Fascism Research Articles

The making of a dissonant heritage: the Foro Italico in Rome

ABSTRACT Italy’s long and stratified history offers abundant heritage resources, with Rome serving as a showcase for the architectural embodiment of political and ideological changes over time. Among these periods, the Fascist regime under Benito Mussolini initiated extensive urban and architectural renewal projects, notably exemplified by the Foro Italico, a monumental sports complex that is still actively used. The present contribution retraces the elements constituting Fascist architectural heritage in Italy and explores how Italian people comprehend and interpret the dissonant heritage site of the Foro Italico. Departing from previous approaches, this research employs a conservation perspective, exploring, among others, architectural and socio-cultural values associated with the complex. By analysing the motives underlying its unceasing use, this study seeks to understand why citizens continue to create new experiences and memories at the site despite its contentious ideological symbolism, without undergoing modern damnatio memoriae or de-commemoration processes, thus contributing to ongoing debates on heritage management and the politics of memory.

Gifting books, bribing elites, reaching the masses: Italian fascist propaganda in Turkey, 1923–38

This article explores Fascist Italy’s attempts in the interwar era to influence Turkish perceptions of fascism and Italy. The techniques to be reviewed include interviews by diplomatic personnel, the gifting of books, film screenings, the sending of photographs and captions to Turkish outlets, and the use of intermediaries. The article will focus on Yunus Nadi’s [Abalıoğlu] financial entanglement with the fascist regime in 1931 and 1932. It will throw light on how documents in the Italian state archives illustrate that Cumhuriyet’s coverage of fascism was influenced by financial considerations. The discussion will also seek to highlight the Turkish service of Radio Bari, the Arabic broadcasting of which dominated discussions in the literature. The conclusion will review the methods and consider why some, such as the use of local ‘fascist’ groups, proved unsuccessful in Turkey, whereas others, like radio, offered much promise in reaching out to the wider public.

The ‘other revolution’. The Italian extreme right beyond the legacy of fascism: Political and generational confrontations in the 1960s and 1970s

ABSTRACT Revenge, estrangement, nihilism. These are the main feelings identified by historians to describe the political culture and anthropology of the subversive far right, from the second post-war period to the years of terrorism. Social scientists have placed at the centre of their analysis the radical right’s process of coming to terms with the grief caused by the defeat of the fascist regimes in the Second World War. The emphasis on pessimism, however, has pushed into the background the specificity of the elaboration of defeat within right-wing radicalism. The efforts of far-right intellectuals, in fact, had been aimed at overcoming ‘nostalgism’, that particular form of political melancholy, widespread in neo-fascism, which led to regret rather than overcome the fascist experience. In this perspective, the outbreak of global protest in the 1960s opened a difficult generational confrontation within the Italian far right. Neo-fascist youth movements rediscovered the myth of the ‘fascist revolution in its original form’. The division even ran through families, opposing veterans of the Italian Social Republic with extra-parliamentary militants who later entered underground terrorism.

Protest and Legislative Behavior in Perilous Times

Abstract A long-standing tradition in the study of social movements documents the multitude of ways protest “matters” for policy and politics. LaGina Gause's book, The Advantage of Disadvantage makes a contribution to this literature. Gause develops a formal theory of the influence of protest on legislative behavior and representation and tests it with data from a range of empirical sources. She finds that protest is most effective for disadvantaged groups. What is admirable here is the attempt to integrate the study of social movements with the study of legislative behavior. But limitations that result from an exclusive reliance on quantitative analysis ultimately weaken the strength of her claims. That said, given the proliferation of protest movements around the world, we need to better understand how movement politics influence legislative politics. This is especially true for the mature democracies of the West where Far Right, nationalist, racist, and fascist movements seek to move from fringe to center by manipulating the institutions of electoral politics to undermine democracy itself. The review article concludes with thoughts on an expanded inquiry into the dynamics of contention of today's rightwing political movements.

Бразильский интегрализм: праворадикальная утопия в эпоху фашизма

The 20s-30s of the 20th century have gone down in history as "the time of fascism", which is quite true for European countries. A unique phenomenon for the countries of the "South" was the emergence of a mass fascist movement in Brazil - Integralism, which proposed a new model of state-hood and economic system based on nationalism, authoritari-anism, and corporatism common to all fascist movements. Meanwhile, this movement had a number of striking differ-ences from its European counterparts: multiculturalism, non-ethnic and non-racial nationalism, and anti-imperialism. Inte-gralism was Brazil's first truly mass nationwide political movement in its history, whose main difference was the regionalization of politics and the disunity of the elites of the different provinces of the country, thus presenting a model of integration and nationwide modernization of the country. This article analyzes the ideological, political and programmatic foundations of Integralism, its political aspirations and practices.

Style over substance? The Blueshirts and transnational fascist culture

ABSTRACT The central debate over the Blueshirt movement has centred on whether the movement can be classified as fascist. The two most significant accounts of Blueshirtism, by Maurice Manning (1971) and Mike Cronin (1997) have largely avoided explicit comparisons between the Blueshirts and other European fascist movements. While John Newsinger (2001) has argued that the Blueshirts may be usefully compared to the British Blackshirts, and Fearghal McGarry (2005) has highlighted aspects of Eoin O’Duffy’s engagement with Italian Fascist ideas and practices, there is still more work to be done in exploring transnational links and possible comparisons between the Blueshirts and continental European fascist movements. This article argues that by interrogating the political culture of Blueshirtism, we can better understand its place within the spectrum of European fascisms. This article considers both the “high” and “low” aspects of Blueshirt culture. It examines the links between the Blueshirts and European fascist movements by analysing both political thought and political uniforms. By applying a transnational lens, we can thus gain a more holistic understanding of one of the most controversial political movements in modern Irish history.

Fascism as seen by the Christian Democrats in the years of the republic of parties (1945–1994)

ABSTRACT The Christian Democratic interpretation of the fascist regime drew on the analyses conducted in the 1920s which identified the statism-racism-warmongering nexus as the defining trait of fascist movements. With the outbreak of the Cold War, Italian fascism disappeared as a political phenomenon, but with Aldo Moro became a historical example of a system that was enemy of individual freedom but also responsible for policies that went against the interests of working people. In Moro’s view, the birth of the Republic had opened up a new path that still had to be perfected but certainly was in antithesis to the fascist one. The parties of the anti-fascist coalition had contributed to this new path and were called upon to complete it in a “progressive” manner. This perspective carried on until the period of “national solidarity”, but after Moro’s assassination, the cultural and political framework in the 1980s became increasingly critical of the cornerstones of post-1945 anti-fascism.

Fascism in the public sphere of post-fascist Italy

ABSTRACT Over the entire post-war period up to the present day, the endurance of fascism has remained a significant subject of Italian politics. The neo-fascist party, Movimento Sociale Italiano (M.S.I.), was born immediately after the Second World War. Furthermore, the transition to the Republic coexisted with structural continuity with the dictatorship: many elements of the fascist state, such as the administrative institutions, the central bureaucracy and the economic ruling class, were maintained. Alongside concrete (both political and institutional) continuities, we can also observe diverse continuities that marked cultures, languages, and political discourses. The shadow of fascism has often invaded the public sphere in ways that condition the political debate and cultural imaginary. Firstly, for all the democratic and progressive parties and movements Mussolini’s dictatorship has been a constant negative reference point from which they openly distance themselves. Secondly, the spectre of fascism has always been evoked in the political debate with respect to the present and to warn against the return of authoritarianism in new forms. Thirdly, many periodicals, novels, films, comics, and television programmes have trivialized the historical experience of Italian fascism, representing it, through recurrent narrative clichés, as a sort of phenomenon only partially corresponding to historical reality.

EXPLORING GRAMSCI’S REFLECTIONS

The arrest of Antonio Gramsci in 1926 was a landmark event in the political history of 20th century Italy. As Mussolini's fascist regime consolidated its power, Gramsci, a communist leader and prominent intellectual, was detained due to his influence on the political opposition. His arrest was part of a campaign to suppress dissent. Despite facing adverse conditions in prison, Gramsci continued his intellectual production, writing the “Prison Notebooks”, a testament to his erudition and resilience. His arrest and production of the “Notebooks” highlight the power of intellectual resistance and commitment to social justice.

The Violent Legacy of Fascism: Evidence From Italy

Can legacies of fascism threaten democracies with political violence? Democracies aim to peacefully manage incompatible interests in a society. Yet, few democracies avoid violence altogether. Legacies of fascism may re-emerge because local networks can transfer their ideational tenets - supremacist identities and anti-democratism ( know what), violent practices ( know how), and paramilitary networks ( know whom) - to the new generations. Thanks to an original subnational dataset, we study if the Italian fascist movement that emerged in the 1920s affected political violence in the 1970s–1980s. The local strength of the fascist party before the institutionalization of the fascist regime predicts neofascist political violence more than forty years later. New catalysing events facilitate the resurfacing of local fascist legacies: when a Minister of Interior is appointed, we observe higher levels of neofascist violence in provinces where the early presence of the fascist party was stronger.

British Society in the reflection of the press: fascist sentiments among the World War I veterans in the 1930s

Importance. The topic of the threat of fascist ideas and movements at the present stage is increasingly being brought up in the framework of public and scientific discussions. The coverage of this problem of the history of Great Britain in the 1930s is connected with the need to study the development of the features of fascism in society and in the society of veterans of the World War I. The novelty of the work is to consider the strengthening of the right-wing sentiments of part of the community of British war veterans in the 1930s, while fascism in Great Britain has been studied most widely by historical science in relation to political organizations and parties. Revealing the connection of veterans with the fascist movement will reveal the essence of the state ideology and the contradiction in public sentiment.Materials and Methods. Within the framework of a historical and systematic approach, the Fascist movement in Great Britain was considered as one of the features of the development of public sentiment. The problem of fascization of British society was the duality of political attitudes. On the one hand, representatives of British fascism were marginals, and on the other, prominent figures of the largest veterans’ organization, the British Legion, were the exponents of the ideas of fascism. Using the prosopographic method, the social and political activities of the World War I veterans were investigated.Results and Discussion. Based on the analysis of the development of Great Britain in the 1930s, the specifics of public sentiment are described. The veteran movement in the country adhered to various ideologies. By the mid-1930s, opinions arose among veteran leaders about the possibility of uniting with the fascists. During this period, the veterans of the World War I themselves, with the assistance of politicians and the aristocracy, as well as the support of capitalist circles, created right-wing radical organizations that openly adopted nationalist, anti-Semitic, and racist positions. The possibility of veterans coming under the influence of fascist organizations actually existed, given the numerous contacts and joint activities both within the UK itself and with foreign organizations and politicians (in particular, with the leaders of the Third Reich and Italy).Conclusion. Prominent figures of the veteran movement (in particular, the British Legion) are responsible for the development of fascism in the UK and have contributed to the policy of appeasing the aggressor. Their activities in the process of unleashing the World War II were derived from the prevailing socio-economic system. In the 1930s, veterans and their leaders became instruments and sometimes representatives of the interests of competing groups of the economically dominant class in Great Britain. Dissatisfaction with the policies of the British governments and the rise of fascist sentiment was reflected in social protest and criticism in the press.

Stavropol Regional Psychiatric Hospital: memory of the past — a ladder to the future

In 2023, 80 years have passed since the liberation of Stavropol from the Nazi invaders. The staff and patients of the psychiatric hospital were subjected to the horrors of the fascist regime. 660 patients and 30 employees of the Stavropol Psychiatric Hospital died in the gas chambers. The hospital honors the memory and does its best to preserve the story of people selflessly fulfilling their duty in difficult times for her and the whole country.The purpose of the study. In honor of the anniversary memorable date, the authors of the article want to tell about the history of the Stavropol Regional Psychiatric Hospital in chronological order from the day of its foundation to the present day.Materials and methods: a systematic analysis of scientific literature, archival data of the hospital was carried out, the A.J. Dorsht foundation, stored in the Museum of History of Stavropol State Medical University, was used.Results and discussion. The authors tell about the life of the hospital in different historical periods of our country. Special attention is paid to the period of the Great Patriotic War. It tells about the horrors that the hospital experienced during the German occupation, about the victims among patients and employees whose lives were claimed by the Great Patriotic War. The period of leadership of the outstanding chief physician, man and teacher, Adolf Yakovlevich Dorsht, is described with great respect and recognition.The article summarizes the history of the development of modern psychiatric services in the Stavropol Territory, the prevention of suicidal behavior among adolescents, the provision of psychiatric care to the population during a pandemic and a special military operation.Conclusion. Having survived many trials in its lifetime, at present the Stavropol Regional Psychiatric Hospital has been awarded numerous awards for asceticism in the field of mental health and is the largest in the North Caucasus.

German and Italian Fascisms: An Impediment to Theorizing Fascism?

Fascism as a concept enjoys a plethora of definitions, usages and variants which lead to the problems of social science to have a generic theory of fascism. This paper aims to explore the differences between the two fascist variants of the interwar period in Europe, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany to reflect on the question of whether exploration of these differences may contribute to social science’s quest to theorize fascism. Though the two fascist regimes differ widely in terms of totalitarianism, ideology, nation and race, state and party relationships, the extent of resistance and the existence of multiple power centers, and finally, the use of total terror; exploration of different fascisms, rather than negating the possibility of having a generic definition of fascism, allows us to explore some of the central characteristics of fascism: its flexibility and resilience.

The ‘New Catholicity’ of Fascism

Abstract This article highlights the intellectual trajectory of the Spanish writer Ernesto Gimenez Caballero (1899–1988) as mediator of fascist internationalism during the 1930s. Caballero, a writer and journalists, was known in Italy thanks to important friendships with leading intellectual, diplomatic and political figures of the Fascist regime. His theory of fascist universalism, presented at the Volta Conference of 1932, identified fascism as the true, unifying principle of Europe. He regarded fascism as ‘the new Catholicity’ of Europe. Inspired by ‘the thaumaturgic genius’ of Mussolini, Caballero pointed out that the center of this new Europe was Rome, which he considered had been reborn with the glories of the ancient times after a long period of uncertainty. The article will explore the key features of Caballero’s idea and their origins within his intellectual biography, stressing the role of personal and transnational networking in the construction of his vision.

Editorial Introduction

Abstract Arising from a 2021 early career workshop on practices and notions of fascist internationalism, this special issue contributes to the evolving focus on transnational and international dimensions within the field of fascism studies. It emphasizes the interconnectedness of fascist governments, movements, and individuals across borders during the interwar period and during the Second World War, as well as the conflictual aspects of such cooperation. Rather than promoting a specific methodological or theoretical approach, the issue presents different perspectives on transnational fascism and fascist internationalisms. This introduction highlights five aspects on which the contributions make interventions: actors, women, organizations, geography, and hybridity.

‘The Way We Were’: Everyday Life in Fascist Italy and Lessons of Alltagsgeschichte

This article shows the benefits to be drawn by applying to Fascist Italy an approach that has emerged within the German literature on Nazism within the field of Alltagsgeschichte or the history of everyday life. That approach has the potential to counter a nostalgic, rose-tinted and depoliticized view of life under Fascism, which has arisen in Italian public discourse since the crisis of anti-Fascism in the 1990s. Through a series of vignettes, the authors illustrate how ‘ordinary’ Italians encountered the Fascist state within the spaces of daily life.

Traditional Folk Clothes in the Dimension of Modern Nation Consolidation Processes

The article is devoted to folk culture, in particular, clothing as a powerful factor of national consolidation and expression of the mentality of Ukrainians in the war unleashed by russia. The pseudo-scientific narratives of russian scientists with the aim of destroying the identity and changing the consciousness of modern Ukrainians in support of the modern fascist regime of russia are considered. Emphasis is placed on the social (as a basic) criterion for understanding the role of the national dress, the embroidered shirt, in uniting our people during the Orange Revolution, the Revolution of Dignity, and russia’s war against Ukraine. In traditional culture, social and aesthetic functions in the contrast “friend or foe” embodied collective norms and aesthetics. This marking has acquired a new public, social meaning. Clothing is a representative of a person and their mentality. During the Revolution of Dignity, the embroidered shirt became an expression of the unity and resistance of the people of Ukraine on a national scale. In this period, the iconic function of national clothing, which defines Ukrainian belonging, is actualized. Using the example of the stories of the embroidery masters of Donetsk region, it is shown how the ethnic memory found a practical embodiment in the conditions of the war. They are united by a civic stance – to show that their land is primordially Ukrainian with a rich culture of folk clothing. For clothing researchers, these are very important facts as a source of understanding the modern functions of clothing. In particular, the informative function of embroidery is its cultural and social context, the author’s position regarding the russian war. This socio-cultural phenomenon powerfully characterises Ukrainian continuity and self-identity, and is therefore perceived by the occupiers as a weapon, just like the language and the entire heritage. Vyshyvanka is a symbol of indomitability and faith in victory for immigrants and those who survived the occupation. The article highlights the tendency to increase the value of the local heritage of the Little Motherland with its identification codes, which has determined the activities of many masters.

Promoting sport and the birth of Fiorentina: the contribution of Mayor Antonio Garbasso

Antonio Garbasso was mayor and podestà of Florence from 1920 to 1928. During his mandate, in keeping with the strategies dictated by the fascist government in matters of sport, he promoted the construction of new facilities and worked to create a football association that could best represent Florence in the most popular sport. The article highlights the contribution that he, as mayor, made to the genesis of Fiorentina, a club founded in 1926 at the behest of the regime.

Suppression of Memory as Totalitarian Strategy: A Critique of Yoko Ogawa’s The Memory Police

In the contemporary world, activities of the people have been monitored and scrutinised by the ever strong vigilant governments. The Fascist governments, in particular, are changing the dynamics of the countries as well as the world by moulding and shaping the minds of people according to their objectives. The opponents of the state are silenced or liquidated. The present paper on renowned Japanese writer Yoko Ogawa’s science fiction work, The Memory Police (2019) has been done to highlight similar issues. The article is divided into three sections. The first section of the article examines how totalitarian regimes function, particularly by playing upon the minds and memories of its citizens. The paper also points out as how people engage with memory as a weapon of protest and as a near-sentient being are confronted with an iniquitous opposition whose main objective is to destroy it. The second section focuses how the psychological toll of forgetting is manifested in the physical world. For instance, when objects vanish from reality, they vanish from memory too, and vice versa. Finally, in the third section, analogies are drawn between the metaphoric cosmos of the novel and in the previously witnessed progressively hypernationalistic and dictatorial governments acquiring control over the world.

The politics of quantification: The General Confederation of Italian Industry and the cost-of-living index in the late 1920s

Business interests can indirectly affect political decisions through the definition of statistical procedures to produce the quantitative indexes used to assess policy choices. This observatory capture takes on peculiar technocratic features in authoritarian contexts. This paper focuses on the role of the General Confederation of Italian Industry (Confindustria) in the construction of an official cost-of-living index at the time of the Fascist regime’s corporatist turn and the revaluation of the Italian lira in 1926. Wage cuts were determined following the price index, and official procedures to collect data on prices from workers’ outlets were adopted to dispel Italian industrialists’ concerns about the rise in the cost of production. Following the loss of archival documentation on this matter, the authors have reconstructed the events from indirect sources. The issue of cost-of-living index numbers in Italy under the Fascist regime raises concerns about the credibility of statistics and economic data under dictatorships.