J. Salwyn Schapiro
Jacob Salwyn Schapiro was a Professor Emeritus of History at the City College of New York.
Work
In his book, Liberalism and the Challenge of Fascism, Schapiro set out to discuss the changes in both England and France. Schapiro contrasted the smooth evolution of liberalism in England to the violent swings back and forth between reaction and liberal forces in France. This historical violent dialectic in France, in Schapiro's argument, was what created the basic ideas of Nazism.Schapiro's Definition of Fascism
One thinker whose views Schapiro felt were proto-fascist was French anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. This interpretation of Proudhon's philosophy was strongly challenged by Italian activist and author Nicola Chiaromonte, however.
Quotes
- "As nature abhors a vacuum, history abhors changes without origins, whether immediate or remote. Fascism did not spring fully grown from the chin of Mussolini".
Writings
- Modern and Contemporary European History, , publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co., The Riverside Press, Cambridge, MA, 1929.
- Liberalism and the Challenge of Fascism, Social Forces in England and France, , publisher: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., NY, 1949.
- "Condorcet and the Rise of Liberalism", publisher:Harcourt, Brace and Company, inc, 1934.
- "Anticlericalism: Conflict Between Church and State in France, Italy, and Spain", publisher: D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., Princeton, NJ, 1967.