DOCSLIB.ORG

Everybody Wants to Be a Fascist

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Everybody Wants to Be a Fascist A parody of D~leuze and Everybody Wants to be a Fascist Guattari as motorcycle freaks ..• and as Number FELIX GUATTARI One on the Hit-Parade! Publish~d by Actuel, a satirical Leftist ' I have chosen to discuss fascism for several reasons: because it is a real magazine. political problem, and not a purely theoretical consideration, and because I think it is a key theme to use in approaching the question of desire in the social realm. Besides, isn't it a good idea to discuss it freely while we still "Kiss -my light" can? Gilles vient de s'acheter une Klos­ Mime sur une route mouillee? Gilles, comment ..tu re.gi • I'.ug­ A micro-politics of desire is not a proposal for the establishment of a sowski 750 flambante neuve, veri· Parfaitement. l 'investissement libidi­ menation du prix de ressence? bridge between psychoanalysis and Marxism, looking at them as completely table • monstre • qui fera rever bien nal ne porte pas sur Ie regime des les consommations memes ont des des lecteurs avec ses quatre eylln­ syntheses sociales, mais sur Ie passages, des devenlrs et des reve­ formalized theories. This seems to me to be neither desirable nor possible. I dres. ses six syntheses disjonctives degre de developpement des forces nirs. C·est Maurice Blanchot qui a et son d.kodeur ill flux inverses. au energies dont ces syntheses de· su poser Ie probleme dans toute 58 do not think that a system of concepts can function with validity outside of Felix. lui, prefere la Ninietzsche pendent . rigueur, au niveau d'une grosse cylin· 1880. plus souple et plus maniable. dree : comment produire, et penser, its original environment, outside of the collective dispositions of enunciation en fait la replique • surbaissee • de Gilles, queUes sont ill ton 8vil lei des fragments qui aient entre eux which produced it. For example, much of the talk about pleasure is very la tameuse Kafkaha 900, y compris qualltel d'une mota idUle? des rapports de difference en tant la chaine signifiante it roulement it Avant tout, un usage immanent de que telle, qui aient pour rapport e~tre interesting, but in contrast with desire, it is absolutely impossible to transfer bille et la libido visqueuse. Pour la synthese connective de produc­ eux leur propre difference, sans refe­ Salut les Melina I ils expliquent tout tion. J'ajouterai : un a.dipe trian· rence a une totalite originelle meme these two notions, drawn from a certain type of practice and a certain vision sur leur nouvelle folie. gule, une bipolarite polyvoque, des perdue, ni a une totalite resultante flux·schizes et un corps sans merne a venir. of psychoanalysis, to the social field; in no way do they help us grasp the Gill... _tu content de .. nouvelle organes. _1 F8Ii •• qu'est_ qu'un _-'pte 1 functioning of the libido in, for example, a fascist situation. Therefore, it Ouais. Ma KloBso est une machine FeUx. peut-on .lIef jusqu·. dire _ C'est un mecanicien. II s'agit de must be understood that when I speak of desire I am not borrowing this formative. dont les rates memes tu fail I'.mour avec til mota? trouver comment marche une moto, sont fonctionnels. et dont Ie fone­ Sur ma mota, c;a respire, ~ chautfe, avec queUes syntheses, quels flux, notion from orthodox psychoanalysis or from Lacanian theory. I do not tionnement est indiscernable de la c:;a mange, c;a baise. Une machine· quelles chaines, quels devenirs, et formation machine chronogEme organe est branchee sur une ma­ de detruire les structures et les pretend to lay the foundation of a scientific concept; I will simply try to con fondue avec son propre montage. chine source : rune emet un flux representations qui · empechent la operant par liaisons non localisables que rautre coupe. le couplage de .Ia machine de fonctionner: grands amas erect the scaffolding of a provisional theoretical construct in which the et localisations dispersees. faisant synthese connective, objet partlel qui remplissent Ie preconscient, intervenir des processus de tempo­ flux, a done aussi bien une autre immobilisant les motos, les taisant operation of desire within the social realm will be discussed. The starting ralisation, formations en fragments forme 13 disjonction inclusive. taire, les engluant, ·Ies sabotant. les point is simple: it is not possible to bind together in the same sentence the et pieces detacMes. avec plus­ coinc;ant. les clouant. Ce ne sont pea values de code. et ou Ie tout est Gill .... les ........1 .... '-dloent lee Ii_ de _slon de 1'1_ _ tu ne Ie code de term "pleasure" with the term "revolution." You cannot say that a "pleasure lui-m~me produit it cote des p~rties . ""-Ie. _ clent qui comptent. ce .....t .. I. route, contraire .... 1'- de "'lie I of revolution" could exist. But nowadays no one is surprised to hear HlI.... Nlnletzsche ...t4l1e vr81- Le decodage generalise des flux rnent line ...... hNTII'",. 7 dans Ie capitalisme a libere. deterri­ someone speak of a "desire for revolution" or a "revolutionary desire." It Tu partes! II y a partout Ie molaire torialise, decode et meme surcode et Ie mol6culalre : leur dlsjonction les flux du code. au point que la seems to me that this is tied to the fact that the meaning generally given to est un rapport de disjonction incluse, machine les a toujours interiorises pleasure is inseparable from a certain mode of individuation of subjectivity, Qui varie seulement d'apres les deux dans son corps au sa structure sens de la subordination. suivant Que comme champ de forces. Mais la and psychoanalytic pleasure is even less independent from this kind of les phenomenes moleculaires 5e veritable axiomatique n'est pas la. subordonnent aux grands ensembles, inward-folding individuation which, quite to the contrary, managed to fmd ou au contraire se les subordonnent. Certes, FeU.. on dit ......ent _ Roneld ulng est un plus grWId some kind of fulfillment within the confmes of the couch. With libido and cIwnpIon _ toi, Quel ...t ton ••1. 1 desire, however, things are altogether different. l '. anti-conduite • de Laing ne retient de la moto que ses lignes Desire is not intrinSically linked to an individuation of the libido. A de disjonction exclusive, et I'ecrase sur ses dimensions individuelles 9L1.. machine of desire encounters forms of individuation, that is, of alienation. pseudo..individuelles qui Ie rappor­ tent par nature a des groupes assu· Neither desire nor its repression is an ideal formation; there is no desire-in­ jettis, au lieu de taire I'operation inverse et de degager dans la moto itself, no repression-in-itself. The abstract objective of a "successful castra­ I'element sous-jacent d'une inclusion tion" partakes of the worst reactionary mystifications. Desire and repression connective des disjonctions. 2 function in a real society, and are marked by the imprint of each of its IK historical stages. It is therefore not a matter of general categories which could be transposed from one situation to another. The distinction which I propose between micro-politics and macro-politics of desire would have to 87 Guattari Everybody Wants to be a Fascist function as something which would lead to the liquidation of the pretended to recognize the desire and creativity of the masses; the militant Marxist universality of psychoanalytic models, a notion whic~ osten~ibly. secures the system of thought surmounts this failure , but constitutes itself as the psychoanalyst against political and social contingencIes. It IS saId that psy­ collective system of representation of the desire of the masses. This system choanalysis is concerned with something which takes place . ~n ~ small scale, recognizes the existence of a revolutionary desire, but it imposes mediations barely the scale of the family and the person, whereas pohtIcs IS concerned on it: that of the theoretical representation of Marxism, and that of the only with large social groupings. I would ~e to demon~tra~e. tha~, on ~he practical representation of the party which is supposed to be its expression. contrary, there is a politics which addresses Itself to the mdividual ~ de~lTe, A whole mechanism of transmission belts is thus put into place between the as well as to the desire which manifests itself in the broadest SOClal fIeld. theory, the direction of the party, and the militants, so that the innumerable And it has two forms: either a macro-politics aiming at both individual and differences which run through the desire of the masses fmd themselves social problems, or a micro-politics aiming at the same domains (~he ind~vi, "massified," restored to standardized formulations whose necessity is deemed dual, the family, party problems, state problems, etc.). The despoi1sm. which to be justified in the name of the cohesion of the working class and party exists in conjugal or family relationships arises from the same ~? of unity. From the impotence of a system of mental representation we have libidinal disposition that exists in the broadest social field . Inversely, It IS by passed to the impotence of a system of social representativity. In fact , it is no means absurd to approach a certain number of large scale social problems no accident if this neo-Marxist method of thought and action is swamped in (for example, the problems of bureaucratism and fascism), in the light . of a bureaucratic practices; this owing to the fact that it has never really dis­ micro-politics of desire. The problem therefore is not to put up bndg~s engaged its pseudo-dialectic from an obdurate dualism between represen­ between already fully constituted and fully delimited domains, but to put m tation and reality, between the caste who hold the passwords and the place new theoretical and practical machines, capable of sweeping aw~y the masses , who are heard alphabetizing and catechizing like good children.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Casapound Italia: 'Back to Believing. the Struggle Continues'
    fascism 8 (2019) 61-88 brill.com/fasc CasaPound Italia: ‘Back to Believing. The Struggle Continues’ Elisabetta Cassina Wolff University of Oslo, Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History and C-REX - Center for Research on Extremism [email protected] Abstract This article aims to be a contribution to the ongoing debate among scholars concern- ing the question whether recently formed right-wing radical parties represent a new phenomenon and a break with the fascist tradition or whether they remain close to a fascist ideology. The author focuses on a specific national radical right-wing party: CasaPound Italia (cpi), founded at the beginning of this century, which declares itself to be ‘fascist’. While existing research insists on the intervention of external factors such as the economic crisis of 2008 in order to explain a new ‘wave’ of right-wing radicalism in Italy, this article will show the constant evolving of right-wing radical discourse over a longer historical period. The analysis will mainly delve into the ideological and politi- cal role played by three leading exponents of the Italian and European radical right: Pino Rauti, Roberto Fiore and Gabriele Adinolfi. Through a narrative style, and using a historical approach and qualitative analysis, this paper argues that their experiences represent the roots and sources for Gianluca Iannone’s project with cpi. Keywords Italy – neo-fascism – CasaPound Italia – Centro Studi Ordine Nuovo – Movimento Sociale -Fiamma Tricolore – Terza Posizione – Forza Nuova – Centro Studi Orientamenti e Ricerca – Sinergie Europee Political right-wing radicalism as challenge to the principles, methods and in- stitutions of liberal democracy, and as a form of anti-establishment protest, has © Elisabetta Cassina Wolff, 2019 | doi:10.1163/22116257-00801004 This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the prevailing cc-by-nc license at the time of publication.
    [Show full text]
  • FINAL REPORT International Commission on the Holocaust In
    FINAL REPORT of the International Commission on the Holocaust in Romania Presented to Romanian President Ion Iliescu November 11, 2004 Bucharest, Romania NOTE: The English text of this Report is currently in preparation for publication. © International Commission on the Holocaust in Romania. All rights reserved. DISTORTION, NEGATIONISM, AND MINIMALIZATION OF THE HOLOCAUST IN POSTWAR ROMANIA Introduction This chapter reviews and analyzes the different forms of Holocaust distortion, denial, and minimalization in post-World War II Romania. It must be emphasized from the start that the analysis is based on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s definition of the Holocaust, which Commission members accepted as authoritative soon after the Commission was established. This definition1 does not leave room for doubt about the state-organized participation of Romania in the genocide against the Jews, since during the Second World War, Romania was among those allies and a collaborators of Nazi Germany that had a systematic plan for the persecution and annihilation of the Jewish population living on territories under their unmitigated control. In Romania’s specific case, an additional “target-population” subjected to or destined for genocide was the Romany minority. This chapter will employ an adequate conceptualization, using both updated recent studies on the Holocaust in general and new interpretations concerning this genocide in particular. Insofar as the employed conceptualization is concerned, two terminological clarifications are in order. First, “distortion” refers to attempts to use historical research on the dimensions and significance of the Holocaust either to diminish its significance or to serve political and propagandistic purposes. Although its use is not strictly confined to the Communist era, the term “distortion” is generally employed in reference to that period, during which historical research was completely subjected to controls by the Communist Party’s political censorship.
    [Show full text]
  • Limitless Pluralism Or Single-Minded Authoritarianism?
    Limitless pluralism or single-minded authoritarianism? Examining deliberative democracy and agonistic pluralism through Foucault’s notions of power and discourse Oskar Verholt s4042840 Supervisor: Prof. Dr. M.L.J. Wissenburg Word count: 18497 August 5th 2020 Thesis for obtaining a “Master of Arts” degree in philosophy Radboud University Nijmegen I hereby declare and assure that I, Oskar Verholt, have drafted this thesis independently, that no other sources and/or means other than those mentioned have been used and that the passages of which the text, content, or meaning originates in other works – including electronic resources – have been identified and the sources have been clearly stated. Nijmegen, 5th August 2020 2 So in the end when one is doing philosophy one gets to the point where one would like just to emit an inarticulate sound. ― Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations (1953, § 261) 3 4 Abstract This thesis examines Jürgen Habermas’ theory of deliberative democracy and Chantal Mouffe’s theory of agonistic pluralism and radical democracy in light of Foucault’s definitions of power. This research effort claims that both theories are not as different as Habermas and especially Mouffe argue them to be. Both have similar points of departure, both discuss a similar dichotomy in liberal democracy, and both propose a framework which cannot definitively close the door on single- minded authoritarianism. When truth is considered contingent, democracy cannot be considered necessary. Ultimately, this thesis argues that the appeal for liberal democracy could only be secured when we make the system pay, at least it terms of freedom. Keywords: power, discourse, democratic theory, deliberative democracy, agonistic pluralism, radical democracy, Mouffe, Foucault, Habermas.
    [Show full text]
  • "Keep the Quarterback White"!: Rush Limbaugh's Social Construction of the Black Quarterback Jennifer Van Otterloo
    Ursidae: The Undergraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado Volume 2 | Number 3 Article 1 January 2013 "Keep the Quarterback White"!: Rush Limbaugh's Social Construction of the Black Quarterback Jennifer Van Otterloo Follow this and additional works at: http://digscholarship.unco.edu/urj Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Van Otterloo, Jennifer (2013) ""Keep the Quarterback White"!: Rush Limbaugh's Social Construction of the Black Quarterback," Ursidae: The Undergraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado: Vol. 2 : No. 3 , Article 1. Available at: http://digscholarship.unco.edu/urj/vol2/iss3/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC. It has been accepted for inclusion in Ursidae: The ndeU rgraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado by an authorized editor of Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Van Otterloo: "Keep the Quarterback White"! 1 Abstract Despite the prominence of professional football in U.S. culture, little research has been conducted examining the social construction of race in the game. People have a cultural perception of race; what effect does this perception have on the players? There has been research on the historical struggles of Black athletes in collegiate football, as well as lasting issues of racism. To add to this body of literature, this analysis will focus on the institutional racism embedded in the drafting practices of quarterbacks in the National Football League (NFL). This paper finds that institutional racism has a lasting effect on the hiring of Black quarterbacks in the NFL.
    [Show full text]
  • Pedlars of Hate: the Violent Impact of the European Far Right
    Pedlars of hate: the violent impact of the European far Right Liz Fekete Published by the Institute of Race Relations 2-6 Leeke Street London WC1X 9HS Tel: +44 (0) 20 7837 0041 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7278 0623 Web: www.irr.org.uk Email: [email protected] ©Institute of Race Relations 2012 ISBN 978-0-85001-071-9 Acknowledgements We would like to acknowledge the support of the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and the Open Society Foundations in the researching, production and dissemination of this report. Many of the articles cited in this document have been translated into English by over twenty volunteers who assist the IRR’s European Research Programme. We would especially like to thank Sibille Merz and Dagmar Schatz (who translate from German into English), Joanna Tegnerowicz (who translates from Polish into English) and Kate Harre, Frances Webber and Norberto Laguía Casaus (who translate from Spanish into English). A particular debt is due to Frank Kopperschläger and Andrei Stavila for their generosity in allowing us to use their photographs. In compiling this report the websites of the Internet Centre Against Racism in Europe (www.icare.to) and Romea (www.romea.cz) proved invaluable. Liz Fekete is Executive Director of the Institute of Race Relations and head of its European research programme. Cover photo by Frank Kopperschläger is of the ‘Silence Against Silence’ memorial rally in Berlin on 26 November 2011 to commemorate the victims of the National Socialist Underground. (In Germany, white roses symbolise the resistance movement to the Nazi
    [Show full text]
  • CHILE, 1945-1988 Diálogos - Revista Do Departamento De História E Do Programa De Pós-Graduação Em História, Vol
    Diálogos - Revista do Departamento de História e do Programa de Pós-Graduação em História ISSN: 1415-9945 [email protected] Universidade Estadual de Maringá Brasil McGee Deutsch, Sandra FASCISM, NEO-FASCISM, OR POST-FASCISM? CHILE, 1945-1988 Diálogos - Revista do Departamento de História e do Programa de Pós-Graduação em História, vol. 13, núm. 1, 2009, pp. 19-44 Universidade Estadual de Maringá Maringá, Brasil Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=305526877002 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Diálogos, DHI/PPH/UEM, v. 13, n. 1, p. 19-44, 2009. FASCISM, NEO-FASCISM, OR POST-FASCISM? CHILE, 1945-1988 * Sandra McGee Deutsch Abstract. The article sets out to analyze fascist and neo-fascist movements in Chile, in the period following World War II. Chile is an exemplary case for this type of analysis, as it had a significant fascist movement in the period between world wars, with several radical right organizations appearing later on. The objective of the study is to understand how the defeat of the Axis and post-war context affected these fascist movements, including some composed by women. Keywords: Fascism; Neo-Fascism; Chile. ¿FASCISMO, NEOFASCISMO O POSFASCISMO? CHILE (1945-1988) Resumen. El artículo se propone analizar los movimientos fascistas y neofascistas de Chile, durante el período posterior a la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Chile es un caso ejemplar para este tipo de análisis ya que tuvo un significativo movimiento fascista durante la etapa de entreguerras, con el posterior surgimiento de varias organizaciones de derecha radical.
    [Show full text]
  • Right-Wing Extremism in Poland
    INTERNATIONAL POLICY ANALYSIS Right-Wing Extremism in Poland RAFAL PANKOWSKI October 2012 n While the Polish extreme right does not have its own representation on the level of a parliamentary political party, the mainstream populist conservative party, Law and Justice (PiS) absorbed a big portion of the radical nationalist ideology and cadres during the last years. The far-right impact on mainstream politics could be recently observed in Warsaw, when in September 2012 a mass street demonstration was organized jointly by the PiS, Solidarity trade union and the far-right Radio Maryja movement. n The extreme right places decidedly more emphasis on symbolic and identity politics than on economic and social policy. Although issues such as unemployment provide an important context to extreme-right activities, cultural factors remain decisive for right-wing groups. n The majority of the Polish extreme-right groups subscribes to a Catholic fundamen- talist ideology combined with a strongly radical ethnic version of nationalism in- cluding antisemitism. Their ideology is accompanied by a very traditionalist view on family and gender roles and concerning foreign policy marked by an opposition to the EU. RAFAL PANKOWSKI | RIGHT-WING EXTREMISM IN POLAND Contents 1. Introductory Remarks ...................................................3 2. Main Extreme-Right Groups Today ........................................3 3. Orientations, Narratives and Influence of Polish Right-Wing Extremism .........6 4. Countermeasures .......................................................9
    [Show full text]
  • Is There an Emancipatory Interest? an Attempt to Answer Critical Theory's Most Fundamental Question
    DOI: 10.1111/ejop.12321 2016 MARK SACKS ANNUAL LECTURE Is there an emancipatory interest? An attempt to answer critical theory's most fundamental question Axel Honneth 1 | INTRODUCTION The idea that human beings have a deep‐seated interest in overcoming dependencies and heteronomy has always been a hallmark of the tradition of critical social theory deriving from Marx. Some of the Left Hegelians already held that in the absence of such an emancipatory interest on the part of the entire species, the demand for social progress would remain a merely moral “ought,” lacking any support in historical reality. Marx was convinced that under capitalism, this interest was represented by the proletariat, forced by its particular situation to fight on behalf of all of humanity for fully noncoercive and nondominating social relations.1 When Georg Lukács took up this thought in the early 1920s, even surpassing its original ambitions through a bold appropriation of Fichtean ideas, the revolution- ary ethos of the working class had already been in decline to such an extent that his construction received little acclaim even from those sympathetic to it.2 Max Horkheimer was therefore cautious enough to rely in his develop- ment of a critical social theory only on the claim that such an emancipatory interest was revealed in the ineradicable human tendency to revolt against structures of domination. Without attempting to provide a more detailed argument for this assumption, he thereby reiterated on a more abstract level the Marxian thesis that the epistemological foun- dation of his theory would have to lie in its connection with “critical conduct.”3 It was only with Jürgen Habermas's path‐breaking monograph Knowledge and Human Interests that new life was breathed into this century‐old idea.
    [Show full text]
  • Alain De Benoist's Anti-Political Philosophy Beyond Left and Right
    1 Raphael Schlembach (Liverpool Hope University) Alain de Benoist’s anti-political philosophy beyond Left and Right: Non-emancipatory responses to globalisation and crisis Key Words – anti-politics, economic crisis, globalisation, populism, neo-fascism Abstract The purpose of this paper is to analyse and critique non-emancipatory and anti-political forms of opposition to globalisation and to the current Eurozone management of the global financial crisis. It will question, amongst other themes, critiques of globalisation that present themselves as mere critiques of capitalist excess or capital’s ‘transnational’ form. This opens up the problem of the national/global antinomy as well as of responses that contain a nationalist or traditionalist element. The paper draws primarily on a critical discussion of the work of ‘European New Right’ philosopher Alain de Benoist. In de Benoist’s writings it detects an anti-political rejection of the political divide between left and right, which aligns it with contemporary neo-fascist opposition to the Eurozone crisis. The paper will reflect upon this alignment through a discussion of Marxist critical theory, putting forward the argument that capitalist processes must be understood as non-personal domination rather than as a system of individual greed or wilful exploitation. This should also open up the possibility to re-evaluate some of the recent progressive, yet largely populist, movement mobilisations directed at the crisis. 2 Introduction Traditionally, Marxist analyses of fascism have pointed to its use as an instrument for reactionary and imperialist forces tied to a merchant capitalist class. Leon Trotsky defined fascism simply as “the continuation of capitalism” (Trotsky 1940: 72).
    [Show full text]
  • 1IIII1.2Q 111111.4 111111.6
    If you have issues viewing or accessing this file contact us at NCJRS.gov. "" ___ 7 __ "..J· -___ •• ___ ,_~"_ ~~_. __ _ National Criminal Justice Reference Service This microfiche was produced from documents received for inclusion in the NCJRS data base. Since NC.JRS cannot exercise control over the physical condition of the documents submitted, the individual frame quality will vary. The resolution chart on this frame may be used to evaluate the document quality. 1.0 1.1 1IIII1.2q 111111.4 111111.6 MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART NATIONAL BUREAU Of STANOAROS.1963·A Microfilming procedures used to create this fiche comply with the standards set forth in 41 CFR 101-11.504. Points of view or opinions stated in this document are those of the author(s) and do not represent the official position or policies o~ the U. S. Department of Justice. iJ i National hlstitute of Justice I United States Department of Justice 1 Washington, D. C. 20531 J 9/29{83 ! " V The researeh r~orted he,s W88" spOnsored by the ~otorate'Cf OpeJ1atiOIlaJ. \l.~~,.' Requ:irementll. Deputy'" CMef ot)tatt/RSSearph, Devel'Opm'ent, and AC;W:uisi.. , {i j;i9U, Bq USAF, uW:ler Contiaet F49.000·82-o.0018." ~~ United 'States I a,ovemment is authotb:ed to reproduoe and distribute teprlntl:$ 'ler,goven1- ,~ ! mental p,tttpOtJes notwithstanding any oopyrlgb;t nota£ioJl hereon. I '" Il iJ ') I ! 1 A RAND NOTE \' () 0 I " a 1" I • I RIGHT-WING TERRORISM IN EUROPE I r (I U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • The Fascination of Fascism a Concluding Interview with Roger Griffin
    The Fascination of Fascism A Concluding Interview with Roger Griffin The following is an edited and revised version of a recorded interview of Roger Griffin [RG]by Matthew Feldman [MF],which took place in May 2005. The originaldis- cussion was chairedbyDr Robert Pyrah as part of the University of Oxford’s ongoing Central and South-Eastern Europe Seminar Series. As a result, this concluding text is both the most recent and most informal in this collection, and rounds out the previous essays byoffering Griffin’s synoptic reflections on his pursuit of the ‘fascist minimum’. Note the tripartite structure of the interview, focusing first on the ‘back story’ to Grif- fin’s involvement with Fascist Studies; then on his evolving approach and contribution to this interdisciplinaryfield of study;andfinally, a summary and overview of thepre- ceding chapters in this volume. These discursive and synoptic aspects are also intended to provide a more accessible ‘way in’ to the debates surrounding fascist historiography – indeed, virtually none of thepolysyllabic wordsinthis sentence are either found in the ensuing questions or in Griffin’s response to them. [MF] ***** MF: To start off on a biographical note, how didyou first get involved in Fascist Studies, at a time when it wasn’t yet a recognised academic discipline? RG: Two pivotal experiences, reinforced bypragmatic considerations, helped crystallise my abiding fascination with the nature of fascism as a multifaceted, protean political force that has had a major impact on modern history. First, in 1967, while I was an undergraduate studying French and German literature at University, I spent a day in the city of Weimar as part of a cultural tour of students from ‘the West’ to what was still the German Democratic Republic, andhence a Soviet satellite state.
    [Show full text]
  • Poland Dominika Kasprowicz
    National and Right-Wing Radicalism in the New Democracies: Poland Dominika Kasprowicz NATIONAL AND RIGHT-WING RADICALISM IN THE NEW DEMOCRACIES: POLAND Dominika Kasprowicz Paper for the workshop of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation on “Right-wing extremism and its impact on young democracies in the CEE- countries” 1 National and Right-Wing Radicalism in the New Democracies: Poland Dominika Kasprowicz 1. Introduction Nationalist movements in Poland in the post communist era vary within a broad spectrum. This spectrum may be characterized by a diversity of organisational forms in the last 20 years: political parties, quasi-political organisations, associations and discussion clubs gathered around magazines. In the majority of cases, these have had a disintegrated and marginal role in both social and political life. Until this point a clear and exhaustive taxonomy has not been made of the groups and political parties which belong to the spectrum of nationalist political organisations. What could be recognized as the common ideological determinants of Polish national movement are the priority of Polish national interests and Poles regarded as a sovereign nation. Another determinant is the reluctance felt towards pan-European and international organisations. Simultaneously, there are evidently elements of their programmes which differentiate the nationalist movements in Poland and stem from a number of sources. Nationalist groups and parties vary in their relation to democracy, their level of identification with Catholic ethics and (by maintaining a critical opposition) in their vision of European integration. In academic literature, the terms “right wing nationalism”, “right wing extremism” the “far right” and “ultra right” are used interchangeably and are applied to the members and sympathisers of national movements and nationalist parties as well as extreme and populist nationalists (Maj 2007; Sokół 2006; Tokarz 2002).
    [Show full text]