Fascism. What is it?

[CynicalIdealist]

I always hear that fascism is extreme authoritarianism combined with support of the bourgeoisie, but is that really it? How is fascism different from a really authoritarian capitalist system? Furthermore, what are examples of fascist states in history aside from the main Axis Powers?

[NecroCommie]

What is it, and how do we fight it?

sry, you were just begging for it.

[Ned Kelly]

It involves 'class collaboration', which is in reality is simply removing the ability of the workers to fight rapidly worsening conditions, and extreme nationalism, complete sub-ordinance to the leader, state and in some cases, race.

[Victus Mortuum]

Like everything else, depends who you ask.

Generally speaking, though, it's basically Authoritarianism, Corporatism, and Nationalism all wrapped into one package for you :(

[GreenCommunism]

it's about clamping down on both bourgeois and proletariat right in order to make them collaborate as opposed to clash, fascism in reality is a reaction to communism as opposed to anything else. monarchy was discredited as a system.

[Rjevan]

I always hear that fascism is extreme authoritarianism combined with support of the bourgeoisie, but is that really it? How is fascism different from a really authoritarian capitalist system?
As was already said, fascism includes a Führer cult (one man, the saviour, who embodies the will of the nation, etc.), corporatist economy, fierce opposition to democracy, liberalism and any form of socialism (all seen as signs of degeneration), upholding a strict hierarchy as well as promoting nationalism, sexism, militarism, religion, etc. It denies class struggle, seeks "class collaboration for the sake of the nation" and thus often presents itself as a "third way between capitalism and communism" (Third Positionism), while in fact being supported by the bourgeoisie, especially in times of crises when the "communist threat" becomes more acute. Fascists also often (though not always) focus on a philosophical concept of "will".

Here are some links, the first is on historical Italian fascism as described by Mussolini himself together with Giovanni Gentile, the "philosopher of fascism".
- "The Doctrine of Fascism (http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/Reading/Germany/mussolini.htm)"
- MIA definition of fascism (http://marxists.org/glossary/terms/f/a.htm)
- "Understanding Fascism (http://www.rationalrevolution.net/articles/understanding_fascism.htm)"


Furthermore, what are examples of fascist states in history aside from the main Axis Powers?
Other examples than Nazi Germany and fascist Italy are Franciso Franco's Spain and Chile under Augusto Pinochet.

[dearest chuck]

it's what you call it when one european country tries to colonize another european country. so it's much worse than ordinary european-on-non-european colonialism.

[Nolan]

Other examples than Nazi Germany and fascist Italy are Franciso Franco's Spain and Chile under Augusto Pinochet.

I'd have to disagree with this. Franco's Spain was strongly influenced by fascism and had some of the characteristics, but it in the end became more of a standard capitalist catholic theocracy. If anything it would be "parafascist."

Chile was not a fascist state. It was simply a military dictatorship. The economy was a free market, like the U.S. Not the corporatist model that's central in the fascist view of how the economy should be organized.

[Nolan]

it's what you call it when one european country tries to colonize another european country. so it's much worse than ordinary european-on-non-european colonialism.

Swing and a miss.

[Obs]

it's what you call it when one european country tries to colonize another european country. so it's much worse than ordinary european-on-non-european colonialism.
You... what?

[Tablo]

Yeah corporatist economy, extreme nationalism, lots of authority, and strict social hierarchy. Everyone else pretty much got it.

Unfortunately many on the left use the term fascism as a curse word to insult anything they don't like or see as authoritarian, which is terribly inaccurate. They also use the term liberal that way. Especially on this website.

[dearest chuck]

zuh?

[Obs]

zuh?
Okay, let's take this bit by bit:


it's what you call it when one european country tries to colonize another european country.
This is so wrong I'm already demoralised. Anyway, no, this is wrong, in every way. Fascism is a way to manage a country, it is not a foreign policy. In addition, your definition would mean that a country outside of Europe is incapable of being fascist.


so it's much worse than ordinary european-on-non-european colonialism.
Why would it be? How is it worse to colonise a European country than to colonise an African one? This reeks of... well, I don't know what, exactly, but it ain't pretty.

[Apoi_Viitor]

What is it, and how do we fight it?

sry, you were just begging for it.

http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/works/1944/1944-fas.htm

[Victus Mortuum]

Why would it be? How is it worse to colonise a European country than to colonise an African one? This reeks of... well, I don't know what, exactly, but it ain't pretty.

I believe what he was saying was sarcasm, not that I agree with him...

[WeAreReborn]

Funny thing is that one of the reasoning for Fascism by Fascists is that it helps end Capitalistic exploitation. Instead the government has full rights on that!

[Armchair War Criminal]

This is so wrong I'm already demoralised. Anyway, no, this is wrong, in every way. Fascism is a way to manage a country, it is not a foreign policy. In addition, your definition would mean that a country outside of Europe is incapable of being fascist.
It's a silly definition of fascism, but it's impossible to understand the Nazi project outside of the attempt to colonize Eastern Europe or the Japanese militarist project outside of the attempt to colonize East Asia. WWII represented the attempt of those core or near-core capitalist countries without imperial holdings to acquire them, fascism represented the political economy necessary to do so in the aftermath of the Great Depression, and the Allies represented those who stood to lose from this acquisition - both the standing colonialists and the would-be colonial subjects. Fascist ideology, political form, and economics are all geared towards conquest. Tooze's "Wages of Destruction" provides a very detailed account, if you want one.

[Ke Pauk]

Fascism is a corporate based capitalist ideology that moves capitalism from being based in the hands of a select few bourgeois pseudo-democratic society to a select few in a society that is built upon corporate structures, military rule, and blatant anti-worker actions. Fascism also masks itself in a populist approach in which it attempts to gain followers.

[Decolonize The Left]

I always hear that fascism is extreme authoritarianism combined with support of the bourgeoisie, but is that really it? How is fascism different from a really authoritarian capitalist system? Furthermore, what are examples of fascist states in history aside from the main Axis Powers?

In short, fascism is based around several key tenets which relate to the organization of society and control thereof. They are, briefly, as follows:
- Authoritarian rule of government. Fascism is based on a top-down hierarchy whereby the government is controlled by a small group of individuals, usually centered around one key leader. This small group then employs a series of bureaucratic structures to regulate and control the society.
- Militarization of society. Fascism often seeks to militarize the society which it controls. Members of said society are required to enlist in the armed forces, and the army pervades most sectors of the society. The reason for this will be explained in the next point.
- Alienation of one group against the rest. Under all fascist regimes one target group is singled out as the 'cause' of the all the problems of the society pre-fascism. The fascist government then makes it the imperative of the government to root out this group and destroy them. It could be a group of people (the Jews under Nazi Germany) or a foreign nation and their 'spies.' Regardless, the disenfranchising and alienation of one group of people is imperative for the fascist government to succeed as it allows them reason to militarize the society as well as reason to imprison and destroy anyone they wish.
- Cult of personality. Coupled with the above point, the cult of personality is a vital facet of the fascist regime. One individual is elevated to a godlike image via spectacle and indoctrination. This further secures the fascist government legitimate purpose in the minds of the populace. Under the fascist regime, the individual means nothing - the state means everything. And the state is epitomized via the leader.
- Merger of state and economy. Perhaps the most important point from a materialist perspective, the fascist government takes full control of the economy thereby regulating all production and distribution.

That's a super-quick rundown but it should cover the main points. I hope it helps.

- August

[CynicalIdealist]

In short, fascism is based around several key tenets which relate to the organization of society and control thereof. They are, briefly, as follows:
- Authoritarian rule of government. Fascism is based on a top-down hierarchy whereby the government is controlled by a small group of individuals, usually centered around one key leader. This small group then employs a series of bureaucratic structures to regulate and control the society.
- Militarization of society. Fascism often seeks to militarize the society which it controls. Members of said society are required to enlist in the armed forces, and the army pervades most sectors of the society. The reason for this will be explained in the next point.
- Alienation of one group against the rest. Under all fascist regimes one target group is singled out as the 'cause' of the all the problems of the society pre-fascism. The fascist government then makes it the imperative of the government to root out this group and destroy them. It could be a group of people (the Jews under Nazi Germany) or a foreign nation and their 'spies.' Regardless, the disenfranchising and alienation of one group of people is imperative for the fascist government to succeed as it allows them reason to militarize the society as well as reason to imprison and destroy anyone they wish.
- Cult of personality. Coupled with the above point, the cult of personality is a vital facet of the fascist regime. One individual is elevated to a godlike image via spectacle and indoctrination. This further secures the fascist government legitimate purpose in the minds of the populace. Under the fascist regime, the individual means nothing - the state means everything. And the state is epitomized via the leader.
- Merger of state and economy. Perhaps the most important point from a materialist perspective, the fascist government takes full control of the economy thereby regulating all production and distribution.

That's a super-quick rundown but it should cover the main points. I hope it helps.

- August

So how is this different from North Korea, for example? I guess I also get confused over the difference between state-owned enterprises in the cases of state-socialist states and fascist ones.

[Revolutionair]

In North Korea the ruling elite is the party bureaucracy. The industry gets allocated by the party to produce more industrial capacity.

In fascism, the ruling elite are the industrialist capitalists. The industry is still 'privately owned', but it's protected because the title of the industry is state property. A worker is obviously not allowed to rant against the state. So in fascism, capital gets a different title.

It's important to look at the history of the two systems. State-socialism is the result of a successful revolution run by an hierarchal Communist party. Fascism is the result of failed socialist revolution. It is when the bourgeoisie wins during a revolution.

[Thirsty Crow]

It's important to look at the history of the two systems. State-socialism is the result of a successful revolution run by an hierarchal Communist party. Fascism is the result of failed socialist revolution. It is when the bourgeoisie wins during a revolution.
What?
So, there was a proletarian revolution which was destroxed by the counter-revolution...in Italy?
My oh my.

[iskrabronstein]

No, there was the Red Biennium of 1919-20, which involved large scale occupations of factories and militant opposition to the state by the working class - demonstrating both the political power of the proletariat as a class, but also its organizational disorder and inability to channel and utilize its power. Fascism coalesced out of a variety of political and social tendencies that arose in opposition to the revolutionary proletariat, and was indeed directly catalyzed by the fear of socialist revolution.

To call it a revolution proper is an exaggeration, but Italian fascism was directly forged out of militant political and social opposition against the prospect of socialist revolution, not its actual imminence. The blackshirt bands certainly crushed workers organizations by force and state decree, imprisoning, exiling, or executing the major figures of Italian Communism throughout their deformation of the parliamentary state.

Fascism is targeted, exaggerated reaction against the social and political power of the proletariat. The actual state organization it develops is ad hoc, depending greatly on the particular national conditions encountered - but as a rule fascism prefers cooption and coercion of existing social and political systems rather than direct organizational control.

In my opinion, fascism is simply a tendency of reaction, the product of a weak state unable to accommodate or facilitate economic transition in a time of crisis; but fascism wields weapons of its own, and must be studied and fought accordingly.

[RedMaterialist]

facism is the belief that it is not a crime to murder a socialist.