Antifascism Gottfried, Paul
2021, 2021-10-15
eBook
A conservative take on the antifascist movement Antifascism argues that current self-described antifascists are not struggling against a reappearance of interwar fascism, and that the Left that ...claims to be opposing fascism has little in common with any earlier Left, except for some overlap with critical theorists of the Frankfurt School. Paul Gottfried looks at antifascism from its roots in early twentieth-century Europe to its American manifestation in the present. The pivotal development for defining the present political spectrum, he suggests, has been the replacement of a recognizably Marxist Left by an intersectional one. Political and ideological struggles have been configured around this new Left, which has become a dominant force throughout the Western world. Gottfried discusses the major changes undergone by antifascist ideology since the 1960s, fascist and antifascist models of the state and assumptions about human nature, nationalism versus globalism, the antifascism of the American conservative establishment, and Antifa in the United States. Also included is an excursus on the theory of knowledge presented by Thomas Hobbes in Leviathan. In Antifascism Gottfried concludes that promoting a fear of fascism today serves the interests of the powerful—in particular, those in positions of political, journalistic, and educational power who want to bully and isolate political opponents. He points out the generous support given to the intersectional Left by multinational capitalists and examines the movement of the white working class in Europe—including former members of Communist parties—toward the populist Right, suggesting this shows a political dynamic that is different from the older dialectic between Marxists and anti-Marxists.
This book initiates a critical discussion on the varieties of global anti-fascism and explores the cultural, political and practical articulations of anti-fascism around the world.This volume brings ...together a group of leading scholars on the history of anti-fascism to provide a comprehensive analysis of anti-fascism from a transnational and global perspective and to reveal the abundance and complexity of anti-fascist ideas, movements and practices. Through a number of interlinked case studies, they examine how different forms of global anti-fascisms were embedded in various national and local contexts during the interwar period and investigate the interrelations between local articulations and the global movement. Contributions also explore the actions and impact of African, Asian, Latin American, Caribbean, and Middle Eastern anti-fascist voices that have often been ignored or rendered peripheral in international histories of anti-fascism.Aimed at a postgraduate student audience, this book will be useful for modules on the extreme right, political history, political thought, political ideologies, political parties, social movements, political regimes, global politics, world history and sociology.
Vividly recasting Cuba's politics in the 1930s as transnational, Ariel Mae Lambe has produced an unprecendented reimagining of Cuban activism during an era previously regarded as a lengthy, defeated ...lull. In this period, many Cuban activists began to look at their fight against strongman rule and neocolonial control at home as part of the international antifascism movement that exploded with the Spanish Civil War. Frustrated by multiple domestic setbacks, including Colonel Fulgencio Batista's violent crushing of a massive general strike, activists found strength in the face of repression by refusing to view their political goals as confined to the island. As individuals and in groups, Cubans from diverse backgrounds and political stances self-identified as antifascists and moved, both physically and symbolically, across borders and oceans, cultivating networks and building solidarity for a New Spain and a New Cuba. They believed that it was through these ostensibly foreign fights that they would achieve economic and social progress for their nation. Indeed, Cuban antifascism was such a strong movement, Lambe argues, that it helps to explain the surprisingly progressive turn that Batista and the Cuban government took at the end of the decade, including the establishment of a new constitution and presidential elections.
One of the enduring myths about World War Two is that only the Allies liberated occupied Europe. Many countries had anti-fascist Resistance movements, and Italy's was one of the biggest and most ...politically radical yet it remains relatively unknown outside of its own homeland. Within Italy many plaques and streets commemorate the actions of the partisans - a movement from below that grew as Mussolini's dictatorship unravelled. Led by radical left forces, the Resistance trod a thin line between fighting their enemies at home and maintaining an uneasy working relationship with the Allies. Essential for courses on World War Two and European history, Tom Behan uses unpublished archival material and interviews with surviving partisans to tell an inspiring story of liberation.
Piero Gobetti's new world Ward, David
Piero Gobetti's new world,
c2010, 20100424, 2010, 2010-01-01, 20100101
eBook
Piero Gobetti's New Worldis both an introduction to Gobetti's thought and an in-depth study of the three main questions on which his writings focus: the relationship between Italian history and ...fascism, the nature of a genuine antifascist political culture, and the crisis of Italian liberalism in his day.
The Spanish Civil War created a conflict for Americans who preferred that the United States remain uninvolved in foreign affairs. Despite the country's isolationist tendencies, opposition to the rise ...of fascism across Europe convinced many Americans that they had to act in support of the Spanish Republic. While much has been written about the war itself and its international volunteers, little attention has been paid to those who coordinated these relief efforts at home. American Relief Aid and the Spanish Civil War tells the story of the political campaigns to raise aid for the Spanish Republic as activists pushed the limits of isolationist thinking. Those concerned with Spain's fate held a range of political convictions (including anarchists, socialists, liberals, and communists) with very different understandings of what fascism was. Yet they all agreed that fascism's advance must be halted. With labor strikes, fund- raising parties, and ambulance tours, defenders of Spain in the United States sought to shift the political discussion away from isolation of Spain's elected government and toward active assistance for the faltering Republic. Examining the American political organizations affiliated with this relief effort and the political repression that resulted as many of Spain's supporters faced the early incarnations of McCarthyism's trials, Smith provides new understanding of American politics during the crucial years leading up to World War II. By also focusing on the impact the Spanish Civil War had on those of Spanish ethnicity in the United States, Smith shows how close to home the seemingly distant war really hit.
A conservative take on the antifascist
movement
Antifascism argues that
current self-described antifascists are not struggling against a
reappearance of interwar fascism, and that the Left that ...claims to
be opposing fascism has little in common with any earlier Left,
except for some overlap with critical theorists of the Frankfurt
School. Paul Gottfried looks at antifascism from its roots
in early twentieth-century Europe to its American manifestation in
the present. The pivotal development for defining the present
political spectrum, he suggests, has been the replacement of a
recognizably Marxist Left by an intersectional one. Political and
ideological struggles have been configured around this new Left,
which has become a dominant force throughout the Western world.
Gottfried discusses the major changes undergone by antifascist
ideology since the 1960s, fascist and antifascist models of the
state and assumptions about human nature, nationalism versus
globalism, the antifascism of the American conservative
establishment, and Antifa in the United States. Also included is an
excursus on the theory of knowledge presented by Thomas Hobbes in
Leviathan .
In Antifascism Gottfried concludes that promoting a
fear of fascism today serves the interests of the powerful-in
particular, those in positions of political, journalistic, and
educational power who want to bully and isolate political
opponents. He points out the generous support given to the
intersectional Left by multinational capitalists and examines the
movement of the white working class in Europe-including former
members of Communist parties-toward the populist Right, suggesting
this shows a political dynamic that is different from the older
dialectic between Marxists and anti-Marxists.
