- Robert Michels
Robert Michels (
9 January 1876 ,Cologne ,Germany —3 May 1936 ,Rome ,Italy ) was a Germansociologist who wrote on the political behavior of intellectual elites and contributed toelite theory . He is best known for his book "Political Parties", which contains a description of the "iron law of oligarchy ." He was a student ofMax Weber , friend and discipulus ofSombart andLoria . Politically, he moved from the Social Democrats, to Italian socialist party , Psi,adhering to the Italianrevolutionary syndicalism wing and later toItalian Fascism , which he saw as a more democratic form of socialism.Biography
Michels , from a wealthy German family, studied in
England , inParis (at the Sorbonne), and at universities inMunich ,Leipzig (1897), Halle (1898), andTurin . He became aSocialist while teaching at theUniversity of Marburg , and became active with the radical wing of theSocial Democratic Party of Germany ; he left the party in 1907.Brilliant pupil ofMax Weber , in that epoque he achieved high fame for a writing , historical and sociological well based, "Zur Soziologie des Parteiwesens in der modernen Demokratie. Untersuchungen über die oligarchischen Tendenzen des Gruppenlebens" (1911),( Sociology ofpolitical parties in modern democracy :a study on oligarchic tendencies in political aggregations) , in which he demonstrated that political parties can't be democratic, even the socialist ones, because they quickly transform themselves in bureaucratic oligarchies.In Italy he adhered to the Italian | sindacalismo rivoluzionario( not related to therevolutionary syndicalism , being the Italian movement still socialist ), a left branch of Psi.Michels was really critic onMarx 'smaterialistic determinism ;he based his socialism in a more empirical way, stated onSombart 's historical methods. He was really attracted by Italian culture, and the mix between this fact and his universal high reputation insocial sciences gave him , thanks toLuigi Einaudi and especially toAchille Loria , the professorship at theUniversity of Turin , where he taughteconomics ,political science andsocioeconomics , in despite of the lack of economical studies. In 1914, he became the professor of economics at theUniversity of Basel ; where he taught until 1926. After WWI he adhered toFascism , party leaded by the ex national leader in chief of Psi ,Mussolini , being convinced Michels that the direct link betweenMussolini 'scharisma and theproletariat was in some way the unique mode to realize a realproletarian government, without political bureaucratic intermediation.His last years were spent inItaly teaching economics and the history ofdoctrine s at theUniversity of Perugia .Writings of Michels
*"Syndicalisme & socialisme ..." (1908)
*"Proletariato e la borghesia nel movimento socialista italiano" (1908; 1975)
*"Zur Soziologie des Parteiwesens in der modernen Demokratie. Untersuchungen über die oligarchischen Tendenzen des Gruppenlebens" (1911, 1925; 1970). Translated, as "Sociologia del partito politico nella democrazia moderna : studi sulle tendenze oligarchiche degli aggregati politici", from the German original by Dr.Alfredo Polledro , revised and expanded (1912). Translated, from the Italian, by Eden andCedar Paul as "Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy" (Hearst's International Library Co. , 1915;Free Press , 1949;Dover Publications , 1959); republished with an introduction bySeymour Martin Lipset (Crowell-Collier , 1962;Transaction Publishers , 1999, ISBN 0-7658-0469-7)
*"Grenzen der Geschlechtsmoral". Italian translation, "Morale sessuale; versione dal tedesco del dott" revised and expanded byAlfredo Polledro (Fratelli Bocca , 19-?). Translated as "Sexual Ethics : A Study of Borderland Questions" (Walter Scott ,George Allen & Unwin ,Charles Scribner's Sons , 1914); republished with a new introduction byTerry R. Kandal (Transaction Publishers, 2001-2, ISBN 0-7658-0743-2)
*"Probleme der Sozialphilosophie" (1914)
*"Imperialismo italiano, studi politico-demografici" (1914)
*"Amour et chasteté; essais sociologiques" (1914)
*"Organizzazione del commercio estero" (1925)
*"Sozialismus und fascismus in Italien" (1925)
*"Storia critica del movimento socialista italiano : dagli inizi fino al 1911" (La Voce , 1926)
*"Corso di sociologia politica" (1927). Translated, and introduced byAlfred de Grazia , as "First lectures in political sociology" (University of Minnesota Press, 1949;Arno Press , 1974, ISBN 0-405-05515-3)
*"Sittlichkeit in ziffern? Kritik der moralstatistik" (1928)
*"Patriotismus, prolegomena zu seiner soziologischen analyse" (1929)
*"Einfluss der faschistischen Arbeitsverfassung auf die Weltwirtschaft" (1929)
*"Italien von heute ; politische und wirtschaftliche Kulturgeschichte von 1860 bis 1930" (1930)
*"Introduzione alla storia delle dottrine economiche e politiche" (1932)
*"Boicottaggio, saggio su un aspetto delle crisi" (1934)
*"Boycottage international" (1936)
*"Verelendungstheorie; Studien und Untersuchungen zur internationalen Dogmengeschichte der Volkswirtschaft", witha foreword byHeinz Maus (1970)
*"Elite e/o democrazia" (G. Volpe , 1972)
*"Antologia di scritti sociologici"; edited byGiordano Sivini (1980)
*"Works on paper, 1918-1930" (Barbara Mathes Gallery , 1984)
*"Critique du socialisme : contribution aux débats du début du XXè siècle"; articles selected and presented byPierre Cours-Salies andJean-Marie Vincent (Editions Kimé , 1992, ISBN 2-908212-43-9)References
*"Robert Michels And the "Iron Law of Oligarchy"," chapter 12 of "Revolution and Counterrevolution: Change and Persistence in Social Structures" by
Seymour Lipset Martin
*"Entwicklung zum faschistischen Führerstaat in der politischen philosophie von Robert Michels" byFrank Pfetsch (1965)
*"Robert Michels; vom sozialistisch-syndikalistischen zum faschistischen Credo" byWilfried Röhrich (Duncker & Humblot , 1971, ISBN 3-428-02610-1).
*"Organizzazione, partito, classe, politica e legge ferrea dell'oligarchia in Roberto Michels" byGiorgio Sola (1972)
*"Sociology and estrangement: three sociologists of Imperial Germany" byArthur Mitzman (Knopf, 1973, ISBN 0-394-44604-6). Republished with a new introduction by the author (Transaction Books , 1987, ISBN 0-88738-605-9).
*"The anti-democratic sources of elite theory :Pareto ,Mosca , Michels byRobert A. Nye (SAGE, 1977, ISBN 0-8039-9872-4).
*"Dilemmi della democrazia moderna : Max Weber e Robert Michels" byFrancesco Tuccari (Laterza , 1993, ISBN 88-420-4243-9)
*"Intelectuales, masas y élites : una introducción a Mosca, Pareto y Michels" byMaría de los Angeles Yannuzzi (UNR Editora , 1993, ISBN 950-673-041-5).
*"Robert Michels : die Herausbildung der modernen politischen Soziologie im Kontext von Herausforderung und Defizit der Arbeiterbewegung" byJoachim Hetscher (1993)
*"Robert Michels und das eherne Gesetz der Oligarchie" by Gustav Wagner in "Wer wählt, hat seine Stimme abegeben" Graswurzel Revolution pp. 28External links
* [http://www.bookrags.com/biography-robert-michels/ Biography of Robert Michels] at
BookRags.com
* [http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/michels/ Robert Michels index] , a site featuring aPDF of "Political Parties ".
* [http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/~lridener/courses/MICHELSR.HTML Robert Michels - Oligarchy] taken fromOscar Grusky and George A. Miller, "The Sociology of Organizations: Basic Studies" (Free Press , 1970, pp. 25-43). Reprints from "Political Parties".
* [http://www.questia.com/library/sociology-and-anthropology/sociologists-and-anthropologists/robert-michels.jsp Books and Articles on: Robert Michels] atQuestia .
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