The Biology of Fascism
During his time in Europe from 1920-1923, Mariátegui witnessed a key moment in the rise of fascism in Italy and the consolidation of its characteristics, the emergence of its key leaders, and the rise and fall of its proponents and figures of inspiration.
Unlike many contemporary thinkers, who identify fascism as an insurrectionary populist movement of the proletariat, Mariátegui asserts that it was the “middle class,” or the (petty) bourgeoisie who instead formed the structural backbone of the fascist movement.
By finding the cultural roots of fascism in the works of Gabriele D’Annunzio, and placing its generative moment in the years immediately surrounding the first World War, which saw rising tensions between the ascendant radical proletariat and the revanchist bourgeoisie, Mariátegui offers a materialist analysis of fascism’s class composition and positionality, which helps us to better understand fascism in the 21st century.
The Mariátegui Project 