02249cam a2200313 i 4500 on1119747312 OCoLC ta 210118s2020 enk b 001 0 eng 2019038605 9781509532391 (hbk.) 1509532390 (hbk.) 9781509532407 (pbk.) 1509532404 (pbk.) (OCoLC)1119747312 JC480 .R64 2020 Roberts, David D., 1943- Totalitarianism / David D. Roberts. Cambridge, U.K. : Polity Press, 2020. 170 p. Key concepts in political theory Includes bibliographical references (p.[150]-162) and index. Why Should We Care about Totalitarianism? -- The Career of a Concept -- Totalitarian Trajectories During the Era of the Two World Wars -- Movements and Regimes Since World War II -- The Future of Totalitarianism. "Less than a century old, the concept of totalitarianism is one of the most controversial in political theory, with some proposing to abandon it altogether. In this accessible, wide-ranging introduction, David Roberts addresses the grounds for skepticism and shows that appropriately recast--as an aspiration and direction, rather than a system of domination--totalitarianism is essential for understanding the modern political universe. Surveying the career of the concept from the 1920s to today, Roberts shows how it might better be applied to the three "classic" regimes of Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and the Stalinist Soviet Union. Extending totalitarianism's reach into the twenty-first century, he then examines how Communist China, Vladimir Putin's Russia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS), and the threat of the technological "surveillance state" can be conceptualized in the totalitarian tradition. Roberts shows that although the term has come to have overwhelmingly negative connotations, some have enthusiastically pursued a totalitarian direction--and not simply for power, control, or domination." -- Totalitarianism. Totalitarianism History. Key concepts in political theory. lcc BK 0 0 0 0 PNLIB PNLIB GEN 2021-06-17 JC480 .R64 2020 PNLIB21060015 2021-06-17 2021-06-17 BK 201 201