The Anatomy of Fascism
- Jun 17, 2019
- 2 min read
★★★★☆
The Anatomy of Fascism is exactly the kind of book you’d find on the shelf of a local coffee shop, pick up because you’re intrigued by the title, lured by the cover, and, ultimately, hooked by the setup. Fortunately, River Market Coffee Roasters has a take a book–share a book policy, so I didn’t have to hyper-caffeinate myself on dollar refills all day to wend my way through Robert O. Paxton’s estimable prose.
I’m no scholar of fascism—or any -ism for that matter—just your average ordinary curious mind looking to exercise its muscles on just about any and every topic that comes along. Of course, who isn’t fascinated by what Paxton succinctly calls “the major political innovation of the twentieth century, and the source of much of its pain?” Fascism, and especially its most horrific expression in Germany’s National Socialism (aka Nazism), to most anyway, is either an inconceivability, an isolated product of its time and place and people never to be repeated again, or an incomprehensibility, so poorly understood as to render both the term and its usage meaningless.
By examining the historical record, focusing on what facisist did as opposed to merely what they said, Paxton makes clear the sequence by which fascism develops, roots, and takes hold; why fascist regimes came to power in some places (Italy, Germany) and not others (France, Britain, Spain, Hungary, Romania, et al.); and why, though there is a baseline ideology (forced national unity, purity, expansionism), fascism manifested itself so differently from place to place.
Of course, a book exploring the anatomy of fascism must ultimately conclude with its definition, and Paxton indeed provides a useful and compelling framework for encompassing such sprawling political behavior. Despite his “usable short handle,” Paxton makes clear that fascism may be best linked to a set of “mobilizing passions” that shape fascist action than to a consistent and fully articulated philosophy. Fascism, and behavior in keeping with fascist feelings, is certainly alive today—and in ways far subtler than you might think. The more we understand how fascism succeeded in the past, the better we can respond when fascism progresses from fringe movement to taking root in political systems.
Comments