Beyond fascism? Historical Parallels and Structural Specificities of Post-Socialism

Abstract

The expression 'fascism' is frequently invoked in reference to far-right parties and movements in Europe, certain regimes in post-socialist Eastern Europe and, in general, to describe undemocratic practices based on racist or different forms of discrimination that do not honour the conventions of liberal democracy. However, whereas historical fascisms were certainly undemocratic, they were not anti-liberal, and if we note that liberalism is not necessarily bound to democracy, the present polemical use of the word 'fascism' appears inadequate. In this article, we shall avoid analogy and anachronism by looking for systemic features, which generate the familiar elements that have in the past combined into historical fascisms – including the transformation of the state form and the ideological hegemony over the masses disappointed in the socialist project –, but which have formed new patterns in Eastern Europe after post-socialist transitions in terms of class domination and political regime.