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Is Central When We Analyze Authoritarianism Federico Finchelstein Populism, Fascism and the New Media Landscape 1 It is really a pleasure to be here, particularly analysts that of course are welcome in the because this topic [of the media] is central field, but I’m still surprised that they do not when we analyze authoritarianism. I have read decades of bibliography … on this issue dedicated a big chunk of my life to studying and that they repeat that not only Trump is fascism and populism, and I was excited to be new but that their argument is totally new… here because I think this is a true opportunity to learn …Certainly, for me, the most These kinds of replications present a relation interesting dimension of being here starts in with the object of research which is highly 10 minutes when I finish talking…but still I … problematic. It involves a central pattern, that I would like to share my own perspective on will present as fundamentally fascist this. propaganda, which is the issue of repetition. Against that, my argument is that we need to My work is related to analyzing what is new: If read people who have worked on [these topics we listen to Trump, and certainly to people before] . that repeat Trump's argument, everything is new. Trump himself has called our own times My second argument is that history in this “The Age of Trump,” with the characteristic regard is important. We need to know a little lack of humility that is so predominant in this bit of what happened before we can president. And yet, there is some truth to that, understand what is entirely new and why. This ironically. If from someone that tells lies we is a total new challenge for us. Perhaps we can can get some truth, that is our job as analysts learn from the past in terms of resisting it. This as well. But the question is whether it is true to is very important not only in terms of our work the extent that there are new things going on. but in terms of our position as citizens. Then, As an historian I would say there are many what the past can bring here, at least in my things that are not (new). This is basically the own work as I try to relate to this, is that we point that I would like to stress today: There have much experience, certainly in my region, are things that are new, and certainly there are in Latin America. I am from Argentina, a things that are not --what historians call country with long tradition with populists in continuities between the present and the past. power. Again, it's not that we are going to know what Trump is going to do, or Salvini is Certainly, there is a new bibliography on this going to do (if he returns to power), or topic that basically epitomizes the opposite Bolsonaro is going to do, but having analyzed what we tell our students to do and certainly populists in power, we can then see some what we tell ourselves to do-: That when we patterns. start talking about [a] topic, we [first] read the bibliography. But this new bibliography The second is that because it happened there ignores previous ones. Thus, there are some before, we should really pay attention to the new works that repeat Trump's arguments or Global South. I arrived in this country a little Salvini's arguments or some of these new bit less than 20 years ago, and even then, I was authoritarian leaders’ arguments. They working on fascism and populism, and many imagine a new re-foundation of society that American colleagues would tell me, "Yeah, this they are presenting, [as if] nothing in the past is a really important thing that you are doing." resembles them. Then we have these new That was very nice to hear. "But here, we don't Authoritarianism: Power/Resistance Center for Media at Risk Annual Symposium December 6, 2019 Federico Finchelstein Populism, Fascism and the New Media Landscape 2 have a history of fascism and populism." and Mussolini did. He called for elections, Which is a very curious argument, which in a which he won. Populism, then, having this way, ironically, the actions of Trumpism have fascist background. [This does not refer to] been putting down. And then it [is being] populism in general but to the first time that analyzed as [if it had] no relation with the rest populism came to power. Populism of course of the world and certainly not a relation with existed in many other places throughout the the American past. world, including America by the way, but it came to power first in Latin America because Finally, one of my big arguments … is that of a particularity of issues that I will be happy populism relates to fascism in many ways and to discuss. The main point here that I want to historically relates to fascism. [This is] in the make … relates to populism and the media. It sense that earlier populists in powers had is that populism reformulates itself as an been fascists and dictators, but after fascism authoritarian democracy with a fascist had been defeated in 1945, they decided to try background. [This is not …] in the sense that if to reformulate what was the fascist third you have democracy, you don't have fascism position or third way between liberalism and [or that] … if you have dictatorship, you have communism, in a way that incorporated the fascism. [Rather,] there is no fascism without legacy of fascism but also engaged the new dictatorship. world of democracy. These politicians saw that fascism had become a toxic brand, and thereby So basically, what populists did is they left if you wanted to be elected to power or reach dictatorship behind, creating a new power in a big chunk of the world, then you authoritarian democracy. They also left two needed to somehow incorporate democracy other elements of the toxic brand of fascism, onto your agenda. which were racism and political violence. In a way, this has been the history of populism ever So, this is opposed to the two big famous cases since and until now. In that sense, perhaps of fascism--Mussolini and Hitler, who used Trump is right, because for the first time, what democracy to destroy democracy from within, we are witnessing … is that these populists in creating a dictatorship. The populists in power for the first time, vis a vis the history of countries like Argentina, with General Juan populism, are kind of recuperating things that Perón, with Vargas in Brazil and other places in the earlier populists left behind. Latin America, [all produced] a kind of concurrent phenomenon that happened in all These are three things. There are many more, of these places all of a sudden, where many of but I will just say these three: Dictatorship, these people were either fascists or dictators, political violence and/or its glorification, and or both, or were related to or had worked for finally racism. Racism was something that dictatorships, and they destroyed dictatorship somebody like Perón saw as scaring voters. We from within to create new democracies. So it's see this in this new populism. Let's remember the opposite. how Trump launched his campaign, basically saying that all Mexicans or most of them are Take Perón himself. He was a strong man in a rapists. What he actually meant--and people military junta, in a military dictatorship, and that are from Latin American backgrounds in what did he do? The opposite of what Hitler this country know what he meant--is that all Authoritarianism: Power/Resistance Center for Media at Risk Annual Symposium December 6, 2019 Federico Finchelstein Populism, Fascism and the New Media Landscape 3 Latin Americans or Hispanics are rapists. In a […] way now, going back to this history, what he meant is that racism was or is back in politics. My general point is that we see this new These are big changes in the history of populism as being the closest that it has been populism, if we analyze the previous patterns. in the history of populism to fascism. In a way, this is not full circle. The circle is not complete He will not present it this way, but this new as Darth Vader would say, but it's going back. age of Trump is the age of the return of things that were typically fascist. So when I see, as an It's going back to key elements, and the historian of fascism, that people call Trump a question is how does this play or how can it be fascist, I understand why that is going on. I still seen when analyzed from the position of the disagree because you need basically a media? To the extent that the media is still dictatorial situation that happily we don't have able to occupy a central role in society, yet. Populism is not an essence. He could basically in defending constitutional become a fascist dictator at some point, and it democracy in a big way against populism, then depends on us … to stop it. it will be hard to talk about fascism. When we see the opposite, that the media has been Finally, I would like to say that the issue of the crushed by a given power regime, then media is a key element that fascism clearly saw probably we are approaching a more fascist as a problem.
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