"Creeping Fascism" - Understanding the Insidious Threat and Revolutionary Response

Lessons for Today: New Series Starts Here

May 23, 2025

Although the late Neil Faulkner’s books on Creeping Fascism are out of print, the phenomenon he and his co-authors described is sadly going from strength to strength. Anticapitalist Resistance, which he co-founded, continues to track the evolution of creeping fascism. In this post, we outline the concept and, in a following post, offer some experiences from the Trotskyist tradition.

Let us turn our attention to the evolving nature of the threat we face. This threat does not always manifest as the blackshirts of the past but as something more insidious, a process often termed "creeping fascism." This is not a fixed state of being but a "fluid political process," a crucial distinction for those engaged in anti-racist and anti-fascist work today.

Unlike the overt historical manifestations of fascism, which might be the focus of analyzing direct revolutionary strategy against fully formed movements, "creeping fascism" operates through the gradual "hyper-charging of a reactionary cocktail of ideas – nationalism, racism, misogyny, homophobia, authoritarianism, militarism – so as to create an active political force opposed to progressive movements and radical change." These elements do not appear fully formed overnight; they "develop through interaction with other forces in the context of capitalist crisis and social breakdown," a process exacerbated by the compound crisis of world capitalism today.

A critical lesson for today is understanding that the fight against this threat necessitates looking beyond whether a specific organization is "technically fascist." Such arguments can be futile. What truly matters is the "direction of travel of the Right as a whole." This approach allows us to see how the broader Authoritarian Right is normalizing fascist ideology and greenlighting fascist activity. The Liberal Centre itself may echo right-wing arguments, and the traditional Right becomes more openly hostile to democratic liberties and the rights of oppressed groups. This shift creates the ideological space within which fascism grows.

One of the primary challenges in confronting creeping fascism is recognizing its less visible ways of gaining traction within society and the state. We must be vigilant for early warning signs such as the slow erosion of democratic norms, the normalization of reactionary thought, and the brazen efforts to equate critique with aiding the "enemy." This process of "gleichschaltung," bringing state personnel into line with a reactionary program through purges, intimidation, and indoctrination, is a means to transform the state.

It is vital to understand the complex relationship between the existing bourgeois state and this creeping threat. While the state serves fundamentally as an instrument of the ruling classes, the "primary agent of fascist repression is the existing bourgeois state." The fascist party and paramilitaries function as "a means to an end: the takeover of the state and its transformation." In the neoliberal era, the state has been reconfigured, becoming increasingly militarized and repressive.

We must not foster illusions in bourgeois politicians or the capitalist state as forces that will stop fascism. Relying on them is a "foolish illusion." The ruling class, faced with a capitalist state threatened with social revolution, might perceive an "organized fascist movement as an imperative necessity." They may prefer a more "economical road to fascism," or "fascism on the cheap," utilizing elements within the state apparatus. Our task is not to defend "capitalist democracy" itself, but to defend the democratic rights won by workers' struggles. These rights – freedom of speech, assembly, the press, the right to organize – are under threat, and the working class cannot stand aside.

Creeping fascism also has significant ideological and psychological dimensions. It can be rooted in irrationalism and a fear of freedom, exploiting what has been termed "sociophobia." It often positions itself as "anti-totalitarian" while being violently authoritarian, blaming societal problems on "illicit networks" or "occult despotism." This can be coupled with a "cult of tradition" and a "disdain and suppression of intellectuals." The nationalistic rhetoric seeks to unify masses against perceived enemies.

Given this context, the challenges for socialists and anti-racist activists are clear.

Firstly, we must reject any policy of "social peace" or "pseudo-realistic consensus with the bourgeoisie." Such approaches create the impression that there are no other political options and can make the danger worse. Secondly, relying on alliances with liberal politicians and the police to save us is a perilous path. History shows how ruling classes have elevated fascists to smash revolutionary movements.
Our strategy must be based on building a real anti-fascist movement from below. This requires the "unity of the working class and the oppressed." We must focus on "independent working-class organization and mass struggle from below." We must actively promote an autonomous organization for the worker and peasant masses, independent of any bourgeois or petty-bourgeois nationalist leadership.
Furthermore, we must link our anti-fascist struggle to the material causes that give rise to fascist movements. This involves articulating transitional demands that connect campaigns against issues like poor housing and unemployment to the fundamental need to overthrow capitalism itself. The struggle against fascism is inextricably bound up with attacking the capitalist system as a whole.

The threat of American fascism, or any form of modern fascism, is not a short-term problem that can be eliminated at the next election. It will remain in latent or active form as long as its social causes exist. The struggle will be long and drawn-out. Our task is to foresee these developments, formulate necessary slogans in advance, and tirelessly work to educate and organize the working class and the oppressed, fostering a vision of a fundamentally different society. Our political involvement must be guided by the united front tactic, seeking alliances while raising our own politics in a non-sectarian manner, aiming primarily at winning the vanguard and advanced layers of the working class. It is "radical vision and militant action that can win a majority for the socialist alternative – not tawdry deals with a discredited political class and a corrupt security state."

"Creeping Fascism" - Understanding the Insidious Threat and Revolutionary Response

Lessons for Today: New Series Starts Here

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