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Fascism
This clear accessible overview treats the subject of fascism thematically and provides a conclusion that brings the discussion up-to-date.
Mark Neocleous situates fascism between the social and political contradictions of modernity and capitalism. In many ways a reaction to the principal political project of the Enlightenment, fascism focuses on three central concepts - war, nature, and nation - in order to crush violently movements of ideologies of social emancipation such as Marxism and liberalism. The destruction of reason that fascism represents shatters Enlightenment universalism and transforms the desire for social liberation into an aggressive nationalism, with devastating effects on human life.
Mark Neocleous situates fascism between the social and political contradictions of modernity and capitalism. In many ways a reaction to the principal political project of the Enlightenment, fascism focuses on three central concepts - war, nature, and nation - in order to crush violently movements of ideologies of social emancipation such as Marxism and liberalism. The destruction of reason that fascism represents shatters Enlightenment universalism and transforms the desire for social liberation into an aggressive nationalism, with devastating effects on human life.
136 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 2, 2017
"موسولینی در لباس نظامی برای مردم سخنرانی میکند. روی بدنهٔ سکو، شعار اصلی نوشته شده است: معتقدباش، اطاعت کن، بجنگ"
October 5, 2017
A very insightful analysis on the historical conditions that gave rise to Fascism in the 20th century. The abandonment of reason by so called "new" philosophers (Nietzsche, Bergson), the social-alienating need to appropriate socialist language for the romancing of the nation towards war, and the recuperation of the mythological human nature as a reaction against modern Capitalism all spread fodder to the Fascistic fire. An important insight is that since Fascism never died, it does need to be reborn. And as an ideology, it is obsessed with the aestheticization of war:
"Fascism is an ideology obsessed with death; 'I kill, therefore I am. I die, therefore I was' it's central philosophical principle. The highest achievement of fascism, then, is a pile of corpses, its history a catalog of human destruction. (Neocleous 88).
"Fascism is an ideology obsessed with death; 'I kill, therefore I am. I die, therefore I was' it's central philosophical principle. The highest achievement of fascism, then, is a pile of corpses, its history a catalog of human destruction. (Neocleous 88).
September 3, 2024
An indispensable introduction to fascism, especially its ideological core.
Neocleous dives surprisingly deep into fascism's essence for a book of <150 pages. His discussions of fascism's origin in 19th-Century vitalist anti-positivism; fascism's reactionary modernism; and the centrality of war, nature, and the nation are all deeply enlightening studies correcting where others have gone astray. He connects the varying points of fascist ideology in a synthesis of explanatory power, one which unveils the danger which fascism could still present to this day.
However, there are a couple issues. First, Neocleous's decision to include nationalism among fascism's core values is, at times, more mystifying than enlightening (and, perhaps, purposefully so). Nationalism, when it is merely an extreme devotion to the nation or view of the nation as political subject, does not have enough explanatory power to single out fascism among rival nationalist camps—it disguises the specific designs fascists have for their nations.
Second, Neocleous's discussion of "nature" (while providing enlightening material on Nazi environmentalism) devolve into a psychological analysis of fascist sexuality. Worse, Neocleous ends the body of the work (pun intended) by insisting the fascist plan to curb (esp. bodily) desire is deeply intertwined with its celebration of and participation in mass death, implying its concern for eliminating homosexuality/promiscuity/etc. are at fault for fascism's more general obsession with death and objectification. In fact, of course, distinction between natural and unnatural forms of human sexuality and desire (and attempts to control these desires) are virtually ubiquitous in Western history, not to mention in communist states specifically.
Neocleous's analysis is close, but could be crucially misleading if not read through the proper lens. Fascism is indeed about war, nature, and the nation. These concepts, however, are not what separates fascism from the rest. The core of fascism is the reading of these concepts through the lens of a particularly vitalist form of Social Darwinism.
Neocleous dives surprisingly deep into fascism's essence for a book of <150 pages. His discussions of fascism's origin in 19th-Century vitalist anti-positivism; fascism's reactionary modernism; and the centrality of war, nature, and the nation are all deeply enlightening studies correcting where others have gone astray. He connects the varying points of fascist ideology in a synthesis of explanatory power, one which unveils the danger which fascism could still present to this day.
However, there are a couple issues. First, Neocleous's decision to include nationalism among fascism's core values is, at times, more mystifying than enlightening (and, perhaps, purposefully so). Nationalism, when it is merely an extreme devotion to the nation or view of the nation as political subject, does not have enough explanatory power to single out fascism among rival nationalist camps—it disguises the specific designs fascists have for their nations.
Second, Neocleous's discussion of "nature" (while providing enlightening material on Nazi environmentalism) devolve into a psychological analysis of fascist sexuality. Worse, Neocleous ends the body of the work (pun intended) by insisting the fascist plan to curb (esp. bodily) desire is deeply intertwined with its celebration of and participation in mass death, implying its concern for eliminating homosexuality/promiscuity/etc. are at fault for fascism's more general obsession with death and objectification. In fact, of course, distinction between natural and unnatural forms of human sexuality and desire (and attempts to control these desires) are virtually ubiquitous in Western history, not to mention in communist states specifically.
Neocleous's analysis is close, but could be crucially misleading if not read through the proper lens. Fascism is indeed about war, nature, and the nation. These concepts, however, are not what separates fascism from the rest. The core of fascism is the reading of these concepts through the lens of a particularly vitalist form of Social Darwinism.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews