This book uses the case studies of Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, and Hugo Chávez in order to introduce the concept of revolutionary totalitarian personality, and to show that this type of personality is decisive in choosing a totalitarian regime-building project and in shaping the ensuing totalitarian process.
This book uses the case studies of Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, and Hugo Chávez in order to introduce the concept of revolutionary totalitarian personality, and to show that this type of personality is decisive in choosing a totalitarian regime-building project and in shaping the ensuing totalitarian process.
List of Tables and Figures
Acknowledgements
Notes
1. The Personality of Political Leaders
2. The Tortuous Path to Glory
3. Revolutionary Leaders
4. Charismatic Leaders
5. Totalitarian Leaders
6. International Leaders
7. The Narcissist and His Other Disorders
8. The Revolutionary Totalitarian Personality
9. Testing the Model: the Revolutionary Totalitarian Characteristics of Hugo Chávez
Conclusion
Index
“Tudoroiu (Univ. of West Indies at St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago) offers a conceptual framework in political psychology that explains the rise of totalitarian political regimes around the globe. He introduces the concept of revolutionary totalitarian personality as part of authoritarian personality literature. … Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.” (S. Mitropolitski, Choice, Vol. 54 (2), October, 2016)
Dr Theodor Tudoroiu earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from the Université de Montréal, Canada. He is currently Lecturer at the Department of Political Science of the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine.
Tudoroiu uses the case studies of Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong, and Fidel Castro to introduce the concept of the revolutionary totalitarian personality as an independent type. Using a combination of ‘intentionalist’ and ‘functionalist’ factors, the author explains the decisive role played by a leader’s personality type in choosing a totalitarian trajectory and in shaping the totalitarian process. The book contrasts this under-studied category with the impact of structural constraints on the development of totalitarian regimes, which are indirect, limited, and distorted. In the second half of the book the author focusses on Venezuela’s late President, Hugo Chávez, and considers present political and ideological developments in Latin America, and especially the Middle East, as likely sources of future totalitarian experiments decisively influenced by the revolutionary totalitarian personality of their leaders. A vital contribution to the existing literature, the book goes beyond the descriptive level to conceptualize this crucial aspect of totalitarianism.
“If you wonder what Hitler, Mao, Castro, and Chávez share in common, read this book. Tudoroiu shows them to have similar type family upbringings which contribute to similar totalitarian styles of leadership. The book forces you to think differently about revolutions.” – Susan Eckstein, Boston University, USA, and author of Back from the Future: Cuba under Castro
“In this timely exploration of a complex and nuanced political phenomenon, Theodor Tudoroiu not only dispels the myth that totalitarianism died after the implosion of the Soviet Union but through his exploration of the concept of revolutionary totalitarian personality, challenges dominant perceptions about what constitutes a totalitarian regime. In turn Tudoroiu’s engaging exploration of totalitarian regimes offers pointers for the possibilities of new, religious forms of totalitarianism and how they might emerge from otherwise ‘traditional’ democracies. This book serves as a major theoretical contribution to the study of totalitarian ideology and authority and will be of enduring value to everyone interested in the persistence of totalitarian regimes.” – Dr Matt Killingsworth, Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, University of Tasmania, Australia
“Dr Theodor Tudoroiu makes a serious attempt to shed light on the nature, texture and consequences of a unique type of leadership: totalitarian dictator. After careful thought and exhaustive research the author settles on the three such leaders representing three distinct cultural, geographic and historical settings: Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong and Fidel Castro. This well written, exhaustively researched, and pioneering work is destined to become a point of reference on an important but neglected topic.” – Constantine P. Danopoulos, President’s Scholar and Professor of Political Science, San Jose State University, USA
“This multi-layered analysis of totalitarian dictators weaves together an interdisciplinary argument (spanning totalitarianism to political psychology) and comparatively applies it to Hitler, Mao, Castro and (intuitively) Chavez. Understanding leaders able to create highly personalized, charismatic relationships with responsive publics promotes a more mature understanding of non-democratic leadership, a must for contemporary politics.” – Carol Strong, Associate Professor, University of Arkansas at Monticello, USA
