Trumpism, the Crisis of Global Capitalism, and 21st Century Fascism

Part I of this paper will summarize the theory of global capitalism based on the rise of a globalized production and financial system, a transnational capitalist class, transnational state apparatuses, and new modalities of transnational social control and domination. Part II will analyze the crisis of global capitalism, focusing on two dimensions in particular: economic/structural and legitimacy/ hegemony. Part III, building on my earlier work in this area, will discuss the notion of 21st century fascism and its distinction from 20th century fascist experiences. It will argue that there is no legitimate social scientific reason to assume that fascist projects in the 21st century must be made in the mage of those of the 20th century. Both 20th and 21st century fascist projects need to be seen as right-wing responses to crises of capitalism involving an element of populism, and both involve fascist forms of social organization as well as fascist ideology in civil society. However, among other distinctions two will be highlighted: 1) 20th century fascism involved a fusion of reactionary and repressive state power with national capital, whereas 21st century fascism involves a fusion of this state power with transnational capital; 2) 21st century technologies of surveillance and repression allow for the reorganization of space and social control processes in new ways that may involve more selective as opposed to generalized coercion and the continuity of formal constitutional order. Part III will also examine Trumpism in the United States as a case study in the rise of 21st century fascist currents (although the argument is not made that the United States is fascist as of 2017), with special attention given to the role of spatial control rather than generalized repression.