XIX ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 15-21, 2018)

649

Alienation and Fascism Redux

RC36 Alienation Theory and Research (host committee)

Language: English

It was an interesting coincidence of history that the discovery of the Paris Manuscripts took place shortly before ascendant Fascism culminated in Hitler becoming Der Fuhrer. The concept of alienation, as developed by Korsch, Lukacs, cultural Marxism, and the Frankfurt School, especially Erich Fromm, played a central role in explaining the rise of Nazism. For Fromm, the rise of modernity in general, and the economic crises of the 1920s in particular, rendered people free from traditional constraints, leading to feelings of loneliness, powerlessness, loss of community, and anxiety. Authoritarianism was one response to this, with Fascism providing “mechanisms of escape” that assuaged people’s fears. Many individuals, especially the petty bourgeois classes, were thus led to support the Nazi Party. Moreover, the Nazis designated Jews as specific targets to blame for the situation, whom they punished and eventually exterminated. Events of the last decade, particularly the last few years, cast an eerie chill as we see resurgent forces of reaction in once liberal states and communities, which are becoming more conservative and display populist and nationalist tendencies, with elements of fascism becoming evident. This session will attempt to examine the relationships between neoliberal capitalism and perhaps historically unique forms of alienation to help us understand not only the current forms of right wing mobilizations, but also the ascent of right-wing leadership in countries as different as Turkey and Brazil, Holland and the United States. In addition, understanding such issues should help us reverse these tendencies and defend democracy, freedom, and self-fulfillment.