Discussion: What is Fascism? June 30th

After a short hiatus, I reserved the Chapel Hill
Public Library's conference room on Saturday, June 30th,
2:30-4:30 for the next Triangle Socialist Forum discussion.   

 

This meeting will be on fascism.  Fascism is
a word that is often used as an epithet, even today,
but what it is and who is fascist is usually poorly
defined by its opponents and even less often is there an attempt to
explain the material basis for fascist seizure of power

and their policies.  Has there ever really been a coherent

political syndrome that we can call fascism, is fascism in power anywhere
today, and if there is fascism now, is it the same
thing as the fascism of the 20's-40's?  I'm thinking of this

as the start of a series of discussions on fascism,

but that depends on how this meeting goes.       

There will be a showing of the 28-minute presentation made
by William Manson and Maria Darlington for The Peoples
Channel of Chapel Hill.  

 

Useful readings are:

A recent short article on the 14 characteristics of
fascism, Fascism Anyone?, by Laurence W. Britt

and published in Free Inquiry magazine.  It is available at:

www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/britt_23_2.htm

The first section of Part 1 of a collection of
speeches. reports, etc. by Gregori Dimitrov, a Bulgarian
communist who was the general secretary of the
Comintern (the third international communist association)

around the time of WWII.  I think he was
also tried by the Nazis for the Reichstag fire (which
the Nazis probably set themselves).  He gives another
analysis of fascism and the Comintern definition:

www.marx2mao.com/Other/TUF35i.html

Chapter 20 of economic historian Karl Polanyi's book,
The Great Transformation, might also be helpful, but
this isn't required reading.  It would be
interesting to discuss later.  The book is about the
development of capitalism up to WWII, focusing on the
tension between the assumptions capitalism requires to
work and the economic, social, and environmental
realities.  Chapter 20 focuses on why fascism
developed.  I haven't looked to see if the book is
online, but you would probably have to find a library
copy or buy it.

I'm not suggesting a survey of all the currents of
thought on fascism, but another contemporary view is
presented in a 1932 analysis by Trotsky:

www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/germany/1932/onlyroad1.htm#s0

As always, it is best to read for the meeting, but
that shouldn't stop anyone from coming.  I think a
film relating to this, From Freedom to Fascism is
being shown at The Open Eye Cafe in Carrboro Friday
evening.