Since before President Donald Trump was sworn into office for the second time, both his political opponents and regular citizens have warned of fascism in the United States under Trump’s governance, but a lack of consensus on the definition makes it difficult to pin down what these accusations really mean.
Amid a highly polarized political climate, Pitt faculty are offering insight into the debate surrounding the political ideology of fascism — what it is and whether it’s happening in the United States.
John Boonstra, an assistant professor in the history department, said historians have debated if the term “fascism” can be defined and, if so, how? According to Boonstra, the simplest way to define fascism is as the name of the 1919 Italian political movement that saw Benito Mussolini’s rise to power.
Despite the lack of an agreed-upon definition, Boonstra attempted to offer an understanding of fascism.
“Fascism opposes a lot of things,” Boonstra said. “It’s a nationalistic movement. It’s a mass movement. It’s a movement that is opposed to the perceived degeneration of a nation.”
Most recently, at the Oct. 18 “No Kings” protests, some Americans likened Trump’s style of governing to that of famous fascists. Monica Ruiz — the executive director of Casa San Jose and one of the sponsors of the “No Kings” protests in Pittsburgh — said she thinks the country is being run by a fascist government.
“[Trump] is following the textbook of what fascism is,” Ruiz said. “It’s militarizing our states. It’s arresting, detaining, shooting and killing people that speak up against what’s happening.”
Julia Cassidy, a junior political science major and president of College Republicans at Pitt, said she does not think fascism is on the rise and that the term is being used to attack politicians.
“It’s happened a number of times in human history,” Cassidy said. “People actually compared President [George W.] Bush to Adolf Hitler. I kind of wonder what happens after his presidency, and what they [will] say about the next person up.”
Boonstra said it can be hazardous to label things as fascist because without a clear definition — using the term may only lead to confusion.
“Labels can obscure more than they reveal at times, and so, used as epithets, as insults or as bait can be hazardous,” Boonstra said. “If it’s being used to dull rather than clarify meaning, then I think that’s not really serving anybody.”
Horia Dijmarescu, an assistant professor in the department of political science, said the difficulty in identifying fascism is not in the definition’s ambiguity, but the often nonlinear and gradual change from democratic governance into fascist governance.
“In his book ‘Late Fascism,’ for example, Alberto Toscano argues that carceral systems, immigration systems and wartime curtailment of civil liberties create liminal spaces within liberal democracies that in some ways resemble fascist principles,” Dijmarescu said. “On their own, they do not constitute fascism, per se, but they do carve out space for the constitutional order to be further undermined.”
According to Dijmarescu, commonalities among the different variants of fascism include “understanding of social life as a permanent conflict,” a strong sense of social hierarchy and “constant action” that aims to stir emotions of in-groups while confusing out-groups. He also said fascist regimes are characterized by rejection of critical thinking and truth.
Dijmarescu further explained how varying cultural and historical contexts create differences across fascist movements.
“Rhetoric, propaganda and ideological elements brought together are informed by specific historical experiences, religious doctrines and salient social issues that arise in each context,” Dijmarescu said. “Fascism is inherently national in its manifestation.”
Dijmarescu also clarified the difference between authoritarianism and fascism.
“Authoritarianism is a more general term that refers to forms of governance that aim to reduce the number of independent veto players in a political system,” Dijmarescu said. “Authoritarianism does not presuppose fascism, but fascism presupposes authoritarianism.”
Boonstra said the debate around fascism is important, and the way the term “fascism” is used plays a pivotal role in developing an understanding of it.
“We may or may not use particular terminology to get at a greater depth of understanding,” Boonstra said. “The debate over how [fascism is] being used or misused is, itself, a political and historical debate.”