Myths and the political use of religion in Christian Democratic culture

Bibliographic Data

ID12547864
AuthorsPaolo Acanfora (0000-0002-8043-2633, University of Naples - L'Orientale, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume12
Issue3
Pages307-338
Publication date2007-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Modern Italian Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1354-571X • E-ISSN: 1469-9583
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13545710701455692
OpenAlexW2087425130
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited4

In this essay, the author will attempt to analyze the overall relationship established between the party of Christian Democracy (so named for its affiliation with a traditional religion) and the phenomena of the sacralization of politics that have so profoundly shaped the character of mass parties in the twentieth century. The quest for consensus led the Catholic party to adopt a new language, based on mythical thinking and profoundly indebted – in content and mode of communication – to the experiences of totalitarianism. The active rivalry with political religions marked, both in the phase of development and in the process of communication, the forms of mass political expression of Christian Democracy. De Gasperi's proposal concerning the definition of new identities and political affiliations, both on the national level and on the broader Western level (both in European and Atlantic terms) was the product of a unique ideological development in keeping with the requirements of modern mass politics

Democracy · Ideology · Mythology · Political culture · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Rivalry · Sociology · Classics · Eastern European Communism and Reforms · History · Law · Religion and Society Interactions · Religious, Philosophical, and Educational Studies

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