Overview
A wide-ranging history of the term ""fascism,"" what it has meant, and what it means today. The rise of political figures like the United States' Donald Trump, Hungary's Viktor Orbán, Italy's Giorgia Meloni, and Argentina's Javier Milei has spurred debates over the meaning of the term ""fascist"" and when and whether it is appropriate to use it. The landmark study Fascism: The History of a Word takes this debate further by tackling its most fundamental questions: How did the terms ""fascism"" and ""fascist"" come to be in the first place? How and in what circumstances have they been used? How can they be understood today? And what are the advantages (or disadvantages) of using ""fascism"" to make sense of interwar authoritarianism as well as contemporary politics? Exploring the writings and deeds of political leaders, activists, artists, authors, and philosophers, Federico Marcon traces the history of the term's use (and usefulness) in relation to Mussolini's political regime, antifascist resistance, and the quest of postwar historians to develop a definition of a ""fascist minimum."" This investigation of the semiotics of ""fascism"" also aims to inquire about people's voluntary renunciation of the modern emancipatory ideals of freedom, equality, and solidarity.
Full Product Details
Author: Federico Marcon
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Weight: 0.454kg
ISBN: 9780226841304
ISBN 10: 0226841308
Pages: 448
Publication Date: 04 June 2025
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Awaiting stock
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Reviews
“Marcon’s semiotic history offers a necessary corrective and long-overdue complement to a century’s worth of efforts to contour fascism as a generic category. Thorough and incisive, it will prove an indispensable companion for scholars of twentieth-century political discourse and critical reading for anyone invested in the fate of liberal democracy today.” * Alexander Bigman, author of Pictures and the Past: Media, Memory, and the Specter of Fascism in Postmodern Art * “Timely and comprehensive, this book’s detailed analysis is unprecedented and promises to provide the scholarly community with valuable insights. Marcon offers a compelling new perspective through which both the interpretation and the definition of fascism can be considered.” * Giulia Albanese, editor of Rethinking the History of Italian Fascism *
Author Information
Federico Marcon is professor of East Asian studies and history at Princeton University. He is the author of The Knowledge of Nature and the Nature of Knowledge in Early Modern Japan, also published by the University of Chicago Press.
