Why Fascism?

Hey all,

This week Alan is providing the topic for our next event on Fascism. Here's the write-up:

“It is only fascism if it comes from Italy, otherwise it’s just sparkling authoritarianism”

Even in his time, Orwell was already hesitant of the use of the word: “I have heard it applied to farmers, shopkeepers, Social Credit, corporal punishment, fox-hunting, bull-fighting, the 1922 Committee, the 1941 Committee, Kipling, Gandhi, Chiang Kai-Shek, homosexuality, Priestley's broadcasts, Youth Hostels, astrology, women, dogs and I do not know what else.”

But just as common as the accusation that ‘everything is fascist’ comes the denial that ‘nothing is fascist.’ Why does the term evoke such strong emotions that it must either irrevocably name the evil at hand, or conversely be a taboo that can never be uttered.

One thing is for certain: the word fascism points to something concrete. It is a losing proposition to ask ‘when is it fascism’ as if there is a line to be crossed (as if any definition worked this way!) but there is something worth revealing in asking “why fascism?” Why is something fascistic? Why does fascism arise? Why does it grow? Why does it infect?

In this talk we will discuss the classic attempts of giving a definition to Fascism (Umberto Eco and Roger Griffin) but we will also explore the understanding of fascism not as a stance, but as a process (Paxton, Payne, and Guattari)

What lies there behind an insult, behind that bogeyman of the 20th century that keeps coming back, whether real or imagined?