster generating a multi‐point perspective on political religion instead of the single‐point perspective still prevalent in the treatment of generic concepts within historiography and political science. The occasional use of ‘clustering’ in these disciplines is contrasted with the considerable significance it has already acquired in some branches of the natural and human sciences. Gentile’s original cluster is then expanded to encompass a wider sphere of related phenomena and the enhanced heuristic value it thereby gains is illustrated by reference to fascist studies. These considerations suggest that the conscious adoption of ‘clustering’ in approaching key generic terms would be a sound methodological procedure to offset pernicious forms of reductionist and dualistic thinking. It would also foster a healthy spirit of collaboration and synergy among specialists fully consistent with the humanism that ideally should inform the human sciences. |
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| ISSN: | 1743-9647 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Totalitarian movements and political religions
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/14690760500099804 |