Federico Finchelstein, Author at Public Seminar

Public Health

The Fascist Politics of the Pandemic

Around the world, far-right leaders’ responses to the pandemic feature key elements of fascist ideology

May 25, 2020 • by Federico Finchelstein and Jason Stanley

There is nothing like a pandemic to bring out the fascist ideology in countries under far-right rule. In the world's three largest democracies, national leaders are using the COVID-19 crisis to wage war on immigrants and minorities, while testing the limits of common sense. NEW YORK/NEW HAVEN -- In stark contrast ...

History

Lies Are Back in Power

The history and troublesome present of fascist ideology

April 16, 2020 • by Federico Finchelstein

Today we’re seeing an emergent wave of new right-wing populist leaders throughout the world. And much like fascist leaders of the past, a great deal of their political power is derived from questioning reality; endorsing myth, rage, and paranoia; and promoting lies. In my new book, A Brief History of Fascist ...

Feature

From Fascism to Populism In History

A book excerpt from Federico Finchelstein’s latest book

September 26, 2017 • by Federico Finchelstein

Populism is an authoritarian form of democracy. Defined historically, it thrives in contexts of real or imagined political crises, wherein populism offers itself as antipolitics. It claims to do the work of politics while keeping itself free from the political process. Democracy in this sense simultaneously increases the political participation ...

Feature

Substantive Populism

Against the devaluation of a term

August 11, 2017 • by Federico Finchelstein

In this article, Professor of History Federico Finchelstein argues that, despite its overuse and conceptual stretching, the category of populism is worth preserving if we want to understand our current political moment. The original Spanish version of this article can be found at Argentina’s newspaper Clarín. This piece was translated by ...

Uncategorized

Trump’s Macho Populism

February 28, 2017 • by Federico Finchelstein and Pablo Piccato

Donald Trump's treatment of women is a matter of politics, not just style: rooted in populist and fascist ideas that exalt male power and promote misogyny. In the inaugural debate between candidates for the United States presidency, Donald Trump could not resist using bullying tactics and voicing his obsession with women’s ...

Uncategorized

Will There be Real Change in Argentina?

On the Macri election

November 25, 2015 • by Federico Finchelstein

Argentina has a new president, but the same traditional presidentialist system remains. After more than a decade of the Kirchners in power (2003-2015), the new president Mauricio Macri was elected because he convinced Argentine voters that he was the candidate of "change." ...

...

Uncategorized

Argentina in Shock

A mysterious death in Buenos Aires raises questions about the true sources of power inside Argentina’s state

January 27, 2015 • by Fabián Bosoer and Federico Finchelstein

A federal prosecutor in a democratic state accuses the elected president of a major cover-up. Alberto Nisman is scheduled to explain the cover-up in Argentina's congress when, hours before testifying, he mysteriously dies in his apartment. What kind of democracy allows this to happen? In the context of such events, ...

Uncategorized

Fascism on Trial: Greece and Beyond

October 10, 2014 • by Andreas Kalyvas and Federico Finchelstein

Last week, Greeks woke up with a shocking phone video that was posted on the newspaper Kathimerini’s website and then went immediately viral on the Internet. A toddler dressed in a traditional Greek uniform, bearing a Nazi armlet on his right arm, and holding a Nazi flag, was ...

Uncategorized

When Neo-Fascism Was Power in Argentina

An anniversary few want to remember

July 2, 2014 • by Federico Finchelstein

After forty years, though more historical research is needed on the presidency of Isabel Perón (1974-1976), what we know today leads us to consider that her Peronist government was one of the most violent in the violent history of Argentina. To be sure, political violence was quite extensive ...

Uncategorized

Can Europe Learn from Latin America about History and Justice?

October 28, 2013 • by Federico Finchelstein and Fabián Bosoer

Can Latin America change European political memory? Can a long history of European silence be dealt with from across the Atlantic? The current investigations of Argentine courts into the crimes of the Franco dictatorship have brought these questions to the fore. As we have seen this week, many in Europe ...