For some time, the term fascism has been back in vogue. It has also found an enormous echo in centrist media. This is surprising, as the diagnostic use of the term fascism seemed to have become obsolete by the 1980s. However, as a result of the success of right-wing populist parties and authoritarian policies as well as public displays of antisemitism, racism, misogyny and transphobia it is currently experiencing a new boom.

The panel “100 years of fascism theory: Epistemology, poetics and mediality of a heterodox genre” is dedicated to the long history of critical theories of fascism. It focuses in particular on those approaches to explaining fascism which have attempted to solve one of the basic riddles of political philosophy: Why do people want their own oppression? To this end, these theories often combined psychological and economic perspectives. Due to the horrors of fascism during the first half of the 20th century, theories of fascism moved to the center of critical social theory. They gained their urgency faced with the imminent threat from fascism. The question of effectiveness against fascism therefore arises in a special way with these theories: How are “understanding” and “preventing” related?

The guiding hypothesis of the panel is that their form is therefore of particular importance. Questions aboutthe poetics and rhetoric, materiality and mediality of theories of fascism will take center stage. How did theories of fascism react to the fascination engendered by fascist aesthetics? With this perspective, the panel aims to make a contribution to the exploration of the modes of action of theory. Conversely, it will explore whether a theoretical historical perspective on historical theories of fascism can contribute to an understanding of current political dynamics.