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Paper short abstract:

I argue that in the case of post-socialist fascism -- climaxing in Putin´s aggression towards Ukraine -- we have to analyse autochtonous reactionary origin of fascism in terms of a historical cultural economy and institunalisation of democracy that predates the crisis of neoliberal capitalism.

Paper long abstract:

Following the call by Douglas Holmes (2019) for analysing fascism in and of our times, I question Lilith Mahmut´s (2020) cross-cultural applicability of fascism’s roots in liberalism and the relevance of radical left as a democratic alternative to this fascism. By comparing her Italian analysis of spectral fascism with my research on cultural economy of protest in East Central Europe (Buzalka 2021), I show the origins of village fascism in and of our postsocialist times developed under state-socialist mass society by the absence of historical liberalism and continues to rise by the apparent weakness of liberalism. The historical and present unimportance of the miniscule anti-fascist left in offering a feasible democratic alternative vis-à-vis fascism applies for most of Eastern Europe. I argue that in the case of post-socialist fascism -- climaxing in Putin´s reactionary regime´s imperialist aggression towards democratic Ukraine -- we have to analyse autochtonous reactionary origin of fascism in terms of a historical cultural economy and institunalisation of democracy that predates the ephemeral crisis of neoliberal capitalism. In other words, if there is liberalism expected to be one of the sources of spectral fascism in post-socialist Europe, it first needs to be proven that this liberalism has been existing and/or has been playing a significant role in this spectrum. I would argue further that the anti-fascist anthropology in/of postsocialist Europe would likely to have a progressive populist flavor.

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Paper short abstract:

What if the category antifascist possibly implied a fascist engagement with otherness? Problematizing the “spectre” metaphor, used by fascism scholars to refer to the radical right sphere, this paper seeks to question the role of the body in anthropological knowledge on fascist practices.

Paper long abstract:

Like many other scholars, I, too, was confronted with fear when engaged for the first time in an ethnographic encounter with Spanish far right supporters. What kind of shift does anthropology ignite when it comes to facing in flesh and blood what is believed to be radical otherness? If we assume that, beyond politics, spectres of fascism are ubiquitous in (post)modern societies, we need to consider the embodied dimension of that (omni)presence. The problem is that we might find out that “their” affective experience of neoliberal, mass societies is not far from “ours”. What if part of that fear was a moral stance (Fassin, 2014), something like a reluctance to acknowledge a certain common condition? Questioning the “spectre” metaphor, broadly borrowed from Marx and Engels by fascism scholars to describe radical right’s phenomenality, this paper’s aim is to discuss the tension between the ethically situatedness of an engaged anthropology and the epistemological need to overthrow simplistic dichotomies. To do so, I explore a methodological approach grounded in my own fear of flesh and blood, gendered fascist practices and bodies. Following Viveiros de Castro’s image of “thought as cannibalism” (2009) and using Bruno Perreau’s concept of “intrasectionality” (2022), this paper will discuss the critical potentialities of some “haunting spectres” when considered as material-cultural agencies. In doing so, I will try to give an example of what happens when fascist metaphors are ethnographically “digested” by the body as a heuristic notion, before being extro-spected into an anthropological counternarrative.

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Paper short abstract:

I propose to use feminist ethnography as a paradigm of research to assume the “eminently political” condition of social science research. This could feed the current crisis of anti-fascism and suggest to explore how feminist insights can be used in understanding and opposing fascist presence.

Paper long abstract:

Ethnographic research on fascism necessitate to engage with ethical and political issues emerging from the specific political actuality (and past history) of the subject area of research. I propose to engage with the necessity to unveil the multiple presence of forms of threat and violence in fascist context, and relation of discrimination and racism needs to be assumed when deciding to collaborate during research process and with whom. I propose to use feminist ethnography as a paradigm of research to assume the “eminently political” condition of social science research (Bourdieu Wacquant 1992, Bourdieu 2003), especially when engaging with an anthropology of fascism. Researchers shall be aware and scientifically cognizant of their own positioning and presence during ethnography. Recent developments in feminist ethnographic literature (Schrock 2018, Davis Craven 2016) suggest a new direction for systemically engaging with the epistemological implications of positionality during fieldwork relations. Feminist ethnography is not a data collection method as surveys, fieldwork notes, interviews, and observation; rather, it is a methodology for interrogating such data (Davis Craven 2016).

What is suggested is also the structured use of feminist theory as a privileged lens into fascist practices and processes. This could feed the current crisis of anti-fascism (Bernardi 2019, Greppi 2020, Luzzatto 2004), and suggest to explore how feminist insights – considering feminism as a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression (bell hooks 2000: 1) – can be used scientifically and politically in understanding and opposing fascist presence and violence.