Against the Masses
Varieties of Anti-Democratic Thought Since the French Revolution
Author: Joseph V. Femia
In this book, the author provides an analysis of the anti-democratic tradition in Western thought. He highlights the fatalism and pessimism of anti-democratic thinkers and argues that they fail to understand the adaptability of democracy and its ability to co-exist with traditional and elitist values.
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Summary
In this book, the author provides an analysis of the anti-democratic tradition in Western thought. He highlights the fatalism and pessimism of anti-democratic thinkers and argues that they fail to understand the adaptability of democracy and its ability to co-exist with traditional and elitist values.
Description
Given the almost universal assumption that democracy is a 'good thing', the goal of mankind, it is easy to forget that 'rule by the people' has been vehemently opposed by some of the most distinguished thinkers in the Western tradition. The author attempts to combat collective amnesia by systematically exploring and evaluating anti-democratic thought since the French Revolution. Using categories first introduced by A. O. Hirschman in The Rhetoric of Reaction, Femiaexamines the various arguments under the headings of 'perversity', 'futility', and 'jeopardy'. This classification scheme enables him to highlight the fatalism and pessimism of anti-democraticthinkers, their conviction that democratic reform would be either pointless or destructive. Femia shows how they failed to understand the adaptability of democracy, its ability to co-exist with the traditional and elitist values. But, controversially, he also argues that some of their predictions and observations have been confirmed by history.
About the Author
Joseph B. Femia is Senior Lecturer in Politics at Liverpool University, and is the author of Gramsci's Political Thought.
Given the almost universal assumption that democracy is a 'good thing', the goal of mankind, it is easy to forget that 'rule by the people' has been vehemently opposed by some of the most distinguished thinkers in the Western tradition. The author attempts to combat collective amnesia by systematically exploring and evaluating anti-democratic thought since the French Revolution. Using categories first introduced by A. O. Hirschman in The Rhetoric of Reaction, Femia examines the various arguments under the headings of 'perversity', 'futility', and 'jeopardy'. This classification scheme enables him to highlight the fatalism and pessimism of anti-democratic thinkers, their conviction that democratic reform would be either pointless or destructive. Femia shows how they failed to understand the adaptability of democracy, its ability to co-exist with the traditional and elitist values. But, controversially, he also argues that some of their predictions and observations have been confirmed by history.
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