I. If any authoritarian and nationalistic regime is fascist, then all
bourgeois governments are and have always been fascist. Indeed, by that
definition fascism has its origins in the emergence of the state long
before the birth of capitalism. Thus (using this definition), "fascism"
becomes a meaningless, empty abstraction devoid of any historical
specificity. While this might appeal to some bourgeois sociologists, it
has nothing to recommend itself to Marxists.
II. As for the "what if" question (i.e. what would fascism look like if
it came to a former socialist nation?) a number of comments:
a. All remnants of the workers' state, and the property relations
characteristic of that society, would have to be annihilated.
b. It would constitute itself as a mass movement having a lot of support
from the petty-bourgeoisie and the working class. Needless to say, big
business would also have a (perhaps more secretive) role.
c. A central theme would be the fear of a communist revolution in the
presence of the economic (and social) crisis.
d. If fascists came to power, trade union leaders would be arrested or
killed. Trade unions would probably be outlawed. Repression would be taken
to a much higher level. The entire Left would be arrested and/or killed.
e. It would be super-nationalistic and there would be repression against
all those who don't hold certain conservative family values (e.g. gays).
E.g. the rights of women would be diminished greatly (with, no doubt,
restrictions on the right to divorce and illegalization of abortion). In
countries where anti-semitism has a tradition, there would be anti-semitic
policies and actions (e.g. pogroms) initiated by the fascist state. There
would either be accelerated persecution or genocide against oppressed
national minorities.
f. Most of the rights associated with bourgeois democracy (e.g. freedom
of the press, free speech, right to assembly) would be eliminated. The
role of the police and military would be enhanced: there would be a
"police state".
It is, of course, possible that this could happen in some of the former
parts of the USSR, but it hasn't happened yet and there is no reason to
think that it necessarily will happen there. As for Serbia, it fails the
"fascism test".
Jerry
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