Dept Sem:Fascism Extrmst Mvmt

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This departmental seminar focuses on the social and historical aspects of fascism and extremist movements from a variety of perspectives. The first half of the course will develop a conceptual and analytic understanding of fascism, primarily within the historical and empirical context of national-socialism in Germany. It considers some of the following questions: What is fascism? Under what conditions and how does it arise? What are its main tenets and principles? Who are its supporters and/or beneficiaries? How central are such concepts as modernization, totalitarianism, and anti-Semitism to our understanding of the fascist phenomenon? Was fascism unique to the 1920s and 1930s, or does it continue to adapt and exist under different conditions today? The second half of the course will explore other countries from various time periods, in order to compare and contrast different forms of fascism and quasi-fascist movements. For the pre-1945 period, one session will be devoted to Italian fascism, and another to a series of countries from both Western and Eastern Europe. For the post-war period, the course will cover contemporary right-wing extremism in Europe, white-power and black-power extremism in the United States, and religious extremism around the world. The purpose of these wider comparisons is to shed light on the question of fascism’s historical uniqueness, and to consider whether it could return once again in the future—a theme the course will consider in the final session. The class will be conducted as a seminar, with extensive student interaction and discussion. During some class sessions, we will also be viewing brief video documentaries on topics closely related to the readings, for the purpose of further stimulating the class discussion. This course has been renumbered, effective Fall 2014. A student who earned credit for GOVT 322 Dept Sem: Fascism & Extrmst Mvts in a prior term should not enroll and cannot earn credit in this class.