Rotensreich Nathan (ed.) Totalitarian democracy and after: International colloquium in memory of Jacob L. Talmon. Jerusalem, 21-24 June 1982

Jerusalem: The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities; The Magnes Press; The Hebrew University, 1984. — 432 p.The concept of totalitarian democracy gained widespread currency among students of modern history largely after the publication of Jacob L. Talmon’s first book and his analysis there. In this colloquium, dedicated to his memory, the organizers decided to investigate further the meaning of this formulation as well as to explore its repercussions on contemporary historical and literary trends and its relevance to the political traditions and dynamics of countries and continents today. Talmon’s passionate interest in the Jewish situation and its expressions in various ideologies, mainly their culmination in Zionism, have been given attention in a special section of the colloquium. Talmon served as Professor of Modern History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was a long-time member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, until his untimely death in June 1980. The present volume contains the major papers presented at the colloquium, as well as those of the commentators who were invited to participate in the discussions. We hope that this forum of distin- guished contributors will serve its purpose in commemorating Jacob Talmon’s opus and will elicit a response of continuous interest in the challenges of this subject.Yehoshua Arieli: Jacob Taimon — An Intellectual PortraitThe historiography and philosophy of history in relation to historical reality in terms of totalitarian democracyJohn Dunn: Totalitarian Democracy and the Legacy of Modern Revolutions — Explanation or Indictment?
James H. Billington: Rival Revolutionary Ideals
Karl Dietrich Bracher: Turn of the Century and Totalitarian IdeologyTotalitarian democracy — cultural traditions and modernizationS. N. Eisenstadt: Totalitarian Democracy — Cultural Traditions and Modernization. Introductory Remarks
Michael Heyd: Christian Antecedents to Totalitarian Democratic Ideologies in the Early Modern Period
Shlomo Avineri: Different Visions of Political Messianism in the Marxist European Tradition
Michael Confino: Russian and Western European Roots of Soviet Totalitarianism
Moshe Zimmermann: The Historical Setting of German totalitarianism
Hava Lazarus-Yafeh: Political Traditions and Responses in Islam
Uriel Tal: Totalitarian Democratic Hermeneutics and Policies in Modern Jewish Religious Nationalism
Ben-Ami Shillony: Traditional Constraints on Totalitarianism in JapanThe varieties and transformations of totalitarian democracy in different countries and under different regimesGeorge L. Mosse: Political Style and Political Theory — Totalitarian Democracy Revisited
Yaron Ezrahi: Political Style and Political Theory — Totalitarian Democracy Revisited. Comments on George L. Mosse’s PaperMichael Walzer: Totalitarianism and Tyranny
Yirmiahu Yovcl: 'Totalitarianism and Totality. A Response to Michael WalzerZeev Stcrnhell: Aux sources de Videologic fasciste: La revolte socialiste contre le materialismeBaruch Knei-Paz: Ideas, Political Intentions and Historical Consequences — The Case of the Russian RevolutionRichard Lowenthal: Totalitarianism and After in Communist Party Regimes
Harold Z. Schiffrin: Totalitarianism and After in Communist Party Regimes. Comments on Richard Lowenthal’s PaperThe impact of totalitarian democracy on the Jewish situationJonathan Frankel: Democracy and Its Negations — On Polarity in Jewish SocialismIsrael Kolatt: Zionism and Political Messianism
Anita Shapira: Zionism and Political Messianism. Comments on Israel Kolatt's PaperErik Cohen: The Israeli Kibbutz — The Dynamics of Pragmatic Utopianism
Menachem Rosner: The Israeli Kibbutz — The Dynamics of Pragmatic Utopianism. Comments on Erik Cohen’s PaperBen Plalpern: The Context of Hannah Arenat’s Concept of Totalitarianism
Ephraim E. Urbach: Between Rulers and Ruled — Some Aspects of the Jewish Tradition