Political Theory

Totalitarianism, Democracy, and Liberty

ABSTRACT

Using a mix of primary and secondary source material, this conference considered what the term “totalitarianism” actually described and whether it continued to represent a threat to liberal, constitutional, democracies.

READING LIST

Conference Readings

Oakeshott, Michael, eds. Social and Political Doctrines of Contemporary Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1939.

Arendt, Hannah. The Origins of Totalitarianism. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1951.

Barber, Benjamin, “Totalitarianism” In The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought, edited by David Miller, Janet Coleman, et al., 524-526. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, Ltd., 1991.

Friedrich, Carl J. and Zbigniew K. Brzezinski. Totalitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1956.

Griffin, Roger, ed.. Fascism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Havel, Vaclav, “Anti-Political Politics” In Civil Society and the State, edited by John Keane, 381-398. London: Verso, 1988.

Hayek, F. A. The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek, Volume II: The Road to Serfdom - Text and Documents - The Definitive Edition. Edited by Bruce Caldwell. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2007.

Milosz, Czeslaw. The Captive Mind. New York: Vintage, 1990.

Nisbet, Robert, “The New Despotism” In The Politicization of Society, edited by K.S.Templeton, Jr., 169-183, 196-207. Indianapolis: Liberty Press, 1977.

Nolte, Ernst. Three Faces of Fascism. New York: Mentor Books, 1969.

Orwell, George. 1984. New York: Penguin Group, 1961.

Parker, I. “Obeying Orders.” The Sunday Telegraph Magazine (October 2000): 19, 21, 23-25.

Rupnik, Jacques, “Totalitarianism Revisited” In Civil Society and the State, edited by John Keane, 263-290. London: Verso, 1988.

Siegel, Achim, ed.. The Totalitarian Paradigm after the End of Communism. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1998.

Talmon, J. L. The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy. London: Mercury Books, 1961.

Tocqueville, Alexis de. Democracy in America (De la Démocratie en Amérique). Edited by Eduardo Nolla. Translated by James T. Schleifer. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2009.

Voegelin, Eric. The New Science of Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.

Zizek, Slavoj. Did Somebody say Totalitarianism? London: Verso, 2001.