International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

Fascism: a Theory with a History

Enzo Traverso — 2026-05-11T09:09:02Z

In 2026, no one can seriously view fascism as a purely historiographical matter. We cannot ask “What is fascism?” without considering the reality that surrounds us. This question does not refer exclusively to the past, but also, and above all, to the present—a present marked by the strong rise of the far right. The new wave of authoritarian governments around the world has reignited this debate, but this word, which springs to mind when we think of Donald Trump, Javier Milei, Giorgia (…)

- Features / Fascism

Authoritarianism and Democracy in the 21st Century

Enzo Traverso, Martín Mosquera — 2025-08-07T11:27:15Z

Enzo Traverso updates his analysis of post-fascism in light of the events of recent years. Reflecting on the rise of the new right and the global crisis of the left, he offers a diagnosis of contemporary challenges and the dangers facing emancipatory struggles in an increasingly complex world.
In a global context marked by the resurgence of far-right forces, historian Enzo Traverso offers in this interview an updated reflection on the concept of post-fascism, which he has been developing (…)

- Features / Fascism

Livio Maitan Is a Forgotten Giant of Italian Marxism

Enzo Traverso — 2023-08-10T14:19:01Z

Livio Maitan belonged to a lost world of professional revolutionaries whose struggles and sacrifices left a deep mark on twentieth-century history. Historian Enzo Traverso pays tribute to one of the Italian left's most creative activist-intellectuals.

- In Memoriam - Obituaries and appreciations / Italy, Fourth International

Global Post-Fascism and the War in Ukraine

Enzo Traverso, Ilya Budraitskis — 2023-05-21T09:39:27Z

“Therefore, being anti-fascist means claiming a tradition that is not consensual in Ukrainian history. It means to defend a certain political identity within a plural Resistance movement. Things are incredibly complicated. Roughly speaking, we could say that anti-fascism means a free and independent Ukraine not opposed to but rather allied with a democratic Russia.”

- IV580 - May 2023 / Russia, Ukraine, Historical events and figures, Fascism

On the Arrests of Italian Militants in France

Enzo Traverso — 2021-06-28T08:57:08Z

Q: On 28 April, seven militants of the 1970s Italian revolutionary left were arrested in France, in the so-called "Red Shadows" sting operation. The Italian justice system accuses them of a series of crimes, allegedly committed between 1972 and 1982, ranging from subversive association to murder. Grey-haired men and women, each between 60 and 78 years of age — exiles who have been living in refuge in France for years — they were put in handcuffs at dawn and taken off to anti-terrorist strongrooms. La Repubblica tells us that this was about "closing the book on the twentieth century" — is that the case?

- IV557 - June 2021 / Italy, France

Why the Paris Commune Still Resonates, 150 Years Later

Enzo Traverso — 2021-06-03T09:35:30Z

The Paris Commune ended on this day [28 May] in 1871, after just two months in power. How do we explain the longevity and freshness of the memory of a fleeting revolutionary government?

- Features / France

“The health emergency could possibly end up having total control over our lives“

Enzo Traverso — 2020-04-23T17:49:02Z

“As for the way out of the pandemic, I think all the premises exist, on a global scale, for better or for worse. There may be a turn to the left capable of radically challenging the model of society that has emerged over the past forty years; but there may also be, as I said, a new xenophobic and authoritarian wave: a permanent ‘state of emergency' which is linked to increased social inequalities, where despair drives a search for scapegoats.”

- IV543 - April 2020 / United States (USA), Italy, France, Covid-19 Pandemic

The Twenty-First Century Left will be Anti-Capitalist

Enzo Traverso — 2019-05-23T06:46:23Z

Enzo Traverso interviewed by Vincent Martign about the current state of the international left and its future prospects.

- IV532 - May 2019 / United States (USA), France

Mutations of Fascism: an interview with Enzo Traverso

Enzo Traverso — 2017-12-10T12:39:20Z

In Les Nouveaux Visages du fascisme, Enzo Traverso and Régis Meyran discuss the continuities and discontinuities between the fascist movements of the twentieth century and the "post-fascist" far right of today. Olivier Doubre spoke with Traverso for the 16-22 February 2017 edition of Politis. Translated by David Broder.

- Fascism / France, Far Right, Debate section

The End of Europe

Enzo Traverso — 2016-05-17T17:35:25Z

The process of European unification is undergoing a deep crisis, certainly the deepest since it started at the beginning of the 1950s. In less than a year, the EU faced two major testsâ€”first the Greek quarrel, then the refugee crisis â€” that revealed its true face: a mixture of impotence, unwillingness, egoism, arrogance and cynicism. It is not a pretty spectacle. No illusions can remain about this entity that, far from embodying the federal ideal, has become an empty shell, an object of shame and deserved sarcasm. Those who still ritually proclaim its virtues are the representatives of a highly discredited political elite who seem to no longer have any culture or values. The more they assert their belief in the EU, the more they disqualify it, even in the eyes of the millions of people who have never felt any sympathy for conservatism, nationalism and xenophobia.

- European Union / Migration, European Union, Racism and Islamophobia