The New Totalitarians

"The New Totalitarians" is a 1971 book by British author Roland Huntford. Huntford analyzes the political and social climate of early 1970s Sweden, and argues it resembles a benevolent totalitarian state in the mould of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World".

At the time, Sweden was a nation controlled by the Social Democratic Party of Sweden, which had ruled the country's government for over 40 years. Huntford argued that this had led to the complete dominance of socialist thought at all levels of the government, including the bureaucracy and the judiciary, which were all controlled by a powerful interconnecting network of Social Democratic labour unions, lobby groups, and partisan organizations. He likewise argued that these networks made it very difficult for non-socialists to get to any position of real power in Sweden, but noted that few Swedes seemed to view this massive politicization of their state with concern.

"The New Totalitarians" also analyzes Swedish society in a broader historical context, arguing that since the country bypassed the feudal system and has always been a very centralized state, Sweden never really developed a culture that champions individualism like other countries of Western Europe. He thus argues that the country's political culture and institutions are very much the product of a unique socio-political context, and thus not applicable to other states in the west.

Influences

The book greatly influenced Canadian author Peter Brimelow, and is repeatedly cited in his similarly-themed 1986 book on Canada, "The Patriot Game".