Fascism: The History of a Word

A wide-ranging history of the term ＂fascism,＂ what it has meant, and what it means today.

The rise and popular support for authoritarianism around the world and within traditional democracies have spurred debates over the meaning of the term ＂fascist＂ and when and whether it is appropriate to use it. The landmark study Fascism: The History of a Word takes this debate further by tackling its most fundamental questions: How did the terms ＂fascism＂ and ＂fascist＂ come to be in the first place? How and in what circumstances have they been used? How can they be understood today? And what are the advantages (or disadvantages) of using ＂fascism＂ to make sense of interwar authoritarianism as well as contemporary politics?

Exploring the writings and deeds of political leaders, activists, artists, authors, and philosophers, Federico Marcon traces the history of the term’s use (and usefulness) in relation to Mussolini’s political regime, antifascist resistance, and the quest of postwar historians to develop a definition of a ＂fascist minimum.＂ This investigation of the semiotics of ＂fascism＂ also aims to inquire about people’s voluntary renunciation of the modern emancipatory ideals of freedom, equality, and solidarity.

Federico Marcon is professor of East Asian studies and history at Princeton University. He is the author of The Knowledge of Nature and the Nature of Knowledge in Early Modern Japan, also published by the University of Chicago Press.