Fascism and Modernization: Some Addenda

Henry Ashby Turner's recent suggestions concerning the analysis of fascism in terms of its relationship to the processes we have come to understand as “modernization” are too important and interesting to pass without critical comment. So much of what Turner says is persuasive that we run the risk of uncritically accepting what might be the chaff of his discussion along with its welcome substance. There are at least two types of reservations with respect to Turner's account. One type turns on the general thesis he entertains; the second deals with the specifics of his argument.