Thinking Fascism

There is again much talk about fascism today. The word itself is strong but its meaning seems more elusive than ever before. Can we still make sense of it? Yes we can indeed, but not within one sinlge discipline of knowledge. Only a genuinely crossdisciplinary approach makes it possible to grasp the meaning of a phenomenon such as fascism. Philosophy, of course, plays an essential role in this attempt. Not, however, because there is such thing as an authentic “philosophy of fascism”, having already been in possession of its truth. It is not about a “fascist philosophy” either, supposed to express the original doctrine of fascism. What we call philosophy in the context of fascism is a method of cognitively dealing with its various – political, cultural, economic, social – aspects. Philosophy revels their historically and culturally specific interactions and provides tools to analyze the concepts of which the ideological edifice of fascism is constructed: modernism, aesthetics, class struggle, mass psychology, state power, technology etc. We will ask: what is historical fascism and how does it relate to its contemporary manifestations; what is the difference between “neo-fascism” and “post-fascism”; how does the concept apply to the contemporary phenomena such as “cultural wars”, right-wing populism, nationalism, neo-imperialism, neo-liberalism, the ongoing wars etc.

The class will read and discuss an article from The Atlantic (January 2026), which claims that the current goverment in the USA is explicitly "fascist," and delve into close reading of selected passages from the book and other selected texts.

Readings:

“Yes, It’s Fascism,” By Jonathan Rauch, The Atlantic, JANUARY 25, 2026, 9:39 AM ET

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/01/america-fascism-trump-maga-ice/685751/?gift=SCYx-5scVta3-cr_IlgTydJG4_1-LMS4eEYlyvsgA4Q

Enzo Traverso, The New Faces of Fascism. Populism and the Far Right, Translated by David Broder, London, New York: Verso, 1019.

https://pycpim.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/The-New-Faces-of-Fascism_-Populism-and-the-Far-Right-PDFDrive-.pdf

Rastko Močnik, Extravagantia II: How much fascism? A selection from the book Read Thread, Issue #1, p. 44-59.

https://red-thread.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/redthread01_eng.pdf

Consists in the active participation and contribution (discursive, textual and performative).

The module grading is based on the mentioned contribution, active in-class participation and

• - submission of written assignments (word minimum of 500 total)

• “Students from other departments or universities will be given a place on the course subject to room capacities.”