Secretive Experimentation in Prisons: A glimpse into Prison's Coercive Work Environments
Take Two: A Fresh Perspective on Fascism, Liberalism, and Revolution
In 2023, renowned theorist Alberto Toscano published "Late Fascism," a thought-provoking book that's lighting up discussions among the North American left. On June 24, Toscano and Vanessa E. Thompson will sit down together to chat about the book and delve deeper into the intertwining of liberalism, colonialism, prisons, and fascism in our society. Here, we present an intriguing excerpt from Toscano's work that tackles the ideas of radical black theorists Angela Davis and George Jackson.
Like Angela Davis, George Jackson underscores the need to understand fascism as an evolving process, not a static form, molded by its economic and political contexts. Thus, the usefulness of models, analogies, or ideal types is limited.
Historically, fascism has developed differently across nations, Jackson argues. While it's closely linked to the restructuring of the capitalist state, it also represents a counter-revolutionary force, responding violently to any risks to the integrity of the capitalist system. However, it's worth noting that fascism often arises in a belated counter-revolution, profiting from the weakness or decline of the anti-capitalist left, as Nicos Poulantzas argued in "Fascism and Dictatorship."
In the USA, Jackson detected a mature form of fascism, which might become hegemonic due to the close connection between monopoly capital and the (racialized) signs of liberal democracy. Jackson asserts: "Fascism has nestled itself in this country in the most subtle and efficient manner. The ruling class allows us the luxury of meek protests. But if the protests get too Strong, they reveal their real face. What once broke down doors at night are now machine gun fire and shotgun blasts – messages they send loud and clear."
Alberto Toscano and Vanessa E. Thompson will hold a fascinating conversation about anti-colonial and black radical theory, contemporary fascisms, and adaptive counter-strategies on June 24 at 7 PM, Franz-Mehring-Platz 1, 10243 Berlin. You can find more details at dasnd.de/termine.
While fascism may adapt, Jackson argued that economic reform could function as a "working definition of fascist motivation," particularly in the context of U.S. monopoly capital. Similarly, Angela Davis' analysis refined and modified the radical, emancipatory concept of fascism, recognizing a preventive and embryonic form of American fascism in the early 1970s. For Davis, this new face of fascism was less violent and more covert, relying on the oppressive apparatus of law enforcement, justice, and corrections against open and latent revolutionary developments among racialized populations.
Controversial questions about the possibility of fascism's triumph in the USA were hotly debated among liberation movements and the radical left in the 1970s and 1980s. Eva Mareus, theorist and author of "Fascism and Dictatorship," claims that this debate is closely linked to the forms of "preventive counter-revolution" and the modes of "preventive counter-violence." A distinctive feature of this anticipatory logic lies in the differences between "emerging fascism" and its predecessors during the interwar period in Europe.
"How would our understanding of the United States change if we realized that fascism is not only a symptom of the crisis but a restoration of liberal hegemony and an exit from the crisis?" Marcuse ponders. "Would the specter of fascism gain dominion in the United States? If we consider this as the gradual or rapid abolition of the remnants of the constitutional state, the organization of paramilitary troops like the Minutemen, and the granting of extraordinary police powers like 'no-knock' laws; if we look at recent judicial decisions; if we are aware that in the USA, special units are trained to handle a potential civil war; if we recognize the almost immediate censorship of press, television, and radio; then, in my opinion, we can speak with good reason of an emerging fascism [...]."
Fascism, as described here, encompasses a suite of repressive techniques and a comprehensive political and ideological process that targets racialized and subaltern population groups, whose mere existence and sociality are perceived as a threat – forced out of the boundaries between 'criminals' and 'political prisoners.' It's a process in which the accumulation of contempt for the oppressed is a fundamental survival technique. Davis expanded upon Marcus's thesis, viewing fascism as a preventive counter-revolution to the socialist transformation of society by analyzing this process from the perspective of racialized populations in the United States. For the state, the armed struggle propagated by Jackson was not the most threatening element of black revolutionary politics; rather, it was the 'survival programs' – autonomous social reproduction enclaves practiced by groups like the Black Panthers – that presented the most significant threat.
Generally, Davis' analysis provides us a lens to understand the differential visibility and experience of fascism and democracy along the lines of race and gender, as well as class. There exists a form of everyday fascism that shapes the relationship between People of Color and the state, which, although it functions as the repressive infrastructure of white-supremacist liberal democracy, suggests the potential for incipient or preventative fascism to infiltrate the general population. As Davis warned in the early 1970s, fascism is primarily limited to the deployment of the apparatus of law enforcement, justice, and corrections against open and latent revolutionary developments within marginalized populations, but "tomorrow it could attack the working class as a whole, possibly even moderate democrats." However, this latter group might not fully understand the phenomenon, as the 'stage,' the prison, with its 'totalitarian aspirations,' is rendered invisible, and its temporality is delayed. The form of fascism diagnosed by Davis is an extended social process, whose growth and development are as cancerous as they are hidden. She likens the prison to a racialized enclave and a laboratory for fascist strategies and tactics of counter-revolution, serving as a molecular social process.
In terms of everyday fascism, Davis's insights reveal the complex interplay between the oppressive forces shaping the lives of marginalized communities and the potential for fascism to expand into the general populous. Davis's analyses invite us to gaze upon the pervasive safety mechanisms that buttress white supremacy and the regime of state violence, fostering an epistemological break with the common sense of white supremacy and the state's underlying violence. This stance underscores fascism's racializing, carceral, and counter-revolutionary violence not as an accidental byproduct of capitalism, but as a systematic articulation of specific social formations.
Both Toscano and Davis highlight the interconnectivity between fascism, capitalism, and systemic oppression. While Toscano's work focuses on the evolving nature of fascism within liberal democracies, Davis's work centers on understanding systemic racism and the oppressive structures that mirror fascist ideologies. Both thinkers contribute to a broader understanding of how systems intersect and can be resisted through anti-capitalist and anti-fascist movements.
After recognizing the evolutionary nature of fascism, George Jackson and Angela Davis inferred that economic reform and oppressive apparatuses like law enforcement, justice, and corrections could be significant indicators of its presence. Moreover, the discussion of fascism in the context of the USA was highly debated within liberation movements and the radical left, with some theorists, such as Eva Mareus, regarding it as a form of preventive counter-revolution. Given that this form of fascism can be disguised as everyday practices that target marginalized groups, it is crucial to challenge and resist white supremacy and state violence to prevent its expansion into the general population, a concern echoed in Davis' analyses.
