From Financialization to Derivative Fascisms

The last forty years of financialization have laid the groundwork for a resurgence of fascist cultural politics. This article expands Hito Steyerl's notion of derivative fascism by placing it in dialogue with Enzo Traverso's theory of postfascism and Randy Martin's exploration of the sociality of the derivative. Such a conjunction allows us to gain a better understanding of how financialization encourages the transformation of social subjects in ways that lend themselves to fascistic dispositions. Far-right authoritarian actors and movements find sympathy and adherents among people who are expected to become competitive, creative, and self-interested risk takers but find themselves in a world where, for the vast majority, risks are proliferating and unmanageable. This approach can offer a useful supplement to other critical theorizations of the recent resurgence of fascist cultural politics that focus on race, gender, and the longer lineages of reactionary thought. In the first place, it helps us account for the particular financialized context for these cultural politics. Second, it helps us account for how they thrive on highly constrained and speculative forms of decentralized creative agency, entrepreneurship, and conviviality.