Towards a Greater Britain : a political biography of Oswald Mosley, 1918-1947
This thesis examines the major stages in the political career of Oswald Mosley and argues that a continuity existed in his diagnosis of contemporary history from the moment he entered political life at the end of the First World War as a zealous parliamentarian till his last days as an unrepentant fascist. An ideal type of the 'esoteric' core of Mosley's ideology is used to identify a consistent thread which resolves the contradictions in Mosley's political agitations into paradoxes. Drawing on a theory of ideology which distinguishes between its fundamental and operative dimensions, Mosley's core (fundamental) ideology is depicted ideal typically as the ambition to realize Bntain's potential for national greatness conceived in a future oriented, modernizing rather than a nostalgic or conservative perspective. The structure of the biography follows the chronological narrative of Mosley's life, episodically, illuminating it through pivotal moments in his career. Through a textual and contextual analysis of these moments it identifies the performance of the operative dimension of Mosley's fundamental ideology in order to bring out its internal consistency. Each chapter highlights a theme which may have manifested
Cook, C.
Fascism; Nationalism; Futurism
Towards a Greater Britain : a political biography of Oswald Mosley, 1918-1947. This thesis examines the major stages in the political career of Oswald Mosley and argues that a continuity existed in his diagnosis of contemporary history from the moment he entered political life at the end of the First World War as a zealous parliamentarian till his last days as an unrepentant fascist. An ideal type of the 'esoteric' core of Mosley's ideology is used to identify a consistent thread which resolves the contradictions in Mosley's political agitations into paradoxes. Drawing on a theory of ideology which distinguishes between its fundamental and operative dimensions, Mosley's core (fundamental) ideology is depicted ideal typically as the ambition to realize Bntain's potential for national greatness conceived in a future oriented, modernizing rather than a nostalgic or conservative perspective. The structure of the biography follows the chronological narrative of Mosley's life, episodically, illuminating it through pivotal moments in his career. Through a textual and contextual analysis of these moments it identifies the performance of the operative dimension of Mosley's fundamental ideology in order to bring out its internal consistency. Each chapter highlights a theme which may have manifested
towards greater britain political biography examines major stage political_career argue continuity exist diagnosis contemporary history moment enter political_life end_first_world_war zealous parliamentarian till fascist ideal_type esoteric core ideology use_identify consistent thread resolve contradiction political agitation paradox drawing theory ideology distinguishes fundamental operative dimension core fundamental ideology depict ideal typically ambition realize potential national conceive future orient modernize rather conservative perspective structure biography follow chronological narrative life illuminate pivotal moment career textual contextual_analysis moment identifies performance operative dimension fundamental ideology order_bring internal consistency highlight theme may manifest