How To Stop Fascism: History, Ideology and Resistance

               We all must defend democracy and political rights for all. In Brazil we all must demand that voting machines print the voter's choice and also demand our political rights respected, freedom of speech, right to the monetization of social media, right to privacy and right to reparation whenever any right is violated. We shouldn't be afraid to fight for our rights because all the world is with us supporting this movement to greater democracy, human and political rights, governmental transparency and justice. We all must fight any kind of authoritarian political system that don't respect democracy and voter's choice. The Brazilian institutions including from the government must do more to reinforce human rights. The cowardice and injustice can't carry on. The good people of the world is demanding a fairer and inclusive  Brazil and their demand must be heard for all.  If you want to know my channel and see a small sample of the huge worldwide movement for justice, democracy and political rights, watch my videos, here is the link   https://www.youtube.com/@lucianofietto4773/videos.              This post is a summary of two book reviews of the book with the title above. The first was published at https://www.ebb-magazine.com/reviews/how-to-stop-fascism. The second was published at https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2021/12/08/book-review-how-to-stop-fascism-history-ideology-resistance-by-paul-mason/

                Paul Mason, the self-declared 'Gramscian social-democrat', has written a book on anti-fascism. In "How To Stop Fascism:History, Ideology and Resistance," Mason construct a familiar narrative in which the left paved the way to fascism by alienating reformists and the liberal centre. His defence of the centrist politics rests on the assumption that liberalism is self-moderating. A notion belied by the liberal establishment's response to the social and economic crises of the 1920s and 1930s. Mason's claim to provide a new, materislist theory of fascism is undermined by his tacit promotion of a culturalist framing of civilisational conflict and romanticised portrayal of the 'rationalist, liberal principles of the Enlightenment'. This reflects Mason's increasing preocupation to defend the liberal order against what he calls the 'authoritarian, anti-modernist dictatorships'. At a time when neoliberal states are intensifying their powers to suppress popular protest and stifle intellectual dissent, "How To Stop Fascism", calls for a revival of the 'militant democracy' adopted by anti-communist governments in the Cold War context. In the First World War, the reformists parties of the Second International allowed themselves to be swept up in the patriotic fervour, mobilising labour movement support for a catastrophic inter-imperialist conflict. Over the following decade, the ability to advance a socialist counter to the rise of reaction was utterly hamstrung by its 'sense of constitutionalist responsibility and traditional prejudices about the undisciplined instincts of the non-Social Democratic masses'. As Mason acknowledges, the reformists were blindly committed to legality, at a time when politics was becoming radical, populist and moving to the streets.' Mason is correct to say of liberal democracy that not only does it allow workers and oppressed people the space to organize in but we, the people, actually helped created it, through two centuries of struggle. The rise of fascism demonstrated how quickly the 'men of power, and privilege' are willing to dispense with political liberties if they see this as necessary to preserving their order. Deploying the Gramscian language of hegemony, Mason argues that a modern front needs to occupy some kind of centre ground on social issues: 'if there is a social force that represent progress, it needs to builds alliance with other social forces and to avoid needless cultural friction with them. While in his book Mason distances himself from the Cold War theory of totalitarianism, which served the political purpose of mobilising anti-fascists rhetoric against various threats to post-war capitalism, he has clearly internalised its inner logic. After the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict, Mason asserted that "the whole survival of democracy and the post-1945 charter system depends on defeating, morally, politically and if necessary militarily, states which have become aggressive, totalitarian and ethnonationalist.' "How To Stop Fascism" concludes by calling for a revival of the 'militant democracy' advocated by liberals in the post-war context. Mason is an instructive case of what happens when the watering down of principle for the sake of pragmatism is guiding politics.                                                                                                               A thought-provoking, uneasy and striking statement of, 'Fascism is back' opens "How To Stop Fascism: History, Ideology, Resistance". Paul Mason, a British TV commentator and award-winning journalist, sets out to warn the world of the fascist danger and to provide a practical guide on how to fight back. At a time of democratic backsliding around the globe, Mason's book arrives at a timely moment to warn people, of what might slip away from their hands. The book talks about a new kind of fascism, but one which is no less harmful or threatening. On the contrary, what we witness today is as dangerous as fascism in the past, if not more so. While all of their actions aim to undermine the rule of law and intimidate opponents in general. And online spaces, such as Telegram and Signal, play into the hands of fascists, providing them with easy and anonymised platforms to spread hatred, fantasies of violence and conspiracy theories. Mason provides a detailed historical account of fascism in an attenpt to explain the process by which fascism emerged in Europe during the interwar period and to draw similarities with today. They took advantage of the economic crisis of the Great Depression which caused high inflation and mass unemployment, as well as the inability of liberal explanations or interventions of the time to address the needs of people. Drawing on lessons from history, Mason's main solution to fascism is 'to win the battle of ideas, and well in advance of its electoral breakthrough'. This solution requires two main approaches. First, fascism should be understood as an ideological war, not just based on conspitacy theories but also in intolerance and violence. To that end, Mason defines fascism as 'the fear of freedom triggered by a glimpse of freedom. As such, a fascist mindset fears that a 'group that is supposed to be subordinate to them might be on the verge of achieving freedom and equality'. We already observe that populists and authoritarians put significant efforts into preventing other people from achieving greater freedom and impeding them any gained rights. Second, the struggle against fascism requires a greater alliance. Parties and people should put aside their differences and unite to defend democracy. Furthermore, Mason states that this goal could achieved only by involving 'struggles both from below and coercive action by the state'. The book offers suggestive evidence not only to explain the process by which fascism emerged in the 1930s, but also to provide guidance for both activists and political elites around the world to stop fascism today. The book is also relatable to many other nascent topics in political science, including populism, new authoritarianism and political polarisation.