amongst radical black American movements as in Africa itself. Like many such
highly synthetic approaches Fanon’s theoretical perspective is as much rhetoric
and call for action as it is analysis. Indeed it is hard, at first glance, to see how
one can combine Jungian psychiatry with Marxism, and orthodox Marxists are
no more impressed with his work than are orthodox psychiatrists. Much of
Fanon’s appeal lies in his rejection of other, that is Western, analytic frame-
works. By insisting that theory can only be developed in the context of
struggle, advocates of his work are freed from the necessity to debate with
other intellectual structures. The other characteristic which puts Fanon
beyond the pale to many is his overt justification of violence in political
struggles. He did, however, have a considerable predictive streak, and much of
the less admirable side of post-colonialist African political experience is
depicted in his work. Fanon’s work remains influential, though largely at the
rhetorical or emotional level.
Fascism
The term fascism is derived from thefascesof ancient Rome, a bundle of rods
with a projecting axe symbolizing unity and authority, which was adopted by
BenitoMussolinifor his new Italian political movement in the 1920s. The
other important fascist parties created in the years between the First and
Second World Wars were those led by AdolfHitlerin Germany and General
FranciscoFrancoin Spain. Fascist governments were also installed in much of
central Europe before and during the Second World War. As the full name of
Hitler’s party (the National Socialist German Workers’ Party) suggests, some
appeal to working-class solidarity, of a largelypopulistnature, was common to
most fascist movements. (The creator of the British Union of Fascists, Oswald
Mosley, had been a junior minister in a Labour government.)
There is no coherent body of political doctrine that can be attributed to
fascism because all fascist movements were opportunistic, and depended on
demagogic exploitation of local fears and hatreds to whip up public support.
The most common themes werenationalism, often expressed in essentially
racist tones as a way of building national unity in the face of class divisions, anti-
communismand a hatred and contempt for democracy—even if its institu-
tions had been used to gain power. This latter view was usually linked to a well-
developed theme of the need for firm leadership, the appeal being to the strong
man (Ducein Italian,Fu ̈hrerin German andCaudilloin Spanish) who would
solve a country’s problems as long as he was given loyal and unquestioning
obedience. Post-war outbreaks of fascism have been few, and unsuccessful, and
the tendency to assume that any right-wing group, especially if it has
Fascism