What is Fascism? Economy, Society, and State

The word “fascism” is used frequently to describe intensely militaristic, racist, xenophobic, or repressive politics. Almost as often, fascism is used as a shorthand for a form of “totalitarian” government—where “jack-booted thugs” from “the state” control social, economic, and political life. With the rise of a dizzying array of far-right figures worldwide, understanding fascism appears more crucial than ever. Yet, questions of psychology and ideology tend to dominate much of the conversation without reference to institutions, civil society, economics, and policy. Is fascism synonymous with authoritarianism? Or, does fascism have a specific form, style, and economic basis? What, in short, is fascism?

This class will focus on what fascism looked like from an institutional point of view, how it worked as a governing system, what its economic policies were, and why and how it came to be. Looking at Franz Neumann’s Behemoth, and Neumann, A. R. L. Gurland, and Otto Kirchheimer’s The Fate of Small Business in Nazi Germany, in conversation with selections from Theodor Adorno’s The Authoritarian Personality and Hannah Arendt’s The Origin of Totalitarianism, we will explore how (or whether) the state functioned in Nazi Germany and other fascist countries. How did their economies run and why? What role did civic institutions play in the fascist state? Does the “totalitarian” model adequately describe fascist societies? Additionally, we will consider these texts alongside reports that Herbert Marcuse, Neumann, Kirchheimer, and others produced for American intelligence agencies during the Second World War. Finally, we will look at contemporary, comparative readings from scholars working on the transformation of economy and state under “neoliberalism” and assess the advantages and limitations of using our fascist past to understand our neoliberal present.