Giuseppe Mazzini and the Origins of Fascism

In this controversial and groundbreaking study, Simon Levis Sullam proposes a compelling reinterpretation of the political thought of one Italy's founding fathers, Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-1872), and suggests a new approach to understanding the origins of fascist ideology. Specifically, he sheds much-needed light on the continuity between nineteenth-century Italian nationalism and fascism. By providing for the first time an in-depth analysis of the religious aspects of Mazzini's nationalism (which has generally been categorized by historians as liberal and democratic), Sullam identifies its authoritarian and potentially anti-democratic components and trace their influence on the rise of conservative and fascist politics in Italy. As he demonstrates, the absence of a civil religion from the process of Italian national identity formation, in concert with the Risorgimento's relatively weak democratic tradition, was a critical factor in the evolution of right-wing ideology in the nation.

Simon Levis Sullam is Assistant Professor of Modern History at Universita Ca' Foscari Venezia, Italy.