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Religion and Political Culture in the Thought of Mussolini

The very statement that religion occupies an important dimension in the thought of Mussolini constitutes a kind of paradox. It is indeed well established that Mussolini, as a leader of the Socialist Party until his eviction from the PSI in November 1914, was not only a socialist, but an atheist into the bargain. Consequently, everything seems to conspire to preclude a conception of politics in which we would find a religious point of reference. In fact, as Emilio Gentile has already shown, the young Mussolini nevertheless conceived his political activity as being very close to religious practice. It therefore needs to be defined in terms of a political doctrine which drew on the sacred and was expressed as an act of faith. This expression of faith is linked to the idiom of the secular religions born with the advent of mass society. Below, I look first at the conditions of this new definition of political culture. Then, I consider how this religious vein was reincorporated by Mussolini into fascist political doctrine.