Fascisms Past and Present

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Are we living under fascism? What is gained, what is risked by describing contemporary dynamics as fascist, rather than authoritarian, populist, or right-wing extremist? Do all fascisms follow in the footsteps of Nazi Germany’s imperialist and genocidal trajectory? What lessons, what warnings derive from historic comparison? What is familiar, what is novel in the present historical situation, which many scholars now describe as fascist? This course will take as its premise that fascism, a concept that is notoriously difficult to define, should not be reduced to the fascist states that existed in Germany and Italy in the early 20th century. To be sure, critical thinkers have warned against relativizing the horrors historic fascism wrought—especially the Holocaust—by applying the term to features within contemporary democratic countries. In the last quarter-century, however, political scientists, historians, philosophers, and cultural scholars have grappled with the proliferation of fascist movements and parties across late-capitalist societies as diverse and far-flung as Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries, the UK, Turkey, Argentina, Brazil, India, and the United States. Fascisms today are global (and well-connected); but they have not (yet, for the most part) captured states, leaving open the possibility of aborting or reversing fascization. Nevertheless, the mass support these movements and parties enjoy poses the socio-psychological question of why so many people embrace fascism and its destructive aspirations to destroy the state and expel (or even kill) cohabitants they deem undesirable. How do scholars explain the “fascist character” and its propensity for violence? While students will learn about Nazi Germany and its racial, gendered, eugenic, and economic policies, our focus will be on discerning hallmarks of new fascisms: their relationship to technology and media, to neoliberal capitalism, to dis/abled bodies, and to the natural environment. We will reserve special attention to the role of culture and cultural policy in binding people to fascist systems. Many people are disturbed and overwhelmed by the speed and scope of political change today. We witness the rapid dismantling of systems and norms that long provided a sense of national and international order, an order that has also been rightly criticized for benefiting the few and ruining the planet. What should we make of this dismantling then, and what would be alternatives? The course takes a step back to analyze the underlying structures and dynamics of fascization, and contemplate what antifascism means today. Readings and class discussions are in English, with some optional readings in German.