494. FASCISM vs. fascism: MUSSOLINI’S REGIME AND ITS LEGACIES

When is it accurate, and more importantly when is it useful, to call something or someone “fascist?” Was Fascism a unique historical phenomenon limited only to Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany? Or did it have a wider and longer history in the 20th century? Was Hirohito’s Japan fascist? Was Franco’s Spain? Is it appropriate to call any of today’s right-wing populist regimes and/or movements fascist? Fascism with a capital “F” may strictly only refer to the regime of Benito Mussolini and his Partito Nazionale Fascista in Italy from 1922-1945, but fascism as an ideology, a popular movement, and even an aesthetic style has had a lengthy afterlife as a model for leaders and politicians. This talk introduces the history of fascism in Europe in the 1920s-1940s, its origins, rise and eventual defeat in World War II and the Resistance. But it also examines the theory and characteristics of fascism in other times and places, and invites discussion of comparative cases. 

1 – 3:00 p.m.                                                                                                       1 Session

Tuesday, September 16                                                                                      Fee:  $30

ABOUT THE LECTURER

Molly Tambor is Associate Professor of History at LIU Post. A former Rome Prize winner and current Fulbright selection committee member for Italy, she chaired the Columbia University seminar in Modern Italian Studies from 2022-2025. Specializing in women and gender history and political history, she is now researching the history of women’s entry into professional policing. Her books include The Lost Wave: Women and Democracy in Postwar Italy, the translation of The United States and Fascist Italy, The Rise of American Finance in Europe, and Mirrors of Police: Professional Knowledge, (Self)Representations, and Identity of the State Police in Italy Since 1946.

Suggested readings: 

Robert Paxton, “Fascism and its Evolution ‘in Time’: Five Stages.”

Susan Sontag, “Fascinating Fascism.”

Joshua Arthurs, “Fascism as ‘Heritage’ in Contemporary Italy.” In Italy Today: The Sick Man of Europe.

Excerpts. Matthew Delmont. Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad.