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While fascists are often populists, many populisms are not fascistic. I would argue that violence, in ideology and/or practice, is fundamental in any attempt to identify what is fascistic.
Now that the label “fascist” is back in widespread use, it seems useful to understand what we mean by it, because it is so often used as a condemnation without analytic or even descriptive clarity.
My concern about this vagueness arose from my recent study of the massive 1920s Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in the northern US, which I have now extended into an examination of the fascist groups that arose in the US in the 1930s. Many are familiar with the original, southern KKK, known as the first Klan — a terrorist group that arose after the American Civil War, dedicated to maintaining white supremacy. Its white robes and hoods were meant to terrify, but also, ostensibly, to hide identities, though white southerners typically knew who the local Klansmen were.
The second Klan was a different beast. It was entirely public and mainly non-violent. Though it sparked occasional vigilante actions, it made its impact through a massive media empire and sophisticated electoral campaigns. (It elected some 16 senators, scores of…
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