The Moses of Italian Unity: Mazzini and Nationalism as Political Religion
The Moses of Italian Unity: Mazzini and Nationalism as Political Religion
This chapter examines the nature of Mazzini's nationalism by analysing it as a ‘political religion’: a system of myths, symbols, and rituals the subordinates the collectivity to the supreme entity of the nation. It studies Mazzinian nationalism both on the level of content – looking at how Mazzini defines the genesis of the nation – and on the level of form, looking at the ‘style’ of Mazzini's political thought. The chapter shows that this style is symbolic and ritual, based on single words that operate as symbols and are ritually repeated for the captivation of the followers. Finally, it explores the boundaries of Mazzini's liberalism, showing the limits of his republicanism and his paternalistic conception of democracy as ‘education’.
Keywords: nationalism, political religion, nation, political thought, liberalism, republicanism, democracy, education
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