Definitions of fascism
What constitutes a definition of fascism and fascist governments has been a complicated and highly disputed subject concerning the exact nature of fascism and its core tenets debated amongst historians, political scientists, and other scholars ever since Benito Mussolini first used the term in 1915. Historian Ian Kershaw once wrote that "trying to define 'fascism' is like trying to nail jelly to the wall".
A significant number of scholars agree that a "fascist regime" is foremost an authoritarian form of government; however, the general academic consensus also holds that not all authoritarian regimes are fascist, and more distinguishing traits are required for a regime to be characterized as such.
Similarly, fascism as an ideology is also hard to define. Originally, it referred to a totalitarian political movement linked with corporatism which existed in Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. Many scholars use the word "fascism" without capitalization in a more general sense to refer to an ideology that has been influential in many countries at various times. For this purpose, they have sought to identify what Roger Griffin calls a "fascist minimum"—that is, the minimum conditions a movement must meet to be considered fascist. Other scholars, such as Robert Paxton, have denied that fascism is an ideology at all, characterizing it instead as a loose collection of "mobilizing passions".
The apocalyptic and millenarian aspects of fascism have often been subjected to study.
By encyclopedias and dictionaries
''Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary''
4th Edition defines fascism as "a political system based on a very powerful leader, state control, and being extremely proud of country and race, and in which political opposition is not allowed."''Encyclopaedia Britannica''
The Encyclopaedia Britannica defines fascism as a "political ideology and mass movement that dominated many parts of central, southern, and eastern Europe between 1919 and 1945 and that also had adherents in western Europe, the United States, South Africa, Japan, Latin America, and the Middle East", adding that, "Although fascist parties and movements differed significantly from one another, they had many characteristics in common, including extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the rule of elites, and the desire to create a Volksgemeinschaft, in which individual interests would be subordinated to the good of the nation."''[HarperCollins]' Dictionaries''
Student's Dictionary and Grammar defines fascism as a "right-wing political philosophy that believes in the importance of having strong rules, state control, and the prevention of political opposition."Collins Canadian Dictionary defines fascism as a "right-wing political system characterized by state control and extreme nationalism."
Collins COBUILD English Dictionary for Advanced Learners 3rd Edition defines lowercase f fascism and capital F Fascism as "a set of right-wing political beliefs that includes strong control of society and the economy by the state, a powerful role for the armed forces, and the stopping of political opposition."
Collins English Dictionary's website includes the following additional definitions such as
- "any ideology or movement inspired by Italian Fascism, such as German National Socialism; any right-wing nationalist ideology or movement with an authoritarian and hierarchical structure that is fundamentally opposed to democracy and liberalism."
- "any ideology, movement, programme, tendency, etc that may be characterized as excessively prescriptive or authoritarian."
- "the political movement, doctrine, system, or regime of Benito Mussolini in Italy, which encouraged militarism and nationalism, organizing the country along hierarchical authoritarian lines."
- "a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.
''Holocaust Encyclopedia''
The Holocaust Encyclopedia defines fascism as "a far-right political philosophy, or theory of government, that emerged in the early twentieth century. Fascism prioritizes the nation over the individual, who exists to serve the nation". and as "an ultranationalist, authoritarian political philosophy. It combines elements of nationalism, militarism, economic self-sufficiency, and totalitarianism. It opposes communism, socialism, pluralism, individual rights and equality, and democratic government".When imbued explicitly and pre-dominantly with racist appeals to an implied racial empire, as in the case of Nazism, fascism takes on the tones of the Third Reich as opposed to the less intensively biocentric focus of—for example--Mussolini's italy or Franco's Spain, where racism may have been a notable element in the tone and substance of their messaging, but where the racial notions incentivizing the drive to Empire were somewhat less pronounced than in Germany. The Holocaust Encyclopedia distinguishes the Nazi style of Fascism as a fully realized fascism or as 'fascism in action' or otherwise as 'German fascism'--a form of fascism that has a different quality than the other discriminatory and ultranationalist fascisms at the time.
It exceeds the imprimatur of the Holocaust Encyclopedia to delineate this style of politics as anything other than 'Nazism,' and a reason for that may be that there are no other fully realized exemplars of this form of the Third Reich's mode of industrialized negative eugenic genocide as the methodological hallmark of an achieved global empire. However, a generic term to distinguish this style of politics—hovering somewhere between fascism and totalitarianism, with an extra-emphasis on the component of racism as a unifying factor within the system—is 'palingenetic ultranationalism' coined by Roger Griffin to describe a new consensus amongst scholars of fascism on this dimension, whose work has its own section amongst the scholars below.
''[Macmillan Education] Dictionary''
Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners of American English defines fascism as "a very right-wing political system in which the government is very powerful and controls society and the economy completely, not allowing any opposition, as was practiced in Italy and Germany in the 1930s and 40s."''Merriam-Webster Dictionary''
defines fascism as "a populist political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual, that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition."Merriam-Webster Dictionary Revised Edition simplifies this definition of fascism as "a political philosophy, movement or regime that exalts nation and often race and stands for a centralized autocratic often militaristic government."
Merriam Webster's Essential Learner's English Dictionary defines "fascism or Fascism" as "a way of organizing a society in which a government is ruled by a dictator and in which people are not allowed to disagree with the government."
''Oxford Dictionaries''
The Canadian Oxford Dictionary has three definitions:- Capital F Fascism as historically "the totalitarian principles and organization of the extreme right-wing nationalist movement in Italy."
- Lowercase f fascism as "any similar nationalist and authoritarian movement, esp. German National Socialism."
- Lowercase f fascism as "
The Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English has three simplified definitions of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary's definitions:
- Uppercase F Fascism as "
- "a right-wing system of government with extreme nationalistic beliefs.".
- an attitude which is very intolerant or right wing."
''Pearson Longman">Longman">Pearson Longman Dictionary''