Confronting Nationalism and the Recurring Crisis of Liberal Democracies: Mosse’s Contribution to the Public Debate

Abstract

George L. Mosse was one of the greatest historian of fascism. However, his works clearly reveal that he was a true 20th century intellectual. This article aims at highlighting Mosse's thought on how to defend individual freedom and liberal democracies from the assaults of irrationalism, myths and intolerance in the second half of 20th century. In the midst of a western world dealing with the spreading of illiberal movements, Mosse's research offers tools for understanding the appeal of antidemocratic politics. Worried about the power of the States during the fifties, Mosse underlined the necessity of transforming the political action of democracies into a drama. The only way to prevent mass politics from being captured during the times of crisis by nationalism and by the demand for new forms of more direct democracy (including the desire for a leader) was both to adopt and to make tolerant the new politics diffused by nationalist mass movements. In Mosse's opinion, the antidote to the spread of exclusionary nationalism and the crisis of liberalism were the concept of Bildung and, following the first nationalists and Zionists, the humanisation of nationalism, by transforming the greatest ideological force of the 20th century, just as happened to socialist and Christian ideologies, into a liberal force.