Contents and Introduction
Summary by James R. Martin, Ph.D., CMA
Professor Emeritus, University of South Florida
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Introduction by Gavriel D. Rosenfeld and Janet Ward.
The introduction to this book and the chapters that follow examine the debate over whether America's turn to the political right developed from both the European and American fascist movements, or instead grew out of homegrown right-wing fascist tendencies. The various authors examine a number of related issues along with policy responses to the right-wing threat.
Debating Trumpism: A Fascist or Conservative Movement
The debate participants fall into two groups related to the historical explanation for the rise of Trumpism. The authors refer to these two groups as the alarmist and the skeptics. Both groups desire to defend against the threat presented by Trumpism, but disagree on the origins of Trumpism, its features, and how to counter its agenda.
The Alarmists: Trump is a Fascist
The alarmist view Trump as a fascist and see Trumpism as a fascist movement that grew out of both the European and American fascist movements of the past. Trumpism has roots in both the interwar dictatorships of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany as well as the racial oppression that occurred in the Jim Crow South. Some have compared Trump to Adolf Hitler, "his shameless lying, relentless propagandizing, and general demagoguery." Others have avoided Nazi comparisons but have called some of his administrative policies as fascist, e.g., separating immigrant families being detained on the Mexico-U.S. border and holding them in concentration camps. Other liberal critics have compared Trumpism to the American First movement of the 1940s, while some critics have traced Trump's political stance to the Ku Klux Klan. Still others see Trump's fascism as a mutation of the Republican Party's fascist transformation tracing it back to its long alliance with the white supremacist forces in American society.
The Skeptics: Trump is Not a Fascist
The skeptics have a different view and do not see Trump is a fascist. Instead they believe Trumpism grew from the American conservative right-wing tradition of Joseph McCarthy, Barry Goldwater and George Wallace. Although Trump exhibits some of the characteristics of a fascist he does not exhibit many others, e.g., he has no uniform ideology and appeals more to the elderly than to young people. As President he did not pursue fascist economic or social policies, or an expansionist form of foreign policy. Instead he reduced the welfare state, reduced regulation, and reduced the U.S. global military footprint.
There are many other views of Trump and Trumpism. Some leftist critics view Trump's behavior as a continuation of long-standing anti-democratic forces in American politics. Some others see Trumpism as a form of oligarchy that supports the interest of privileged elites and white dominance or a plutocratic populism. Still others believe Trumpism is a form of ochlocracy, or populist mob rule where the leader draws power from the people instead of the elites. Some of the terms used include "authoritarian populist," "illiberal democrat," and "postfascist" nationalist. The demagogue initially ensnares the people with his lies, but becomes captive to their demands. Other similar movements (the Nativist Party, William Jennings Bryan, Huey Long, Joseph McCarthy) expressed hatred for various enemies, such as Catholics, Blacks, Jews, cultural elites, secularists and intellectuals. Trump has done the same thing by promoting resentment following the lead of the Tea Party, birthers, and QAnon fanatics. Other critics view Trumpism as kleptocracy, or the rule of thieves where the leader uses all possible means to pursue self-enrichment. From this perspective, Trumpism has more to do with the opportunistic use of any method to gain wealth and power than with an opposition to democracy. In other words, Trump is more like Vladimir Putin than Adolf Hitler. Others have noted Trump's links to theocracy, i.e., to erode the separation of church and state. He has provided secular cover for the Christian right to pursue its goal of imposing theocracy, or Christian Nationalism on Americans.
Interpretive Blind Spots
The alarmist have overemphasized the similarities and underemphasized the differences between Trumpism and fascism. Skeptics ignore the fact that fascist regimes all have their own oligarchic, ochlogratic, kleptocratic and theocratic features. Fascism developed by combining features from other political movements on both the left and the right.
Historicizing American Fascism
This section examines the task of understanding how Trumpism and fascism fit into American history. The first problem involves defining fascism, and where to place it on the left-right political spectrum. In addition there are questions of how to explain its relationship to other movements including socialism, liberalism, and conservatism. There are also questions of whether there is a generic fascism, a fascist minimum or a fascist matrix. The diverging approaches to answering these questions makes fascism an elastic concept that resists a simple definition. Recently scholars have begun to answer these questions and a number of books are mentioned in this section involving studies examining the links between European and American fascism, but more work needs to be done.
Fascism in America: An Intervention
This book builds upon the new literature on Fascism in America by examining the historical roots and recent indicators of fascism in the United States. The authors in this volume attempt to answer a number of questions, e.g., does the U.S. version of fascism have a foreign or domestic origin, or both? If domestic, which homegrown political traditions have contributed to American fascism? To what degree is the concept of fascism essential or peripheral to American historical experience, and how serious is the threat? To address these and many other questions the contributions in this volume are structured into four main thematic sections as indicated in the contents listed above. For example, in Part 1, Chapter 1 Geoff Eley makes it clear that democracy's future is at stake. Eley explains that what is different between fascists from the past and the present is the desire to violently suppress enemies rather than argue with them, or the preference for an authoritarian state rather than a democracy that values diversity.
Conclusion
We need to do more than just hope that an election will stop the current coup-oriented trajectory. Advocates of white supremacist violence and terror have increasingly attempted to justify their actions by normalizing fears of the overtaking of whites by Blacks and minorities, i.e., the "us against them" tactic. This conspiracy theory goes by various names, e.g., the Great Replacement. However, if our multiracial democracy can be created and maintained it will become a model for the world.
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Go to Chapter 1: Liberalism in Crisis: What is Fascism and Where Does it Come from? by Geoff Eley
Related summaries:
Anonymous. 2019. A Warning: A Senior Trump Administration Official. Twelve: Hachette Book Group. (Summary).
Martin, J. R. Not dated. Policies of a Second Trump Presidency.
Martin, J. R. Not dated. Shepard Fairey Political Posters.
Martin, J. R. Not dated. Summary of Trump's Seven Part Plan to Overturn the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election.
Martin, J. R. Not dated. Summary of what Trump is and what he is not.
Martin, J. R. Not dated. Why I vote for Democrats.
Oser, J. 1963. The Evolution of Economic Thought. Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc. (Summary).
Unger, C. 2018. House of Trump, House of Putin: The Untold Story of Donald Trump and the Russian Mafia. Dutton. (Note).
