From Populism to Fascism? On Our Present‐Time Political Categories

ABSTRACT With the global rise of far‐right governments, two categories are available to describe this aspect of our current times: populism and fascism. This raises a twofold question: analytically, which is the most accurate to describe these authoritarian governments? Performatively, which is the most effective in encouraging citizens to fight against them? This paper assesses their respective advantages and disadvantages, emphasizing their conceptual and historical relevance. It highlights the aporias of “populism” and concludes that “fascism” is more accurate, but only if the comparison with classic fascism is kept in mind. Following this line, it proposes a political definition of fascism as a way of forming organic, exclusionary and embodied communities, through specific propaganda that breaks with political conventions—what can be thought, said and done in the political field.