Definitions of Fascism - John Weiss

John Weiss

John Weiss, a professor of history at Wayne State University, sought to give a definition of fascism in his book, The Fascist Tradition: Radical Right-Wing Extremism in Modern Europe. He arrived at a list of ideas that he believed to be shared by the majority of the people commonly referred to as fascists:

• Organicist conceptions of community;
• Philosophical idealism;
• Idealization of "manly" (usually peasant or village) virtues;
• A resentment of mass democracy;
• Elitist conceptions of political and social leadership;
• Racism (and usually, though not necessarily, anti-Semitism);
• Militarism;
• Imperialism.