Of all the various political philosophies, fascism may be the hardest to define by its very nature. Various other systems like democracy, socialism, and monarchy are fairly straightforward, but fascism? The only definition I have ever come across that made any sense was it was a reaction against socialism. Various other attempts have been made, but my general understanding is fascism would take a different form in whatever country it appeared in since it mostly eschews closely to whatever traditions said country possesses.
That doesn’t mean people don’t try, and Yale philosophy professor Jason Stanley takes his turn with How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them.
Stanley’s book works by identifying various traits in common to all of history’s fascist governments and any government that may or may not be headed in that direction. If I were to summarize Stanley’s points, it is that fascism works by creating an other that often lives in cities, isn’t a “real” citizen of the nation, and the most important things are strength and tradition. By citing a mythic past that never existed, the fascist posits a better future for the “real” and the “pure” people of a country.
From there, Stanley cites more modern day examples of various world leaders, particularly Donald Trump, following those self-same techniques. Stanley doesn’t mince words: he believes Trump, as well as various other world leaders, are fascists. In Stanley’s view, the struggle against fascism is a neverending one. Just because the Nazis were beaten during World War II doesn’t mean fascism couldn’t rise again in again in some other democracy. With various leaders around the world securing more and more power for themselves, it does seem as if now is a good time to ponder the existence and nature of fascism, and Stanley makes a good argument towards defining if not what fascism is than at least what fascism does.
If there is a weakness to Stanley’s work, it is that I cannot quite tell whether or not there is a difference in Stanley’s mind between general American conservatism and fascism. Is it possible for an American to be a conservative and not a fascist? I would hope so and that it is possible to be conservative and not fascist, but Stanley doesn’t say one way or the other. That might make it difficult for this work to appeal to some readers. Then again, given the individuals Stanley does refer to as fascists and their followers, a “come to Jesus” moment may not be possible for them anyway, assuming they’d even read a book like this.
Grade: B
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