Totalitarianism in America? Robert Nisbet on the “Wilson war state” and beyond
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
The American Sociologist
Publication Date
3-2014
Volume
45
Issue
1
First Page
84
Last Page
102
Publisher
Springer New York LLC
Keywords
Hannah Arendt, Robert Nisbet, The social and the political, Totalitarianism, The United States, Woodrow Wilson
Abstract
This article examines Robert Nisbet’s claim that the first totalitarian experiment of the twentieth century occurred not in the Soviet Union or in Nazi Germany, but in the United States during the First World War. Totalitarianism appeared in the form of mass propaganda, surveillance and repression. It was accompanied by a messianic desire of Woodrow Wilson and his team to transform America into a “national community.” By 1920, American totalitarianism was effectively at an end but, claimed Nisbet, it left a legacy of centralization that, over successive Democratic and Republican administrations, has stripped the Republic’s citizens of social authority and independence; the political trumped the social. Nisbet’s depiction of American totalitarianism is contrasted with Hannah Arendt’s argument that totalitarianism, thus far in history, is restricted to Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union under Stalin.
DOI
10.1007/s12108-014-9202-4
Print ISSN
00031232
E-ISSN
19364784
Publisher Statement
Copyright © The American Sociologist
Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Baehr, P. (2014). Totalitarianism in America? Robert Nisbet on the “Wilson war state” and beyond. The American Sociologist, 45(1), 84-102. doi: 10.1007/s12108-014-9202-4