Conservatism: Dream and Reality

In this slim volume - not much more than 100 pages long - Robert Nisbet provides perhaps the best discussion of what the conservative "ideology" is all about. (I have never really understood the Kirkian "conservatism isn't an ideology" argument.) As Nisbet says, he will deal with the "pre-political," which is the strata of conservative essentials, although he doesn't neglect the "political strata."Nisbet's approach to conservatism will be familiar to those who have read his other works. Chapter 1 concerns the birth of modern conservatism. It begins with Burke and his reaction to the French Revolution. (Burke, like Nisbet, saw Rousseau as the chief architect of the French Revolution.) It is further developed in its interaction with (and often reaction to) the Industrial Revolution. Chapter 2 (which takes up almost half of the book) is the most important chapter. It is entitled "the dogmatics of conservatism" and explains the various conservative essentials - property, religion, anti-egalitarianism, diffused authority. Chapter 3 - "consequences of conservatism" - treats some of the broader sociological and historical aspects of conservatism. Nisbet returns to some familiar territory, such as the birth of sociology in the 1800s by conservatives such as Le Play, historical writings on the Middle Ages, and the idea of progress. The final chapter - "prospects of conservatism" offers some shrewd comments on the state of contemporary conservatism (up to the date of the book's publication, 1986).As another review said, this books will be an eye-opener to many people. Those who see conservatism as an ill-defined mixture of free enterprise, conservative religion, and libertarian-style individualism will be surprised by some of what Nisbet says.This book covers a lot of territory in a few pages. Readers who want to examine some more recent works on conservatism (and which emphasize different strands of conservatism) should examine the works of Justin Raimundo (Reclaiming the American Right, in particular), Paul Gottfried (The Conservative Movement) and Samuel Francis (Beautiful Losers).