I Hate, therefore I am

Abstract

How can we best understand contemporary reactionary movernents? What are the continuities and differences with classical fascism, what qualities are invariant,. what qualities are historically contingent? Marxian analyses, especially after the Second Internationale, critiqued capitalism from the standpoint of wage labor. But Fascism was far more than a response to unemployment, it was a complex political outcome of historical legacies. cultural traditions, the pre-fascist political economy, and its class structure. class relationships and class contradictions reflected in voting patterns and the kinds of social movements. Last, but not least, certain patterns of individual character structure, qua authority, and its expressions in personal identities held a cultural and psychic affinity for fascism, This was a central concern for the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory (cf Smith 1992).