A-Infos (en) France, OCL CA #336 - Far right and fascism today (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

There is currently a rise in far-right parties in France and in many 
countries around the world. Many are described as fascists[1]. We must 
have a materialistic approach. Just as we do not confuse the discourse 
of so-called left-wing political apparatuses with their actual practice 
in government (where they betray all the promises made), we must 
differentiate the discourse of far-right parties from their practices in 
governments. We must therefore be able to characterize what a fascist 
regime is in order to be able to differentiate it from a far-right 
regime; because by confusing everything, we risk proposing erroneous 
militant axes. We therefore return in this article to this difference to 
try to understand the current political issues.

What is fascism?

Fascism is not characterized by the speech of its leaders. By confusing 
it with the extreme right, we erase its characteristic features[2]. The 
fundamental function of fascism is to manage to save capitalism and its 
State in a situation of acute crisis of capitalism, even if a fascist 
party officially carries an anti-system discourse. Fascism emerged as a 
political movement before its takeover, led by a "leader" and relying on 
militias. It claims to regenerate a community of interest different from 
the class community: the Nation. Fascist ideology only serves as cement 
for mass mobilization in a situation of deep social and political 
crisis. It transforms despair into hope for a new order around a 
rediscovered unity of interest (the Nation), defined as a general 
interest above class conflict. This political movement seeks to destroy 
any challenge to this national unity through terror which relies on both 
state and extra-state forces. Mass militias therefore emerge from 
radicalized social layers, seeking in this national imagination a 
perspective of a future. Fascism differs from a military dictatorship in 
that it comes to power legally by relying on mobilized social 
forces[3]which allow it to break up all existing political and trade 
union organizations to impose enlistment of the population. in 
structures that he controls.
Relying on fascism is not without consequences for the bourgeoisie. The 
fascist mass movement is partially autonomous because it emerges from 
the depths of society and outside the traditional bourgeois political 
apparatuses. Fascism imposes a dictatorial state on the whole of 
society, including the bourgeoisie (even if a fraction of the 
bourgeoisie benefits from it). It is therefore not a classic solution 
for the bourgeoisie. The common form of domination of the bourgeoisie, 
at least in rich countries, is the so-called parliamentary democratic 
form because it is the least costly form for it. Freedom of the press, 
universal suffrage, union and political rights, the right to strike, 
etc. make it possible to cushion the social crises inherent to capitalism.
In situations where the electoral illusion no longer works, the 
bourgeoisie may decide to rely on a more authoritarian state. But not 
every authoritarian state is equivalent to fascism, and we are currently 
experiencing an authoritarian shift in the state without the facade of 
democracy being suspended. If the ruling class sometimes relies on 
fascism, it is not in reaction to a revolutionary threat from the 
proletariat, but above all it responds to a crisis of capitalism where 
the bourgeoisie is no longer able to impose itself. It is therefore a 
response to the disintegration of capitalism. Having come to power, the 
fascist regime will crush the organized workers' movement by relying in 
part on its social base which serves as the armed arm of repression. 
Everyone becomes everyone's spy, slowing down any organized protest.

In the world today
There is a rise of the extreme right in many countries (see the map of 
Europe). The question arises as to whether these regimes can be 
characterized as fascist, possibly differently from past regimes.

It is impossible to analyze in detail all the far-right regimes in the 
world. If we take Trump for example, he was a president representing a 
hard right. But his regime was in no way fascist. We saw during his 
mandate social struggles that a fascist regime would not have tolerated: 
Black Lives Matter, various strikes. His attempted coup of 01/06/2021 
was only followed by a minority of supporters and the big bourgeoisie 
clearly took the side of the bourgeois democratic regime. That said, 
there are numerically significant groups in the USA, supremacist and 
armed, which could tomorrow serve as a social basis for a fascist drift 
in this country if a major social crisis emerges[4]. Likewise in Israel, 
Netanyahu represents a supremacist far-right; but his regime is not 
fascist. As proof, the strong social mobilization prior to 07/10/2023 
which could not have existed under a fascist regime. On the other hand, 
in Argentina, Milei could represent proto-fascism. Milei's character 
resembles Trump or Bolsonaro and that is not what would make him a 
fascist. Argentina has experienced significant social resistance and 
political crises for several decades. The Argentine labor movement is 
quite organized and there is a strong tradition of street protest. Milei 
could seek to crush any social protest against his ultra-liberal 
policies[5]by relying on violent mobilization of his social base[6]; but 
today there is nothing to confirm that it can achieve this[7].
As for Italy, G. Meloni was close to fascist ideals before he took 
power. Arriving at the head of government, she made a 180° turn on many 
aspects. Certainly, the current Italian government is merciless for 
migrants, posing a particularly violent xenophobic escalation; he 
pursues an anti-social policy, removing the social minimum (equivalent 
to the RSA); he is ultra-reactionary, advocating housewives and reducing 
the right to abortion; he carries a message of national unity in a more 
meaningful way; he points to attempts to reduce the possibilities of 
demonstrating; ...But all this does not make it a fascist government. It 
is rather an ultra-liberal government with markers of a hard right, 
relying on anti-immigrant racism to ensure an electoral base. There is 
currently no physical confrontation when general strikes or opposition 
demonstrations are organized, such as on 11/17/2023 where thousands of 
opponents were able to march without clashes. G. Meloni wanted to 
reassure Europe in the European Parliament on 03/11/2023... in contrast 
to all his previous speeches. G. Meloni is part of liberal orthodoxy in 
economic and international matters[8]. The policy defended by G. Meloni 
therefore has nothing to do with that of a fascist regime, even if 
ideologically she shares a nostalgia for such a regime and even if her 
policy is hyper-reactionary towards migrants ·es, women and the poorest 
groups.
In summary, no current far-right regime in Western countries seems to be 
characterized as fascist, unlike certain countries which could appear to 
be under the influence of Islamist fascism for example. The function of 
the far right is to divert anger against capitalism in order to impose a 
more authoritarian liberal regime within the so-called democratic 
framework. It is a new form of political balance to respond to the 
current crisis, pulling the political spectrum to the right. That said, 
nothing is set in stone. The far right serves, through its 
"disengagement" discourse, as an electoral alternative to people 
contesting the traditional political game. It facilitates, within the 
bourgeois democratic framework, a reactionary anti-social policy but 
without annihilating the underlying crisis of capitalism. The far right 
could only be a transitional phase before a truly fascist drift in 
certain countries in the event of a deeper crisis that could arise.

The possibility of fascism in France?
Currently, the benefit of right-left political alternation no longer 
really works. The violent repression of social movements and protest 
groups in France characterizes the fact that the ruling class is no 
longer able to channel social conflict as it was able to do before, it 
is no longer able to mystify itself as the defender of an interest 
common, it no longer manages to have full political control (for 
example: the GJ). But for the moment, capitalism does not feel in danger 
because it manages to crush forms of protest without needing to impose a 
real dictatorship. The bourgeoisie is therefore currently choosing an 
authoritarian drift within the framework of classical institutions. 
Thus, if clearly a fraction of the bourgeoisie, Bolloré or Arnault for 
example, made the choice to popularize the extreme right, there is 
nothing to say that they made the choice of a fascist regime. The RN is 
increasingly legitimized as a possible political alternation, including 
by the current government, because a far-right, authoritarian government 
would have the interest of being constituted on an electoral basis and 
of being able to reform the social system in favor of of the big 
bourgeoisie without having to rely on a dictatorial exceptional regime. 
The RN could therefore be a political solution to the current crisis 
because it will allow other bourgeois political forces to continue to 
propose a political alternation when the latter has disappointed.
If a fraction of the bourgeoisie and the political apparatus put forward 
the RN, it is not because it advocates a nationalist ideal specific to 
fascist movements. The social base of the RN is only electoral and 
currently only small fascist groups choose the physical relationship 
(with an obvious porosity with the RN). There is a big difference 
between small groups of shaved heads and a party which constitutes more 
or less paramilitary militias. The voluntary integration of the RN into 
political institutions, its notabilization, ... makes it more possible 
today to imagine a takeover of power by the latter without a break with 
the current political form (which does not mean without social and 
political consequences). The RN is more in line with this 
bourgeois-democratic perspective than with a fascist perspective. 
Moreover, Mr. Le Pen flirts with the bourgeoisie by showing himself to 
be respectable, the leaders of the RN dine "several times a week" with 
big bosses to show that "we are reasonable" (J. Bordella) because "We is 
a respectable party" (Mr. Le Pen). The latter gave a conference to this 
effect at HEC on 11/28/2023 while J. Bordella was going to flirt with 
the "entrepreneurial class" on 11/30/2023 at the SME show.

However, the current authoritarianism of the State, even based on a 
far-right government, in no way allows capitalism to extricate itself 
from the endemic crisis in which it is mired. Today, the deterioration 
of social life is combined with the ecological crisis which risks 
generating greater forms of conflict. The growth of social inequalities; 
the feeling, even for working classes, of a form of social downgrading; 
the prevalence of nationalism and racism cultivated by all governments 
for decades; the widespread atomization and individualism that hinder 
real class consciousness; the feeling of an impasse generating more 
despair than revolts; the marginalization of political institutions... 
are the ingredients which could favor the emergence of a real fascist 
movement in France in the event of a greater social and political 
crisis. The demonstrations against homosexual marriage ("demonstration 
for all") allowed the most radical far right to come out into the open 
and strengthen themselves, gaining in audacity and leading to the 
current emergence of increasingly small fascist groups. present to 
strike out against any form of mobilization (as during the suburban 
revolts). In the event of a major crisis, the social base of the RN 
could be the stick of the bourgeoisie to crush any protest. But such a 
fascist movement can emerge outside the RN because let us remember that 
the French Popular Party, the main fascist party in France before the 
Second World War, was born in 1936 alongside historic far-right 
organizations, driven by J. Doriot, former leader of the PCF!

How to fight today
Currently, faced with the rise of an extreme electoral right, we must 
permanently distance ourselves from political alternatives which 
advocate the electoral game as a solution against the extreme right 
("republican front") and which only depress the layers even more. 
popular because they only serve to put the old, discredited bourgeois 
political apparatuses back in the saddle. We must also distance 
ourselves from the use of the State as a guarantor of freedom against 
the extreme right. We must restore real perspectives of radical ruptures 
against capitalism and not only in an abstract or moral programmatic 
way. The challenge is to promote an anti-capitalist perspective through 
very real struggles to allow the oppressed to find a unity of class 
interest.
Nothing currently allows us to consider that the bourgeoisie will choose 
fascism, visibly being satisfied with the current authoritarian state. 
However, tomorrow the bourgeoisie could decide again to rely on a 
fascist regime; at least, it is preparing all the political elements 
(authoritarianism and nationalism) and this remains a potential option 
if the social crisis worsens... without wanting to play the prophet of 
ill omen. If a real fascist danger emerged, this would change the 
situation because it would characterize a major crisis of capitalism 
where the State is no longer able to channel social protest. We should 
not draw a line of equality between fascism and democracy, even if they 
are two political forms to ensure the sustainability of capitalism and 
its State. A rise in fascism would mean the emergence of militias ready 
to physically attack the organized labor movement and all forms of 
social protest. We should defend ourselves physically, and to do so seek 
to form counter-militias ready to confront the fascists, made up among 
others of activists from threatened organizations or groups. This could 
help win over activists whose organizations are mired in 
legalism/reformism to our revolutionary goals. But such a defense front 
should not sink into a "common anti-fascist program". We do not fight 
fascism by promoting democracy as it currently is, because that amounts 
to asking the bourgeoisie not to be authoritarian when it has decided to 
be. We do not combat the prevalence of racist/nationalist ideas with 
morality, but by offering other perspectives to the oppressed. Only 
political radicalism can wrest from the fascist bands the political 
expression of generalized fed-up. It would therefore be through the 
development of revolutionary perspectives that we could counter a rise 
in fascism, that is to say act at the base, not only against fascism but 
above all against the capitalist system and its State.

Appointment, 15/12/2023

[1]See CA 309, April 2021 p. 18-19 "Is Macronism fascism? Part 2" to 
understand that not every authoritarian state is fascist, and to see 
that we mistakenly attribute the term "fascist" to Macron for example.
[2]See the book by D. Guérin "fascism and big capital" which still 
remains a reference or the book by U. Palheta "The possibility of 
fascism" (2020) which pertinently poses what fascism is in its first 
chapters... even if this work subsequently slides towards a form of 
inevitability of fascism in France which seems to us to be criticized.
[3]For Mussolini's seizure of power, see CA 301, February 2021 p. 28-29 
"Is Macronism fascism? Part 1 ".
[4]See CA 307 p. 30 "Hinterland".
[5]See the article by R. Godin "Milei's Argentina is embarking on a 
massive budgetary shock", Médiapart, 13/12/2023.
[6]See on the OCL website: "Argentina: Why Javier Milei won the 
elections, and what to do? ".
[7]See on the OCL website: "What is happening now? The position of 
organized anarchism on what is being prepared in Argentina.
[8]Le Monde, 10/26/2022 "Giorgia Meloni sets a conservative course for 
the Italian "great nation""

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