Fascism 10 (2021) 202-227 Fascism and (Transnational) Social Movements: A Reflection on Concepts and Theory in Comparative Fascist Studies Tomislav Dulić Hugo Valentin Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
[email protected] Abstract Scholars have recently begun advocating for the application of social movement theory in the analysis of the rise and development of fascist political entities. While representing a welcome effort to increase the theoretical depth in the analysis of fascism, the approach remains hampered by conceptual deficiencies. The author addresses some of these by the help of a critical discussion that problematises the often incoherent ways in which the concept of ‘movement’ is used when describing fascist political activity both within and across national borders. The analysis then turns to the application of social movement theory to the historical example of the Ustašas. While recent research on social movements has begun to explore the role and character of transnationalism, this case study analysis suggests that the lack of supra-national organisations during the period of ‘classic’ fascism prevented the emergence of a ‘transnational public space’ where fascist movements could have participated. The conclusion is that rather than acting and organising on a ‘transnational’ level, fascist entities appear to have limited themselves to state-based international ‘knowledge-transfer’ of a traditional type. Keywords Croatia – fascism – social movements – transnationalism – Ustaša (uhro) In a recent article, Kevin Passmore argued for the need to use social move- ment theory in the analysis of fascism. Departing from a critique of ‘generic © Tomislav DuliĆ, 2021 | doi:10.1163/22116257-10010008 This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the prevailingDownloaded cc-by license from Brill.com06/24/2021at the time of 02:39:11PM publication.