Dictatorship revisited: consensus, coercion, and strategies of survival

Abstract

The article examines certain of the more recent perspectives on twentieth- century dictatorship, looking in particular at the complex relationship between the dictator and the people. Extending its range beyond that of the ‘classic’ totalitarianisms, the paper argues for a more nuanced approach to the question of popular support for or resistance to regimes and suggests that many of the old binaries concerning popular attitudes need to be revised, with a consequent readjustment of the roles often attributed to violence, to ideology and other cultural factors, and to the varied seductive attractions of mass mobilisation. While pointing to the difficulties of reaching any very definite conclusions in an area characterised by ambivalence and ambiguity, the paper attempts to suggest certain variables related to popular behaviour that may have determined the degree to which regimes were able to impose domination.

Vidas cruzadas. Dispositivos y espacios de control en el “Nuevo Estado” franquista

“…Sin evaluar la capacidad de agencia individual y colectiva de los sujetos tendríamos una visión incompleta del despliegue y funcionamiento de los dispositivos de control social, así como de las políticas destinadas a reordenar el espacio cotidiano. Pero integrar la agencia en la ecuación es también la manera de explorar la capacidad que tienen las personas de utilizar tácticas y estrategias destinadas a apropiarse, negociar, resistir o resignificar los parámetros y reglas establecidos por el régimen 53 . Por ejemplo, la implantación de nuevos símbolos en el espacio público se encontró con actitudes indiferentes, poco colaborativas o directamente resistentes.…”