Kevin Passmore

Almost gave this two stars. Useful historical discussion of the varieties of fascism. But Passmore is so hyper-attuned to postmodernist fears of erecting totalizing definitional absolutes that he won't venture even the mildest moral pronouncements about the connections between historical fascism and the modern right. And his justifications for his own academic restraint are unconvincing, particularly in an era that has leaned ever more rightward in the years since this book's publication. Yes: arriving at a single, unified definition of fascism that fits all historical cases is ultimately impossible. Nevertheless, this book is so paralyzed by that impossibility that it offers, essentially, not even a provisional definition of the common threads that run through most varieties of fascism and that are alive and well in today's politics.… (meer)

While at times I felt like I needed an introduction to this introduction, I still managed to glean a handful of the most important details about Fascism from Passmore's short little book. While the beginnings of the movement took place among French saltworks laborers fighting against Italian immigrants, Mussolini's rise to power in Italy between WWI and WWII marks the beginning of the movement on a grand scale. Even from that grassroots development to its advent on the world stage, Fascists, like all -isms, covered an array of beliefs and topics, but a profound and sometimes violent ultranationalism always unified the factions. Fascists desire nations with as little diversity as possible, firmly rejecting people with different ethnicities and races and religions. Some of Passmore's finer details on economics and political science were sadly lost on me, written perhaps more for students or those with backgrounds in politics that aren't Fascism.… (meer)