Abstract
Sociopolitical engineering (or social engineering, which is the more frequently used term) is highly contentious as a label, as a concept and as a historical practice. It encapsulates a vast set of issues, ranging from modernization to revolution, dictatorship and social utopias. It also includes a wide range of actions, ranging from welfare policies to ethnic cleansing. For this reason the debate on social engineering has often tended to focus on the theoretical aspect, rather than on the actual historical results. It has also focused primarily on the experience of social engineering in two dictatorships (Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union). This chapter would like to provide a broader comparative overview, and also to address the topic as a general element of contemporary modernity.
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Franzinetti, G. (2016). Sociopolitical Engineering. In: Corner, P., Lim, JH. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Mass Dictatorship. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-43763-1_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-43763-1_3
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