Fascist Ideology Research Articles

‘Wake Up—John’

Abstract This article examines the published literatures of the British proto-fascist group the British Fascists (BF). It argues that, while failing to develop a ‘fully-fledged’ fascist ideology, the organisation’s materials fostered an emotionology, or instructions on how to think and feel, that contained some fascist qualities, especially profound anxieties over the nation facing an existential threat. It draws on conceptual framings from the history of emotions to assess how the BF promoted a variegated range of views, united by deep worry and fear over Communism and profound concern over its potential to influence the future of Britain and its empire, as well as corrupting a future generation through influencing the minds of children. While the BF’s solutions often lacked the fully palingenetic vision typical of fascists, the BF helped to foster a fascist-style emotional refuge and developed this through ideological instruction as well as providing social opportunities and in principle empowerment. Finally, it concludes that the study of such emotionologies allows for deeper consideration of the overlapping political spaces of the right and processes of fascistisation.

The Language of Ideology: Lingual Manipulation of Readers in German Literature of the Third Reich

In recognizing more than just hyperbole in their critical studies of National Socialist language, post-war philologists Viktor Klemperer (1946) and Eugen Seidel (1961) credit persuasive words and syntax with the expansion of Hitler's ideology among the German people. This popular explanation is being revisited by contemporary philologists, however, as new historical argument holds the functioning of the Third Reich to be anything but monolithic. An emerging scholarly consensus on the presence of more chaos than coherence in Nazi discourse suggests a new imperative for research. After reviewing the foundational works of Mein Kampf (1925) and Myth of the Twentieth Century (1930), the author confirms Klemperer and Seidel’s claim for linguistic manipulation in the rise of the National Socialist Party. Most importantly, this article provides a detailed explanation of how party leaders employed rhetorical language to promote fascist ideology without an underlying basis of logical argumentation.

THE CONCEPT OF AESTHETICIZATION OF POLITICS IN THE IDEOLOGY OF FASCISM

This research paper explores the peculiarities of the concept of aestheticization of politics in the ideology of fascism. The influence of the aesthetic on moral and political norms is determined, and the concept of aestheticization of politics proposed by V. Benjamin is distinguished. Along with this, the theoretical boundaries of this concept were expanded and its core element – the category of fascist style as a universal attribute of all socio-political life – was determined, its characteristic features were nuanced: courage, fearlessness, rebellion, heroism, adventurism, etc. The peculiarity of realizing the aesthetic perception of the state in the ideology of fascism was also theoretically dissected.

After Trickle Down, Kicking Down: On Jordan Peterson, Naturalizing Inequality, and Neofascist Indirect Apologetics

This paper argues that Jordan Peterson’s enthusiastic reception, including on the neofascist Right, reflects how his discourse functions as a form of indirect capitalist apologetics, which no longer obviates how the sociopolitical system produces massive inequalities, but sanctifies inequalities as natural and eternal. Part 1 frames the contention of the paper, addressing methodological issues. Part 2 establishes the understanding of indirect apologetics, drawn from Gyorgy Lukács’ account of fascist ideology as involving the following three irrationalist functions: first, ontologizing and relativizing peoples’ material, socioeconomic concerns; second, positioning the in-group as privileged by nature; and third, displacing socioeconomically mediated anxieties onto designated enemies to be combatted by a revivified, masculine culture. Part 3 shows how Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life proposes a social Darwinism (indirect apologetics, function 1), whose darker underside is authoritarian permission to ‘kick down’ on the weak, or those who would seek to ameliorate sociopolitical conditions (indirect apologetics, functions 2, 3).

Inventing Traditions of Fascism by Far-right nationalists in France during the 1930’s: Cercle Proudhon and the origin of the Fascist Ideology

Inventing Traditions of Fascism by Far-right nationalists in France during the 1930’s: Cercle Proudhon and the origin of the Fascist Ideology

NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE IN THE NOVEL OF “THE COLLECTOR”

As a historical meta-narrative, the novel "The Collector" contains features such as realism, a mixture of memoir genres, thematically focuses on the ideology of fascism and Darwin's theory, existentialism and psychopathic behavior, and some of the features of postmodernism are shown in this novel.

Educating for radical hope in face of rising fascism

In recent years right-extremist ideologies, parties and regimes are gaining popularity and power all over the globe, and as days go by, hope for equality, freedom and peace seems more and more unrealistic, delusionary, perhaps even dangerous. To what goals and in which ways should one educate in a reality that offers no end in sight to oppression? And should educators be satisfied with the hope to merely slow down or temporarily pause what seems to be inevitable? In this essay, I show that educators and their students might get caught up in state of stuckedness (Hage, 2009), to which fascist hope and fascist unique temporalities offer relief. I argue that from this situation, a particular and strong kind of hope can arise – radical hope that is immanently transcendent and whose objectives are incomprehensible and cannot be imagined at present. Paradoxically and while difficult to attain, this almost desperate hope can free educators from the discursive and temporal constraints set by both fascist ideologies and by the feeling of historical blockage, and instead infuse education with an emancipatory horizon. First, interested in both the experience of limited future, I draw insights from ethnographies that depict such historical periods and their relationship to fascism. Then, I present an analysis of fascist temporalities and draw principles for the fascist hope extracted from them. I also analyze the temptation of fascist hope through reading in the work of German Marxist philosopher Ernst Bloch, and follow his transcendent approach to the future which I bring into discussion with the concept of radical hope and with a call for learning observance. To conclude, I draw preliminary directions for an antifascist education.

Fascism, nature and communication: a Discursive-affective analysis of cuteness in ecofascist propaganda

ABSTRACT Ecofascism—the union of fascist ideas and ecological notions—is a rising global issue. Ecofascism in the online sphere often encompasses imaginaries of utopia, love and nostalgia in concert with militarism and violence. This article examines cuteness as a strategic tool used to arouse culturally deemed “positive” emotions like joy, love and pleasure. The study draws on findings from an affective-discursive analysis of visual propaganda in the form of ecofascist memes. The analysis shows that cuteness softens fascist ideology and remasculinises and humanises fascism. Cuteness as a rhetorical tool lessens the needs for ideological defence, since cute signifiers condense structures of meaning into binaries of good and evil. Hence, the article argues that cuteness is a powerful affective political communication strategy that serves to reproduce masculine dominance by mobilising gendered and racialised imaginaries of nature, protection, empathy and belonging.

Ideological repetition and time trauma

In this analysis, the author analyzes Jindřich Polák’s 1977 sf comedy Tomorrow I’ll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea and its implications regarding time travel, ideology, and repetition. In exploring the paradoxes present in time-travel fiction, the article finds there exists a concurrent trauma for the individuals involved, stemming primarily from the splitting-then-reintegrating of the self in the wake of the expedition. The film – centering around a group of former Nazis, whose plan is practically thwarted through a set of comically tragic circumstances regarding the aircraft’s pilot – offers a humorous approach to totalitarian discourse, pointing out the fallibility of said institutions and showing the pitfalls of adherence to Nazi ideology. The author draws on modern instances of fascist ideology and connects them to the comedic situations presented in Polák’s film, putting forth a critical approach to the identification of Nazi modernism as comprised solely of loss and lack.

The Classical Performances at the Temples of Agrigento and Paestum (1928–1938)

Abstract This article surveys and analyzes classical performances staged between 1928 and 1938 in the archeological areas of Agrigento and Paestum, and underlines similarities and differences between them to evaluate the impact of Fascist ideology on their organization. Indeed, these performances were much more concerned with staging ancient poetry recitations, pantomimes, choreographies, and parades rather than entire plays, as these were effective conduits for Fascism’s visual aesthetics, which was aimed at enhancing the archeological settings that hosted them. The events organized in Agrigento were meant to extend the presence of classical performances in ancient theaters and monuments other than Syracuse under the supervision of the National Institute of Ancient Drama (INDA) and other national and international artists, while the performances staged in Paestum were intended to promote international tourism in Italy, which included the programmatic restoration and renovation of ancient monuments.

The Resistance of Montessori Education to Social-Media Regimentation

Maria Montessori's educational proposal had a revolutionary significance since its origins. It freed childhood from the raising social marginalization to a "golden age". In a period marked by widespread national-popular illiteracy, a "New Education" originated exactly among the poorest social classes, represented a valuable tool for the literacy and regimentation of the masses to the rising fascist ideology. Montessori avoided it, paying with obstructionism and discredit. However, even today, Montessorian theory keeps on gaining credit as a "pedagogy of resistance" to the technical and technological revolution of information and communication. She is not even adverse to the use of technology in daily life or in education. Far from stopping the technical progress and the social technological literacy, it is a question of stemming the educational deprivation of the young people experience, rediscovering an active, direct and participative learning, with a specific attention to the early childhood. Experience offers a good and attractive alternative to the standstill caused by the overuse of the mass communication means. Preserving the 0-3 years children from the early abuse of technology, provides a "dilating education" of childhood's fields of experience and evolutive possibilities. In this way the child is ready to approach the technologies, in order to enjoy without suffering their growing capacities.

Xanti Schawinsky and the Fascist Plebiscitary Elections of 1934: Everyday Design Practice and Visual Culture in Early 1930’s Italy

Abstract With Hitler’s seizure of power in 1933, the Bauhausler Xanti Schawinsky sought refuge in fascist Italy until the uncertain political situation and a career choice prompted him to move to the United States in 1936. Identified as the link between Italy and the Bauhaus, Schawinsky holds a special place in the history of Italian graphic design. However, his key role as promoter of modernism has not been subjected to scrutiny by looking at the work he did, networks he established, and design exchange he fostered. Schawinsky’s propaganda poster for the plebiscitary elections of 1934 is the focus of this article. Drawing on photographic documents and primary sources—including correspondences, archival documents, and autobiographic accounts—we seek to clarify the circumstances under which someone fleeing Nazi Germany eventually designed works that served as vehicles for fascist propaganda. To this end, we ground the poster “1934-XII SI” within the larger sociocultural and professional context, historical and political circumstances of early 1930’s Italy. We pair close visual analysis with a contextualized understanding to employ the poster as a case study to explore how fascist ideology was ingrained in everyday practice and show how the line between political and commercial discourses was blurred.

Problems of Countering the Public Demonstration and Dissemination of Fascist and Nazi Symbols (the Legal Aspect)

The authors substantiate the thesis that it is necessary to differentiate between the concepts of «fascism» and «Nazism» at the normative level, since this distinction is not only of theoretical, but also of practical importance for the qualification of crimes and other offences of extremist nature. It is noted that, for a person be identified as a neo-Nazi, three key attributes should be simultaneously present — ideology, symbols, practice. Ideology, however, acts as the political determinant of unlawful behavior of neo-Nazis. The analysis of doctrinal sources shows that the ideologies of fascism and Nazism manifest certain differences regarding national and racial issues, which makes it possible to say that they are based not on one, but on two different political platforms. According to the authors, unless the concepts of «fascism» and «Nazism» are differentiated at the normative level, it is not possible to effectively counteract the dissemination and public demonstration of the symbols and paraphernalia used by corresponding political parties, as well as the rehabilitation of Nazism and fascism. At the same time, research results demonstrate that the concepts of «fascism» and «Nazism» are treated as equivalents not only in the dictionaries of the Russian language, but also in specialist legal literature, public conscience, and the legal field, which hinders law enforcement. It is noted that the legislation regulating liability for counteracting extremism treats fascist and Nazi organizations as extremist and subject to prohibition. At the same time, the system of registering extremist organizations in Russia, as well as the procedures of classifying organizations as extremist, determined by normative legal acts, are not free from drawbacks. The authors present some suggestions for improving them. They also examine a number of problematic questions connected with the necessity of further improvements in the system of legal regulation of criminal and administrative liability for the public demonstration and dissemination of fascist and Nazi symbols (paraphernalia).

In search of a "criminal person": Changing scientific views on the role of biological determinants in the etiology of crime

Aim to analyze the transformation of criminologists' approach to the biology of a criminal, to highlight the achievements of physiological, genetic, endocrinological, neurobiological, biochemical, ethological research in this area, to study the dynamics of the scientific views on the role of biological factors in the etiology of criminal behavior, to give a dialectic assessment of the development of the described scientific paradigm.
 Results. The article provides an overview of research in the field of biological criminology. The results of physiological, psychological, genetic, neurobiological, biochemical, endocrinological, ethological studies are described. The role of the positivist school of criminology is evaluated as negative for the harmful consequences of their activities. It is shown that its provisions became the starting point for the development of social Darwinism, eugenics, the ideology of fascism, racial theory, the organization of national, racial and ethnic genocide.
 Conclusion. The most promising and most effective is a comprehensive, multifactorial approach to the problem of criminal behavior with mathematical modelling and artificial intelligence technologies.

Education in Albania under the Italian Occupation

This paper aims to examine the role and activities of the Ministry of Education of Albania during the Italian occupation (1941–1943). By analysing official documents such as laws, decisions, and circulars, it explores how the Italian regime transformed the existing functions and structures of the Albanian School System to promote fascist ideology. The Italian occupation regime employed two strategies: the first was to create a positive image by presenting itself as a regime that supported education and sought to improve-the lives of the poorest members of society, hoping to gain the support of the Albanian people. The second strategy was to introduce fascist values and morality into the school curricula, censoring certain books, introducing new textbooks, and intimidating Albanian teachers while replacing them with Italian teachers and directors. With the onset of Italy's involvement in World War II, the Albanian education system suffered the consequences of the war. This article aims to address the gap in existing research in this field and provides valuable insights that can be used as a reference point for drawing comparisons with developments in education in many Eastern European countries after the Second World War, during the communist regime.

Between Weber and Mussolini. The issue of political leadership in the thought of the late Michels

ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to briefly reconstruct Robert Michels’s account of the issue of political leadership as it developed in the last phase of his work, between the mid-1920s and the mid-1930s. By focusing on a series of more-or-less neglected writings (from Sozialismus und Fascismus to Studi sulla democrazia e sull’autorità, passing through the Corso di sociologia politica and Italien von heute), I will show how his “new theory of the élite” develops and how it is connected to the so-called “charismatic direction of public affairs” that is Michels’s late reflection on the role and the nature of the political leader. In doing this, I will highlight the triple root of his conception of charismatic leadership (in short: the Weberian theoretical framework; the psychological aspect of hero-worship; fascist ideology) as well as the essential combination of history and theory that characterises his thinking.

A Study On Japanese Mingei’s Birth In Taisho Era And Alienation In Showa Era

Yanagi Sōetsu put forward the word "Mingei (Folk Craft)" in 1925 and jointly published the "Purport Book on the Establishment of Japan Mingei Museum" with Tomimoto Kenkichi, Kawai Kanjiro, and Hamada Shoji the following year, so as to launch Japan’s "Mingei movement". Some scholars have noticed that during World War II, Mingei was related to "life culture" with fascist ideology, and there was a historical phenomenon that Mingei served politics. This paper attempts to interpret the first-hand texts of Yanagi Sōetsu, Kunio Kishida, and Kiyoshi Miki, discuss how Mingei with a "healthy" original intention came into being, and how it gradually became a tool for Japanese fascist aggression and expansion. Mingei originated in the period of "Taisho Democracy," with a strong left-wing flavor in Japanese history. It contains a beautiful vision of making society "healthy". It has gained influence with the support of elites, and the Mingei movement has progressed well in rural and urban society. Later, Mingei gradually attracted the attention of the Showa fascist government and was absorbed by the concept of "life culture" advocated by the new system in 1940, which was alienated and became a tool for the mobilization of the Japanese fascist war.

The Italian Olimpiadi Universitarie of 1922: at the origins of the Fascist ideology of sport

AbstractUniversity sport was less developed in Italy than in other European countries in the first decades of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, in April 1922, students from the University of Rome organised a national multi-sport event, which they called the Olimpiadi Universitarie (University Olympic Games). Many eminent figures of the ruling class supported the initiative and thousands of undergraduates participated in the competitions. The Olimpiadi Universitarie also had an important international impact and facilitated the establishment of the International University Games, which were held from 1924 to 1939. The Olimpiadi Universitarie were based on a patriotic-educational concept of sport and played a significant role in spreading physical activities in Italian universities. Additionally, they promoted the idea of sport that in the following years would be accepted by the Fascist regime. The regime developed university sport enormously, but replaced the autonomous initiative of students with control from above.

The unwanted citizens: The ‘Legality’ of Jewish destruction in Croatia and Romania during World War II

This article examines the establishment of the legal framework that led to the destruction and elimination of Jewish communities in Croatia and Romania during World War II. It argues that both regimes, supported by domestic fascist ideologies, evolving antisemitism, and inspired by the Nazi regime, promulgated anti-Jewish legal norms to present and establish new political, ideological, and social values and categories to their citizens. This article employs the theoretical framework of norms developed by Paul Morrow, whereby norms are seen as practical prescriptions, permissions or prohibitions. We argue that these destructive norms served as guidelines for individuals within the fascist new worldview and new reality. As such, these norms received state authorisation and implementation, serving as the ‘legal’ basis for the institutional destruction of unwanted citizens. This gave local and state actors a ‘legal’ pretext for the persecution and murder of Jews, who were stripped of their rights, assets, properties and right to life. The article concludes that the two legal frameworks enacted the process by which Jewish communities in Croatia and Romania faced a devastation of unseen proportions, which testifies to the importance and impact of legal norms on individuals, be they victims, bystanders or perpetrators.

From Brushstrokes to Pixels: Analyzing the Evolution of Political Propaganda in Visual Media

Leaders, particularly those associated with fascist ideologies, employ visual media as a tool to construct and propagate certain doctrines within the general populace. In this scholarly endeavor, our pursuit revolves around elucidating the profound interplay between art and photography as potent instruments of persuasive communication. First, readers will meet a brief historical background of both mechanisms. Later, in the literature review, several studies will be presented in which critics have shed light on art and photography as effective ways for political propaganda, by analyzing their synergistic relationship and impact on individuals. The argument will be integrated with the works of both Roland Bathes and Walter Benjamin. In the final part of this paper, we provide a few visual representations of both Western and Eastern political figures – King Henry VIII, Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler, and Saddam Hussein – who have framed the population’s perception through the impact of their artistic weaponry.