Brief history of Marxist criticism of fascism: struggle and elements of analysis

Abstract

In 2022, the fascist victory in Italy completes one hundred years. Since the first manifestations of fascism, Marxism analyzes this phenomenon with remarkable accuracy. Throughout the period of the rise of fascism, the Marxist tradition disputed understanding internally and, consequently, the ways of combating fascism, developing three distinct strategies, which confronted each other. Of these strategies, only one dealt with the methodological elements inherent to Marxism, analyzing the phenomenon as linked to the class struggle and placing it in the context of capital in crisis. Consequently, this strategy, outlined in the 1920s and reaching its peak in the 1930s, is even more pertinent in the face of the return of the theme in recent months. Thus, the present text rescues the categories of analysis of the Marxist tradition, tracing its disputes and highlighting its achievements to analyze the current historical period and the imminent risks of the return of fascism to the world of capital.