Post-fascism is a label that identifies political parties and movements that transition from a fascist political ideology to a more moderate and mainline form of

conservatism Conservatism is a Philosophy of culture, cultural, Social philosophy, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, Convention (norm), customs, and Value (ethics and social science ...

, abandoning the totalitarian traits of fascism and taking part in constitutional politics. At the same time, they still retain many non-totalitarian features of fascism, such as nationalism, anti-communism, anti-liberalism, and aversion to liberal democracy. The term "democratic fascism" has also been used.

Creation

Its creator

Gáspár Miklós Tamás Gáspár Miklós Tamás (; 28 November 1948 – 15 January 2023), often referred to as TGM, was a Romanian-born Hungarian political philosopher and public intellectual, influenced by Marxism and libertarian socialism. He was a contributor to on ...

stated in 2018:

In Italy

The

Italian Social Movement The Italian Social Movement (, MSI) was a neo-fascist political party in Italy. A far-right party, it presented itself until the 1990s as the defender of Italian fascism's legacy, and later moved towards national conservatism. In 1972, the Itali ...

(, MSI) was a

neo-fascist Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology which includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, ultraconservatism, racial supremacy, right-wing populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xe ...

political party established in Italy in 1946 by former members of the

National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party (, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian fascism and as a reorganisation of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The party ruled the Kingdom of It ...

and the

Republican Fascist Party The Republican Fascist Party (, PFR) was a political party in Italy led by Benito Mussolini and the sole representative party of the Italian Social Republic during the German occupation of Italy. The PFR was the successor to the National Fasci ...

. Despite being an explicitly fascist party, the MSI included a post-fascist faction headed by

Arturo Michelini Arturo Michelini (17 February 1909 – 15 June 1969) was an Italian politician and secretary of the Italian Social Movement (MSI). A minor party official during the days of Italian fascism and a war veteran, Michelini emerged as one of the two l ...

and

Alfredo Covelli Alfredo Covelli (22 February 1914 – 25 December 1998) was an Italian monarchist politician. He was the leader of the Monarchist National Party and Italian Democratic Party of Monarchist Unity from 1946 to 1972.. In 1972, he led the monarc ...

, who favoured political cooperation with moderate conservative parties, such as the

Christian Democracy Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

, the

Monarchist National Party The Monarchist National Party (, PNM) was a list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy founded in 1946. It was a right-wing competitor to Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democracy and was especially strong in Southern Ital ...

and the

Italian Liberal Party The Italian Liberal Party (, PLI) was a liberal political party in Italy. The PLI, which was heir to the liberal currents of both the Historical Right and the Historical Left, was a minor party after World War II, but also a frequent junio ...

. In 1977 a moderate faction of the MSI led by Covelli split away and established

National Democracy National Democracy may refer to: * National democratic state, a state formation conceived by the Soviet concept of national democracy * National Democracy (Czech Republic) * National Democracy (Italy) * National Democracy (Philippines) * National De ...

(, DN), the first real post-fascist party in Italy. Covelli attempted to create an alliance between DN and the Christian Democracy, but electoral results were very poor and DN was eventually disbanded in 1979. The MSI eventually repudiated fascism in a party congress held in

Fiuggi Fiuggi ( Central-Northern Latian dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Frosinone, in the Italian region of Latium. The town of Fiuggi became famous for its Acqua di Fiuggi (Fiuggi Water), which flows from its natural spr ...

in 1995, where the party voted to disband itself and transform into

National Alliance National Alliance may refer to: Electoral alliances *National Alliance (Egypt) (2015) * National Alliance (Ireland) (2024 onwards) * National Alliance (Pakistan) (2002-2004) *Nation Alliance (Turkey) (2018-2023) Political parties and organizations ...

(, AN), a party which has been labeled by several scholars and journalists, including academic

Roger Griffin Roger David Griffin (born 31 January 1948) is a British professor of modern history and political theorist at Oxford Brookes University, England. His principal interest is the socio-historical and ideological dynamics of fascism, as well as v ...

, as a "post-fascist" party. A minority faction in the MSI, led by

Pino Rauti Giuseppe Umberto "Pino" Rauti (19 November 1926 – 2 November 2012) was an Italian neo-fascist politician who was a leading figure of the Italian far-right for many years. Involved in active politics since 1948, he was one of founders and for m ...

, refused to abandon fascism and created a new party called Social Movement Tricolour Flame. The right-wing party

Brothers of Italy Brothers of Italy (, FdI) is a National conservatism, national-conservative and Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Italy, that is currently the country's ruling party. After becoming the largest party in the 2022 Ita ...

(, FdI), which was established in 2012 by several former members of AN and currently leads the government of Italy, has also been described as a post-fascist party by several media reports, and academics.

References

Fascism Neo-fascism {{Fascism-stub

Creation

In Italy

See also

References