is also true that backing from large capitalist corporations was crucial for fascism’s
success.
Fascism rejects liberalism and the Enlightenment. Ideas of reason, equality and
emancipation are contemptuously dismissed in a specifically negative manner.
Although there are problems with the ideas of liberalism and the Enlightenment,
fascism unceremoniously throws the baby out with the bathwater. Fascists see the
state itself as central to human identity and vital to the idea of community. The
violence that the state both exercises and seeks to regulate is extolled by fascists,
and although the liberal state is significantly different from the fascist one, there
are similarities as well as differences in all forms of the state. Likewise, while all
left-wing authoritarianism is also statist in character, it is not correct to describe
Stalinism, say, as a form of fascism. There are similarities but these are outweighed
by their differences.
Fascist movements exist today but there are a number of problems in identifying
them. Fascism was discredited by the defeat of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy in
the Second World War, and of course by the atrocities committed by the Nazis in
the concentration camps. Post-war movements of the extreme right often deny that
they are fascist in character – they may even claim to espouse democracy, although
these claims should be approached with caution. The other problem with identifying
post-war fascism is that extreme nationalist movements (that are not German or
Italian) feel that to express allegiance to fascism would compromise their own claims
to ‘authenticity’ and national uniqueness.Questions
- Can fascism be defined, and if so, how?
- Is fascism a purely Italian phenomenon?
- Why does fascism reject liberalism and the Enlightenment?
- ‘Stalinism is a form of fascism’. Discuss.
- Comment on the argument that fascism is a movement of the inter-war period.
References
Beetham, D. (1977) ‘From Socialism to Fascism: The Relation between Theory and Practice
in the Work of Robert Michels’ Political Studies25(3–24), 161–81.
Bunting, B. (1969) The Rise of the South African ReichHarmondsworth: Penguin.
Dunn, J. (1979) Western Theory in the Face of the FutureCambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Griffin, R. (1995) FascismOxford: Oxford University Press.
Hemingway, E. (1985) A Farewell to ArmsLondon: Heinemann Educational.
Heywood, A. (1992) Political IdeologiesBasingstoke: Palgrave.
Kitchen, M. (1976) FascismBasingstoke: Macmillan.
Linz, J. (1979) ‘Some Notes towards a Comparative Study of Fascism in Sociological
Historical Perspective’ in W. Laqueur (ed.) Fascism: A Reader’s GuideHarmondsworth:
Penguin, 13–78.Chapter 13 Fascism 303