Definitions of fascism
Encyclopedia
What constitutes a definition of fascism
and fascist government
s is a highly disputed subject that has proved complicated and contentious. Historians, political scientists, and other scholars have engaged in long and furious debates concerning the exact nature of fascism and its core tenets.
Most scholars agree that a "fascist regime" is foremost an authoritarian
form of government
, although not all authoritarian regimes are fascist
. Authoritarianism is thus a defining characteristic, but most scholars will say that more distinguishing traits are needed to make an authoritarian regime fascist.
Similarly, fascism as an ideology
is also hard to define. Originally, "fascism" referred to a political movement that was linked with Sindicalist-Corporativism that existed in a single country (Italy
) for less than 30 years and ruled the country from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini
. Clearly, if the definition is restricted to the original Italian Fascism
, then "fascism" has little significance outside of Italian politics. Most scholars prefer to use the word "fascism" in a more general sense, to refer to an ideology (or group of ideologies) that was influential in many countries at many different times. For this purpose, they have sought to identify a "fascist minimum" - that is, the minimum conditions that a certain political group must meet in order to be considered fascist. Several scholars have inspected the apocalyptic, millennial and millenarian aspects of fascism. According to most scholars of fascism, there are both left and right influences on fascism as a social movement, and fascism, especially once in power, has historically attacked
communism, conservatism and parliamentary liberalism, attracting support primarily from the "far right" or "extreme right."
. It is also possible to read the full text of The Doctrine of Fascism online, here.
wrote a polemical work, As we go marching, aimed against socialist and social democratic tendencies that he saw beginning to subvert capitalism
. He characterises fascism based on an analysis of Mussolini's Italy
:
, by Hegelian
dialectic, defined Fascism as a reaction
against other political movements, especially Marxism
:
Fascism: Comparison and Definition (1980) uses a lengthy itemized list of characteristics to identify fascism, including:
As the common aim of all fascist movements he sees elimination of the autonomy, or in some cases the existence of, large-scale capitalism
.
the emphasis is placed upon the aspect of populist fascist rhetoric that argues for a "re-birth" of a conflated nation
and ethnic people. According to Griffin:
Also according to Griffin, a broad area of scholarly consensus developed in the social sciences within the English-speaking world during the 1990s, centered around the following definition of fascism:
Finally, Griffin claims that the above definition can be condensed into one sentence:
The word "palingenetic" refers to notions of rebirth (in this case, national rebirth), and carries a similar meaning as the words "apocalyptic" and "millennarian", but without religious connotations.
sees fascism as the "sacralization of politics" through totalitarian methods.
, a professor emeritus at Columbia University
, defines fascism in his book The Anatomy of Fascism as:
attempts to list general properties of fascist ideology. He claims that it is not possible to organise these into a coherent system, but that "it is enough that one of them be present to allow fascism to coagulate around it". He uses the term "Ur-fascism" as a generic description of different historical forms of fascism.
The features of fascism he lists are as follows:
Greek historian and Emeritus professor at the University of Ottawa
proposed a scientific model of fascism
and defined 13 categories by which fascist ideologies, movements and establishments can be analyzed and contrasted with others:
As an example, Kitsikis applies the model to the Peruvian communist party, Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path
), which claims to follow Maoist ideology. The results of the analysis show that the party's ideology satisfies all the criteria of 9 categories (to which a score of 9 points is given), some of the criteria of 3 categories (1.5 points) and none of the criteria of one category (0 points). A total score of 10.5 out of a possible 13 shows that Shining Path
actually follows a Third-World fascist ideology. An objective analysis is thus obtained, not being tainted by any ideological presupposition.
With this model Kitsikis was also able to show that philosopher and father of the French Revolution
, Jean-Jacques Rousseau
, laid the foundations of French Fascism.
, gives a definition of fascism in his book Fascism: A Very Short Introduction. The definition he gives is directly descended from the view put forth by Ernesto Laclau.
The definition he gives is as follows:
, a professor of history at Wayne State University
, sought to give a definition of fascism in his book, The Fascist Tradition: Radical Right-Wing Extremism in Modern Europe. He arrived at a list of ideas that he believed to be shared by the majority of the people commonly referred to as fascists:
organizations, it became important for Marxists
to have an exact definition of "fascism" in order to determine precisely whom they were fighting. Thus, the Communist Third International
published the following definition:
The majority of Marxists, even those who were not members of the Communist International, agreed with this definition. Marxists argue that fascism represents the last attempt of a ruling class
(specifically, the capitalist bourgeoisie
) to preserve its grip on power in the face of an imminent proletarian revolution
. Fascist movements are not necessarily created by the ruling class, but they can only gain political power with the help of that class and with funding from big business. And, once in power, fascists serve the interests of their benefactors (not necessarily the interests of capitalism in general, but the interests of those specific capitalists who put them in power).
Many Marxists are strongly opposed to labelling of governments that were elected from traditional conservative parties without 'street movements' backing them up as fascists. The vast majority therefore reject the characterisation of the US government as fascist.
Amadeo Bordiga
adopted a somewhat different stand on fascism. He regarded fascism as just another form of bourgeois rule, on the same level as bourgeois democracy or traditional monarchies. He did not believe that fascism was particularly reactionary or otherwise exceptional.
The Encyclopedia of Marxism defines fascism as "right-wing, fiercely nationalist, subjectivist in philosophy, and totalitarian in practice", and identifies it as "an extreme reactionary form of capitalist government." However, it also goes beyond this traditional definition and lists nine fundamental characteristics of fascism:
, British writer and author of Nineteen Eighty-Four
and Animal Farm
, who famously remarked:
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
and fascist government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
s is a highly disputed subject that has proved complicated and contentious. Historians, political scientists, and other scholars have engaged in long and furious debates concerning the exact nature of fascism and its core tenets.
Most scholars agree that a "fascist regime" is foremost an authoritarian
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a form of social organization characterized by submission to authority. It is usually opposed to individualism and democracy...
form of government
Form of government
A form of government, or form of state governance, refers to the set of political institutions by which a government of a state is organized. Synonyms include "regime type" and "system of government".-Empirical and conceptual problems:...
, although not all authoritarian regimes are fascist
Fascist (epithet)
The word fascist is sometimes used to denigrate people, institutions, or groups that would not describe themselves as ideologically fascist, and that may not fall within the formal definition of the word. The Fascist party that developed in Italy in the 1920s rigidly enforced conservative values...
. Authoritarianism is thus a defining characteristic, but most scholars will say that more distinguishing traits are needed to make an authoritarian regime fascist.
Similarly, fascism as an ideology
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
is also hard to define. Originally, "fascism" referred to a political movement that was linked with Sindicalist-Corporativism that existed in a single country (Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
) for less than 30 years and ruled the country from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
. Clearly, if the definition is restricted to the original Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
, then "fascism" has little significance outside of Italian politics. Most scholars prefer to use the word "fascism" in a more general sense, to refer to an ideology (or group of ideologies) that was influential in many countries at many different times. For this purpose, they have sought to identify a "fascist minimum" - that is, the minimum conditions that a certain political group must meet in order to be considered fascist. Several scholars have inspected the apocalyptic, millennial and millenarian aspects of fascism. According to most scholars of fascism, there are both left and right influences on fascism as a social movement, and fascism, especially once in power, has historically attacked
communism, conservatism and parliamentary liberalism, attracting support primarily from the "far right" or "extreme right."
Benito Mussolini
A more comprehensive discussion of the entire document can be found in the article Doctrine of FascismDoctrine of Fascism
"The Doctrine of Fascism" is an essay written by Giovanni Gentile, but credit is given to Benito Mussolini. It was first published in the Enciclopedia Italiana of 1932, as the first section of a lengthy entry on "Fascismo"...
. It is also possible to read the full text of The Doctrine of Fascism online, here.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
John T. Flynn
In 1944, John T. FlynnJohn T. Flynn
John Thomas Flynn was an American journalist best known for his opposition to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and to American entry into World War II.-Career:...
wrote a polemical work, As we go marching, aimed against socialist and social democratic tendencies that he saw beginning to subvert capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
. He characterises fascism based on an analysis of Mussolini's Italy
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
:
- Anti-capitalist, but with capitalist features;
- Economic demand management...
- ...through budget deficits
- Direct economic planningEconomic planningEconomic planning refers to any directing or planning of economic activity outside the mechanisisms of the market, in an attempt to achieve specific economic or social outcomes. Planning is an economic mechanism for resource allocation and decision-making in contrast with the market mechanism...
, reconciled with partial economic autonomy through corporatismCorporatismCorporatism, also known as corporativism, is a system of economic, political, or social organization that involves association of the people of society into corporate groups, such as agricultural, business, ethnic, labor, military, patronage, or scientific affiliations, on the basis of common...
; - MilitarismMilitarismMilitarism is defined as: the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests....
and imperialismImperialismImperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
; - Suspension of rule of lawRule of lawThe rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...
.
Ernst Nolte
Controversial historian and philosopher Ernst NolteErnst Nolte
Ernst Nolte is a German historian and philosopher. Nolte’s major interest is the comparative studies of Fascism and Communism. He is Professor Emeritus of Modern History at the Free University of Berlin, where he taught from 1973 to 1991. He was previously a Professor at the University of Marburg...
, by Hegelian
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher, one of the creators of German Idealism. His historicist and idealist account of reality as a whole revolutionized European philosophy and was an important precursor to Continental philosophy and Marxism.Hegel developed a comprehensive...
dialectic, defined Fascism as a reaction
Reactionary
The term reactionary refers to viewpoints that seek to return to a previous state in a society. The term is meant to describe one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is "radical". While it has not been generally considered a term of praise it has been adopted as a self-description by...
against other political movements, especially Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
:
Stanley G. Payne
Stanley G. Payne'sStanley G. Payne
Stanley George Payne is a historian of modern Spain and European Fascism at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He retired from full time teaching in 2004 and is currently Professor Emeritus at its Department of History. Payne is one of the most famous modern theorists of fascism...
Fascism: Comparison and Definition (1980) uses a lengthy itemized list of characteristics to identify fascism, including:
- the creation of an authoritarian state
- a regulated, state-integrated economic sectorCorporatismCorporatism, also known as corporativism, is a system of economic, political, or social organization that involves association of the people of society into corporate groups, such as agricultural, business, ethnic, labor, military, patronage, or scientific affiliations, on the basis of common...
- fascist symbolismFascist symbolismAs there were many different manifestations of fascism, especially during the interwar years, there were also many different symbols of Fascist movements...
- anti-liberalismLiberalismLiberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
- anti-communismAnti-communismAnti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
- anti-conservatismConservatismConservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
.
As the common aim of all fascist movements he sees elimination of the autonomy, or in some cases the existence of, large-scale capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
.
Roger Griffin
With GriffinRoger Griffin
Roger D. Griffin is a British academic political theorist at Oxford Brookes University, England. His recent efforts have focused on a definition and examination of fascism...
the emphasis is placed upon the aspect of populist fascist rhetoric that argues for a "re-birth" of a conflated nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
and ethnic people. According to Griffin:
Also according to Griffin, a broad area of scholarly consensus developed in the social sciences within the English-speaking world during the 1990s, centered around the following definition of fascism:
Finally, Griffin claims that the above definition can be condensed into one sentence:
The word "palingenetic" refers to notions of rebirth (in this case, national rebirth), and carries a similar meaning as the words "apocalyptic" and "millennarian", but without religious connotations.
Emilio Gentile
Emilio GentileEmilio Gentile
Emilio Gentile is an Italian historian specializing in the ideology and culture of fascism. Gentile is considered one of Italy's foremost cultural historians of fascist ideology. He is a student of Renzo De Felice....
sees fascism as the "sacralization of politics" through totalitarian methods.
Robert Paxton
Robert O. PaxtonRobert Paxton
Robert O. Paxton is an American political scientist and historian specializing in Vichy France, fascism and Europe during the World War II era...
, a professor emeritus at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, defines fascism in his book The Anatomy of Fascism as:
Umberto Eco
In a 1995 essay "Eternal Fascism", the Italian writer and academic Umberto EcoUmberto Eco
Umberto Eco Knight Grand Cross is an Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose , an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory...
attempts to list general properties of fascist ideology. He claims that it is not possible to organise these into a coherent system, but that "it is enough that one of them be present to allow fascism to coagulate around it". He uses the term "Ur-fascism" as a generic description of different historical forms of fascism.
The features of fascism he lists are as follows:
- "The Cult of Tradition", combining cultural syncretismSyncretismSyncretism is the combining of different beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term means "combining", but see below for the origin of the word...
with a rejection of modernismModernismModernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
(often disguised as a rejection of capitalismCapitalismCapitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
). - "The Cult of Action for Action's Sake", which dictates that action is of value in itself, and should be taken without intellectual reflection. This, says Eco, is connected with anti-intellectualismAnti-intellectualismAnti-intellectualism is hostility towards and mistrust of intellect, intellectuals, and intellectual pursuits, usually expressed as the derision of education, philosophy, literature, art, and science, as impractical and contemptible...
and irrationalism, and often manifests in attacks on modern culture and science. - "Disagreement Is Treason" - fascism devalues intellectual discourse and critical reasoning as barriers to action.
- "Fear of Difference", which fascism seeks to exploit and exacerbate, often in the form of racism or an appeal against foreigners and immigrants.
- "Appeal to a Frustrated Middle Class", fearing economic pressure from the demands and aspirations of lower social groups.
- "Obsession with a PlotConspiracy theoryA conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
" and the hyping-up of an enemy threat. This often involves an appeal to xenophobiaXenophobiaXenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
or the identification of an internal security threat. He cites Pat RobertsonPat RobertsonMarion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....
's book The New World OrderThe New World Order (Robertson)The New World Order is a book written, published in 1991, by American televangelist Pat Robertson.- The work :*Library of Congress catalog card:...
as a prominent example of a plot obsession. - "Pacifism Is Trafficking with the Enemy" because "Life is Permanent Warfare" - there must always be an enemy to fight.
- "Contempt for the Weak" - although a fascist society is elitist, everybody in the society is educated to become a hero.
- "Selective Populism" - the People have a common will, which is not delegated but interpreted by a leader. This may involve doubt being cast upon a democratic institution, because "it no longer represents the Voice of the People".
- "NewspeakNewspeakNewspeak is a fictional language in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the novel, it refers to the deliberately impoverished language promoted by the state. Orwell included an essay about it in the form of an appendix in which the basic principles of the language are explained...
" - fascism employs and promotes an impoverished vocabulary in order to limit critical reasoning.
Dimitri Kitsikis
Dimitri KitsikisDimitri Kitsikis
Dimitri Kitsikis is a Greek Turkologist, Professor of International Relations and Geopolitics. He has also published poetry in French and Greek.-Life:D...
Greek historian and Emeritus professor at the University of Ottawa
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
proposed a scientific model of fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
and defined 13 categories by which fascist ideologies, movements and establishments can be analyzed and contrasted with others:
As an example, Kitsikis applies the model to the Peruvian communist party, Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path
Shining Path
Shining Path is a Maoist guerrilla terrorist organization in Peru. The group never refers to itself as "Shining Path", and as several other Peruvian groups, prefers to be called the "Communist Party of Peru" or "PCP-SL" in short...
), which claims to follow Maoist ideology. The results of the analysis show that the party's ideology satisfies all the criteria of 9 categories (to which a score of 9 points is given), some of the criteria of 3 categories (1.5 points) and none of the criteria of one category (0 points). A total score of 10.5 out of a possible 13 shows that Shining Path
Shining Path
Shining Path is a Maoist guerrilla terrorist organization in Peru. The group never refers to itself as "Shining Path", and as several other Peruvian groups, prefers to be called the "Communist Party of Peru" or "PCP-SL" in short...
actually follows a Third-World fascist ideology. An objective analysis is thus obtained, not being tainted by any ideological presupposition.
With this model Kitsikis was also able to show that philosopher and father of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
, laid the foundations of French Fascism.
Kevin Passmore
Kevin Passmore, lecturer in History at Cardiff UniversityCardiff University
Cardiff University is a leading research university located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It received its Royal charter in 1883 and is a member of the Russell Group of Universities. The university is consistently recognised as providing high quality research-based...
, gives a definition of fascism in his book Fascism: A Very Short Introduction. The definition he gives is directly descended from the view put forth by Ernesto Laclau.
The definition he gives is as follows:
John Weiss
John WeissJohn Weiss
John Weiss was an American author and clergyman, as well as a noted abolitionist.Weiss was born in Boston. His father, a German Jew, was a barber in Worcester. He graduated at Harvard in 1837 and at the Harvard Divinity School in 1843, studying abroad in between. He then preached at Watertown,...
, a professor of history at Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
, sought to give a definition of fascism in his book, The Fascist Tradition: Radical Right-Wing Extremism in Modern Europe. He arrived at a list of ideas that he believed to be shared by the majority of the people commonly referred to as fascists:
- OrganicistOrganicismOrganicism is a philosophical orientation that asserts that reality is best understood as an organic whole. By definition it is close to holism. Plato, Hobbes or Constantin Brunner are examples of such philosophical thought....
conceptions of community; - Philosophical idealismIdealismIn philosophy, idealism is the family of views which assert that reality, or reality as we can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing...
; - Idealization of "manlyMasculinityMasculinity is possessing qualities or characteristics considered typical of or appropriate to a man. The term can be used to describe any human, animal or object that has the quality of being masculine...
" (usually peasant or village) virtues; - A resentment of mass democracyDemocracyDemocracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
; - ElitistElitismElitism is the belief or attitude that some individuals, who form an elite — a select group of people with intellect, wealth, specialized training or experience, or other distinctive attributes — are those whose views on a matter are to be taken the most seriously or carry the most...
conceptions of political and social leadership; - RacismRacismRacism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
(and usually, though not necessarily, anti-SemitismAnti-SemitismAntisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
); - MilitarismMilitarismMilitarism is defined as: the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests....
; - ImperialismImperialismImperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
.
Marxist definition
In 1935, as fascist political movements were making gains across Europe and often took violent action against communistCommunism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
organizations, it became important for Marxists
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
to have an exact definition of "fascism" in order to determine precisely whom they were fighting. Thus, the Communist Third International
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
published the following definition:
The majority of Marxists, even those who were not members of the Communist International, agreed with this definition. Marxists argue that fascism represents the last attempt of a ruling class
Ruling class
The term ruling class refers to the social class of a given society that decides upon and sets that society's political policy - assuming there is one such particular class in the given society....
(specifically, the capitalist bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
) to preserve its grip on power in the face of an imminent proletarian revolution
Proletarian revolution
A proletarian revolution is a social and/or political revolution in which the working class attempts to overthrow the bourgeoisie. Proletarian revolutions are generally advocated by socialists, communists, and most anarchists....
. Fascist movements are not necessarily created by the ruling class, but they can only gain political power with the help of that class and with funding from big business. And, once in power, fascists serve the interests of their benefactors (not necessarily the interests of capitalism in general, but the interests of those specific capitalists who put them in power).
Many Marxists are strongly opposed to labelling of governments that were elected from traditional conservative parties without 'street movements' backing them up as fascists. The vast majority therefore reject the characterisation of the US government as fascist.
Amadeo Bordiga
Amadeo Bordiga
Amadeo Bordiga was an Italian Marxist, a contributor to Communist theory, the founder of the Communist Party of Italy, a leader of the Communist International and, after World War II, leading figure of the International Communist Party.- Early life :Bordiga was born at Resina, in the province of...
adopted a somewhat different stand on fascism. He regarded fascism as just another form of bourgeois rule, on the same level as bourgeois democracy or traditional monarchies. He did not believe that fascism was particularly reactionary or otherwise exceptional.
The Encyclopedia of Marxism defines fascism as "right-wing, fiercely nationalist, subjectivist in philosophy, and totalitarian in practice", and identifies it as "an extreme reactionary form of capitalist government." However, it also goes beyond this traditional definition and lists nine fundamental characteristics of fascism:
Fascism as vague epithet
Some have argued that the term "fascism" has become hopelessly vague in the years following World War II, and that today it is little more than a pejorative epithet used by supporters of various political views to attempt to discredit their opponents. This view dates back to George OrwellGeorge Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
, British writer and author of Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
and Animal Farm
Animal Farm
Animal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell published in England on 17 August 1945. According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin era before World War II...
, who famously remarked: