How and when did the word ‘fascism’ originate? What has it meant at different historical moments and why does it continue to occupy a central place in contemporary political language?
In recent years, the rise of authoritarian trends – even in countries with a long democratic tradition – has brought back an uncomfortable question to the forefront: what does ‘fascism’ really mean and when is it legitimate to use that word?
In Fascism: History of a Word, Federico Marcon (in the photo) proposes a journey through the origin and transformations of one of the most influential and controversial political concepts of the 20th century. The work reconstructs how it emerged in Italy at the beginning of the last century, how it consolidated during Mussolini’s regime, and how its scope expanded between 1922 and 1945.
The analysis also follows the fate of the concept after the fall of fascist regimes. Throughout the post-war period and the Cold War, ‘fascism’ began to be used to interpret diverse political realities and to intervene in increasingly broad ideological debates, accumulating meanings that often overlap or come into tension.
Through the trajectory of a single word, a broader history unfolds: that of the ideological tensions that have traversed contemporary politics. A testament to how language not only describes reality but also conditions the way we think about it.
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: Pinolia
Binding: Paperback
ISBN: 9791388075056
Price: 27.50 euros