Fascism: A Very Short Introduction

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Citizenship and its benefits are accorded or denied on the basis of conformity to, or possession of, characteristics alleged to be ‘national’, be they biological, cultural, religious, or political. [2]

Here Passmore points out that there is no singular identity, only a national one. Therefore, if you aren’t devoted to the nation you may face the consequences of extermination in the worst case. Not only is fascism racist but ultra-nationalistic in this case is as well. However complex, Passmore adds that more modern forms of ‘fascism’, such as the apartheid regime in Africa, adopt the phrase that races are ‘equal but different’. This is a similar notion to the European fascists (who were open to their superiority) except that now most modern forms don’t want to accept this fact.

The book is worthwhile however I have a few issues. To start, the book is written in a very left wing viewpoint. It goes into little detail about how Mussolini and other fascist leaders began as left wing activists. Secondly, as a student who does not know much about fascism or in depth European history for that matter, this book in seems to jump to conclusions without much explanation. It is understandable since Kevin Passmore does teach at Oxford University that he suspects a majority of readers to have background knowledge, but that does not change the fact that he could provide some more in depth context. Also, the book seems to lack a sense of organization. From one chapter to the next and those in-between there is no simple correlation between events. Passmore tends to jump around from talking about Fascism and then breaking off into Marxists views on Communism etc. He ends the book talking about women, class and Jews, however it might have been more appropriate to mention it when he talks about WW1 or Hitler. In my opinion, it would have helped if it were more organized in a chronological order. Passmore does not put for the effort to explain if Fascism occurred in the Far East. Such as the use of the term ‘Islamo-Fascist’ that is placed on Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups in the Middle East and how this differs from European fascism. This book in my opinion could have had a stronger impact if this aspect was explored.

Kevin Passmore ends the book by saying that fascism has a possibility to emerge again in the future. However true this may be, fascism was a blip in the past that started from the presence of almost un-replicable circumstances. We just have to hope that it doesn’t revive in the extreme form that it did in Central Europe.

All in all, Passmore does an exceptional job explaining fascism in its most basic form and manages to give a very coherent report of a subject that is difficult to comprehend. The book is well written and moderately understandable for its complicated subject and leaves little room for speculation. Also, Passmore’s use of imagery in his text helps illustrate how powerful fascism was at the time. To say the least, I would highly recommend this short introduction to anyone interested in learning more about the political nature of fascism.

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