Highlighting the "mass" nature of interwar European fascism has long become commonplace. Throughout the years, numerous critics have construed fascism as a phenomenon of mass society, perhaps the ultimate expression of mass politics. This study deconstructs this long-standing perception. It argues that the entwining of fascism with the masses is a remarkable transubstantiation of a movement which understood and presented itself as a militant rejection of the ideal of mass politics, and indeed of mass society and mass culture more broadly conceived. Thus, rather than "massifying" society, fascism was the culmination of a long effort on the part of the elites and the middle-classes to de-massify it. The perennially menacing mass - seen as plebeian and insubordinate - was to be drilled into submission, replaced by supposedly superior collective entities, such as the nation, the race, or the people. Focusing on Italian fascism and German National Socialism, but consulting fascist movements and individuals elsewhere in interwar Europe, the book incisively shows how fascism is best understood as ferociously resisting what Elias referred to as "the civilizing process" and what Marx termed "the social individual." Fascism, notably, was a revolt against what Nietzsche described as the peaceful, middling and egalitarian "Last Humans."

About the Author

Ishay Landa is Senior Lecturer of History at the Israeli Open University.

Reviews

"I don't believe I exaggerate when I say this is the most significant work on the subject since Lukacs' The Destruction of Reason or Trotsky's great, prophetic writings of the 1930s. (...) Landa's account contains a strong, uplifting and profound humanity as he reminds us that 'the last humans' also represent our last best hope."

- Tony McKenna, Marx & Philosophy Review of Books

"Fascism and the Masses is an immensely rich and rewarding text, drawing from an unbelievably wide array of material."

- Guy Lancaster, Capital & Class

Book Information
ISBN 9780367893064
Author Ishay Landa
Format Paperback
Page Count 432
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g