Passmore. Fascism: A Very Short Introduction. Comment.

When one considers the ideology of fascism many notions and images spring to mind: totalitarianism, nationalism, ultranationalism, racism, oppression, censorship, violence, Nazism, Para militarism, right wing conservatism, radicalism, eugenics and the Holocaust. As Kevin Passmore suggests, Fascism is all these things and not these things, as it has a mercurial nature. In fact, "...fascism, as Ortega y Gasset says, is always `A' and not `A'." (p.11)

Passmore devotes most of this text to the inter-war years where fascism manifested in its most blatant forms. Although Mussolini and Hitler have been labelled or are the most famous fascists in modern history, their brand of fascism, however, and how they developed, are quite different. For the most part, fascism is multi-layered and complex, as it attracts all genders, and people from all classes and political sensibilities. To define this elusive term, the author has attempted to reveal the specific historical context in which fascism, in its various forms, raised its head - and from these studies, similarities can be made.

What are the common denominators inclusive to fascism? According to Passmore, its central purpose is national unity. However, it is a national unity in the way "they" define it. He goes on to write that all "isms" feminism, socialism, communism, capitalism etc., particularly for the ultranationalism form of fascism, are rejected wholesale, as the entire nation must conform to the one ideal. Most common to fascism is the desire to rid their country of all foreigners, to ensure all aspects of social and economic life are controlled. Immigration is stopped totally, and immigrants are either persuaded to leave the country or, in the case of the Nazis, exterminated. Moreover, Passmore believes that Fascist social policy, for example, "...is consciously shaped by ultranationalism, political discrimination, and racism." (p. 150)

Fascism today, Passmore suggests, continues to exist in its many forms across the globe, however, these political parties choose not to call themselves fascist as the term has too many negative connotations. The author prefers to call the new fascists, "national populism", as they are essentially the rise of the extreme right, included in such countries as France, Denmark, Austria and the United States. In France, the far-right party, the French National Front, focuses on the "foreign elements" and the advance of socialism, feminism and immigration. Whereas in the United States, nation populism has manifested in the form of "militias", white supremacist who are radically against government regulation or intervention of any kind.

Although a brief overview of fascism and its whys and hows, for the most part, it is clearly written, easily understood despite its complex subject matter, and a text that makes the reader want to investigate further.