Theories of Fascism
GRST 270
Spring 2026
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
COL 272 |
Fascism came out of the horrors of the First World War and drove the world into the even greater horrors of the Second World War. Arguably, however, fascism is more ubiquitous and elusive than historical dates suggest: it was prefigured in how early-modern authoritarian leaders agitated the masses (as analyzed by Max Horkheimer), in France's Second Empire Bonapartism (as analyzed by Karl Marx), and in Richard Wagner's intoxicating spectacle of the total work of art (as analyzed by Friedrich Nietzsche, Charles Baudelaire, Theodor Adorno, and many more). After fascism as a political movement was largely defeated, its theoretical value for understanding race, class, gender, and sexual domination in late-capitalist societies only increased, albeit in a fractured and often hazy way. Over the decades, the body of theoretical thought on fascism has grown to encompass not only its program, tactics, rhetoric, and organization, but also its aesthetics, psychology, and political economy. Because fascism, as Alberto Toscano observed, "is a matter of returns and repetitions," this course will study theories of fascism in thematic units rather than chronologically. Our focus will be on fascism's transatlantic dimension, and it will include the writings of fascist agitators (Mussolini, Hitler), intellectuals (Evola, Schmitt, Heidegger), and artists (Wagner, Marinetti, Riefenstahl, Jünger). In addition, the course will draw on the traditions of anti-fascist Critical Theory (from Zetkin and Lukács to the Frankfurt School to Žižek and Theweleit), French post-war thought (Lacoue-Labarthe, Guattari), and Black Radicalism (Césaire). We will also study reevaluations of fascism in the context of its political, cultural, and intellectual resurgence over the last decade (Marasco, Herzog, Massumi, Traverso, Toscano). |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA GRST |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (German Studies Minor)(German Studies)(Social, Cultural and Critical Theory Certificate) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 90% or above |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Aimé Césaire, DISCOURSE ON COLONIALISM (Monthly Review Press 2001). ISBN 9781583670255
Dagmar Herzog, THE NEW FASCIST BODY (Wirklichkeit Books 2025). ISBN 9783948200206
Ernst Jünger, WAR AS AN INNER EXPERIENCE (Anarchbooks 2021). ISBN 9798707150975
Klaus Theweleit, MALE FANTASIES, VOL. 2: MALE BODIES - PSYCHOANALYZING THE WHITE TERROR (University of Minnesota Press, 1989). ISBN 9780816614516
Alberto Toscano, LATE FASCISM: RACE, CAPITALISM AND THE POLITICS OF CRISIS (Verso 2023). ISBN 9781839760204
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Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly discussion papers; final oral exam. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
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| Instructor(s): Plass,Ulrich Vogt,Erik Times: ...W... 07:10PM-10:00PM; Location: FISK413; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 30 | | SR major: 5 | JR major: 5 | | |
| Seats Available: 6 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 5 | JR non-major: 5 | SO: 5 | FR: 5 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
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