Fascism And Neofascism

The dramatic transformations of the the 1990s - the end of the Cold War, the establishment of political liberties and market economies in Eastern Europe, German unification - quickly led commentators to proclaim the end of all ideologies and the complete triumph of liberal capitalism. Just as quickly, however, right-wing extremism began a surge in Europe that has not significantly abated to this day. Fascism and Neofascism is a collection of essays that is distinctive in two important ways. First, unlike most volumes, which cover either historical fascism or the recent radical right, Fascism and Neofascism spans both periods. Secondly, this volume also aims to bring newer modes of inquiry, rooted in cultural studies, into dialogue with more 'traditional' ways of viewing fascism. The editors' approach is deliberately interdisciplinary, even eclectic.

The Nature of Fascism draws on the history of ideas as well as on political, social and psychological theory to produce a synthesis of ideas and approaches that will be invaluable for students. Roger Griffin locates the driving force of fascism in a distinctive form of utopian myth, that of the regenerated national community, destined to rise up from the ashes of a decadent society. He lays bare the structural affinity that relates fascism not only to Nazism, but to the many failed fascist movements that surfaced in inter-war Europe and elsewhere, and traces the unabated proliferation of virulent (but thus far successfully marginalized) fascist activism since 1945.

Publisher description

This book describes the establishment, evolution, and international links of the extreme right in one of the main Western European areas. Andrea Mammone details the long journey in the development of right-wing extremism in France and Italy, emphasizing the transfer, exchange, and borrowing of ideals, personnel, and strategies and the similarities among neofascist movements, activists, and thinkers across national boundaries from 1945 to the present day - including the Cold War years, the election of the European Parliament in 1979, and the 2014 EU elections. Mammone analyzes the adaptation of neofascism in society and politics; the building of international associations and pan-national networks; and the right-leaning responses to the defeat of fascism, European integration, decolonization, the events of 1968, immigration, and the recent EU-led austerity politics. As a book implicitly on space, borders, and belonging, it shows how some nationalisms may embody a transnational dimension and, at times, even pan-European stances.

The re-emergence of far-right parties throughout Europe was one of the most striking and disturbing features of European politics in the 1980s. Though its importance differs from country to country, international links between parties may make neo-Fascism more respectable and a less transitory feature of European politics than seemed likely at the start of the 1980s. This phenomenon is analyzed in this collection of essays which offers an analysis of the various neo-Fascist movements of Western Europe. representing a range of disciplines and provides analyses of the neo-Fascist movements in Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugual, Greece, France and Britain. It combines studies of the underlying socio-economic conditions on which neo-Fascist ideology thrives with explorations of specific areas such as the use of propaganda or the denial of Nazi atrocities.