Member-only story

The two competing C20th theoretical orientations about fascism

And why avoiding misunderstandings is pertinent now

Heroes in the Seaweed
11 min readFeb 19, 2025
Image: unsplash

Part of the confusion surrounding whether to call the “MAGA” movement “fascist” or not reflects decades of specialist debates in “fascism studies”. This is a recondite academic subdiscipline given over to the question of how, if at all, we can provide any definition of fascism, whether this definition should include Nazism, whether “fascism” was a singular historical phenomenon, and related questions.

Then there is the way the “f-word” has been thrown around, often irresponsibly, to name any kind of authoritarian gesture, person, or political phenomenon: from a neurotic local schoolteacher to Joseph Stalin. After 1945, the outrage at “the crimes that stank in the nostrils of the world” committed by the Nazis [i] made fascism almost synonymous with evil and political illegitimacy.

Accordingly, the “f-word” is used politically, including by those on the Far Right, to designate anyone people disagree with. In this way, it is even used synonymously, for instance by Mr Trump, with “Marxist”, to absurdly designate people like the neoliberal American Democrats.

In philosophical debates after 1945, it seems to me there are two more or less diametrically opposed understandings of…

Create an account to read the full story.

The author made this story available to Medium members only.
If you’re new to Medium, create a new account to read this story on us.

Or, continue in mobile web

Already have an account? Sign in

Heroes in the Seaweed
Heroes in the Seaweed

Written by Heroes in the Seaweed

"There are heroes in the seaweed", L. Cohen (vale). Several name, people, etc. changes later, the blog of Aus. philosopher-social theorist Matt Sharpe.

Responses (11)

What are your thoughts?

In philosophical debates after 1945, it seems to me there are two more or less diametrically opposed understandings of “fascism

This is the specification @NicKCampion, of the scope of this article.

Joseph Stalin.

Stalin was most certainly a fascist. His ideology was hyperfunctionalist and ordered the individual to surrender complete autonomy to the state, embodied as himself, to re-create society.

this could not have been written any more difficult to understand if they tried to. once in a while, making things easily understandable isn't any less academic.