What’s Fascism, Really?

Fascism: The Career of a Concept. By Paul E. Gottfried.  Northern Illinois University Press, 2016. Vii + 226 pages.

Paul Gottfried’s immensely erudite survey of interpretations of fascism puts one in mind of Ludwig von Mises.  Although Gottfried does not discuss Mises, readers of his excellent book will again and again be surprised and instructed at the extent to which Gottfried defends views similar to those of the great Austrian economist. Surprise, though, is not really in order. Though Mises is a classical liberal and Gottfried a conservative, both are steeped in the values and traditions of European civilization, and they interpret fascism from this perspective.

Gottfried has been greatly influenced by the historian Ernst Nolte, who sees fascism as a reaction to the violence and disruption of the Bolshevik Revolution. “Fascist movements were ‘counterrevolutionary imitations of leftist revolution’ that developed as reactions to the dangers of leftist upheavals…According to Nolte, the fascists absorbed the disruptive tactics and revolutionary élan of their leftist enemies in order to vanquish them.” (pp.1, 37)acquiesce in the disadvantages which acceptance of the same system by other nations would impose upon them. They are not prepared to be ‘imprisoned, ’as they say, within a comparatively overpopulated area in which the productivity of labor is lower than in other countries.”(pp.222-223)

Rather than attempt.a comprehensive review of this very rich book. I have concentrated entirely on a comparison of the author’s views with those of Mises. Among the many topics in it that deserve careful study are the author’s brilliant discussions of Karl Mannheim and Giovanni Gentile.  A few minor points: Karl Jaspers did not remain in his German academic post during the war; he was forced to retire in 1937. (p.54). Although Kurt Lewin was an important contributor to Gestalt psychology; he was not the “father” of that school of thought. (p.68) The author contrasts Adorno and Horkheimer, “who could write knowledgeably and appreciatively about Goethe, Beethoven, Hegel, and other German luminaries” with “second generation” critical theorists like Habermas, “‘with little interest in German cultural achievements.” (p.70) But Habermas wrote his dissertation on Schelling and has also written about Kant, Fichte, and Hegel.  These points are, as I say, of minor importance, and one closes Fascism: The Career of a Concept with great admiration for Gottfried’s prodigious scholarship and historical insight.

 Notes

• 1.By far the best discussion of Mises’s views on fascism is the brilliant article by Ralph Raico, “Mises on Fascism, Democracy, and Other Questions,” Journal of Libertarian Studies, Volume 12, Number 1, 1996.

Note: The views expressed on Mises.org are not necessarily those of the Mises Institute.

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