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© G i in and Almeida de Ca alho, 2018 | doi 10.1163/22116257-00702001
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b ill.com/ asc
Edi o ial In oduc ion: A chi ec u al P ojec ions
o a ‘New O de ’ in Fascis and Pa a-Fascis In e wa
Dic a o ships
Roge G i in
Ox o d B ookes Uni e si y
dg i in@b ookes.ac.uk
Ri a Almeida de Ca alho
Ins i u o de Ciências Sociais da Uni e sidade de Lisboa
i a.c[email p o ec ed]
Abs ac
The h ee a icles ha ollow a e he second pa o a special issue o Fascism de o ed
o case s udies in ‘La in’ a chi ec u e in he ascis e a, he i s pa o which was pub-
lished in olume 7 (2018), no. 1. The a chi ec u e o h ee clea ly pa a- ascis egimes
comes unde he spo ligh : hose o Spain, Po ugal, and B azil, in each o which a
genuine ascis mo emen was ei he abso bed in o a igh -wing dic a o ship (as oc-
cu ed unde F anco) o disbanded by i while pe cep ibly e aining some ascis ele-
men s (as in he case o he Salaza and Va gas egimes). Once again, he jux aposi ion
o he a icles e eals unexpec ed elemen s o in e na ionalism, en anglemen s, and
his oi es c oisées bo h sides o he A lan ic in he impac o he ascis expe imen s in
Ge many and I aly.
Keywo ds
ascism – pa a- ascism – Po ugal – B azil – Spain – a chi ec u e – dic a o ships –
in e wa pe iod
The h ee a icles ha ollow a e he second pa o a special issue o Fascism
de o ed o case s udies in ‘La in’ a chi ec u e in he ascis e a, he i s pa o
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which was published in olume 7 (2018), no. 1.1 The p ojec o igina ed in he
ini ia i e o Ri a Almeida de Ca alho, pos doc o al esea ch ellow in cul u al
his o y unde Salaza a he Ins i u e o Social Sciences o he Uni e si y o Lis-
bon (ics) o isi Roge G i in (His o y, Ox o d B ookes Uni e si y) in May 2013
a e eading his Mode nism and Fascism. Though ha olume was conce ned
p edominan ly wi h making an elabo a e case o seeing he o ali a ian expe -
imen s o Fascism and Nazism wi hin he wide con ex o socio-poli ical and
aes he ic ‘mode nism’, as a specialis in he in e wa pe iod o he own coun-
y, Ri a immedia ely g asped i s po en ial ele ance o a adical eapp aisal
o he na u e o cul u al p oduc ion unde Salaza ’s dic a o ship. His egime
was assumed by many schola s in Po ugal and beyond (o en wo king wi h
Ma xis p emises) o be ascis , and by he same oken eac iona y, and hence
hos ile o he e hos o mode ni y and any so o ‘p og essi eness’. Almeida
de Ca alho, on he o he hand, saw Salaza ism as oo oo ed in adi ional
social and Ca holic isions o socie y o be ascis , and ye a he same o be
a emp ing in i s own way o ins i u e an al e na i e mode ni y, and secu e
he ins i u ional bases o a s able, p oduc i e and uniquely Po uguese u u e.
He own wo k had independen ly con i med ha , e en i Salaza ’s Po ugal
was no ully ascis , some o i s mos o wa d-looking a is ic eli es and social
heo is s aspi ed o ake ad an age o he supp ession o libe al democ acy
(which was widely seen as locked in a phase o e minal decline as he basis o
ci iliza ion) and he inc easingly au ho i a ian s a e o pionee a dynamic syn-
hesis o conse a ism and mode ni y so as o ealize i s own ideal o a heal hy
socie y. This would eplace he s agna ion, backwa dness and ana chy o a
ledgling democ a ic Po ugal wi h a co po a is , Ca holic, bu eju ena ed and
mode n s a e, capable o de ending he na ion om he win h ea posed bo h
by communism and he mos ‘pagan’, adical, and socially dis up i e o ms o
ascism. F om his pe spec i e, i was no jus cynical p opaganda ha led
he egime which eme ged om he new cons i u ion o 1933 o be bap ized
Es ado No o, he New S a e. I was chosen also, a leas o Salaza and some
wi hin his poli ical, in ellec ual and c ea i e eli es o signal he ins i u ion o
Po ugal’s own ‘ hi d way’: no ascism’s hi d way be ween libe al democ acy
and Bolshe ism, bu a hyb id o eac iona y conse a ism wi h e olu iona y
ascism. I was in he aspi a ion o some a chi ec s o demons a e h ough ad-
di ions o he buil en i onmen he e hos o inno a ion and egene a ion ha
1 Fascism: Jou nal o Compa a i e Fascis S udies 7 (2018): 1–108, accessed July 17, 2018, h p://
booksandjou nals.b illonline.com/con en /jou nals/22116257/7/1.
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co esponded o Po ugal’s peculia ly ‘pa a- ascis ’ hi d way2 ha Almeida
de Ca alho had sensed an a ini y be ween he c ea ion o he o ali a ian
‘ mode nis s a e’—which acco ding o G i in’s analysis,3 was he ul ima e goal
o Fascism and Nazism—and elemen s o o iginal syn hesis isible in he s a e
a chi ec u e and u ban enewal o Salaza ’s egime a e i had assumed an
openly dic a o ial o m.
The esul o he Ox o d mee ing was he wo kshop ‘Poli ics and Aes he -
ics on he Mo e: The Uses o A chi ec u e in Fascis and Dic a o ial Regimes’
chai ed by Ri a Almeida de Ca alho and held a he Ins i u e o Social Scienc-
es a he Uni e si y o Lisbon (ics-ul), in May 2014. I b ough oge he Roge
G i in wi h A is o le Kallis (His o y, Uni e si y o Keele), and Sul ana Wahnón
(Theo y o Li e a u e, Uni e si y o G anada), o p esen a ions on a chi ec-
u al de elopmen s in Hi le ’s Ge many, Mussolini’s I aly, Salaza ’s Po ugal,
and F anco’s Spain espec i ely, and was a ended by p o esso An ónio Cos a
Pin o. I was o u he explo e he hesis ha pa a- ascis egimes e lec ed
in some p ojec s o a chi ec u al and u ban enewal hei unde lying kinship
wi h he mo e adical socio-cul u al mode nis expe imen s o he wo ascis
s a es, ha he pa icipan s decided o in i e submissions on he in e wa a -
chi ec u al scene in B azil and A gen ina. The plan was o de o e a special is-
sue o Fascism o a chi ec u al mode ni y in Ge many and i e ‘La in’ socie ies
in he in e wa pe iod, one ascis (Mussolini’s I aly) and ou widely seen, i
no as pa a- ascis , hen as in luenced by ascism. The a icles by Anahi Bal-
len (Uni e si y o Quilmes) and F ancisco Sales T ajano Filho (Uni e si y o
São Paulo) a e he ui o his decision. Meanwhile, o he sake o cohe ence,
Daniel Domenech (PhD s uden in he depa men o he His o y and Theo y
o A chi ec u e, Uni e si y o G anada), whose pos g adua e esea ch special-
izes in he documen ing he ex ao dina y a ie y o idiosync a ic in e wa
expe imen al and mode nis buildings in igh -wing egimes all o e Eu ope,
was in i ed o w i e an a icle ocused on a chi ec u e unde F anco, a he
2 Pa a- ascism he e e e s o in e wa dic a o ial egimes ha adop ed some o he appings
and policies o he wo ascis egimes bu wi hou he ul ima e o ali a ian goal o a o al
ans o ma ion o socie y, which in he long un would ha e demanded he des uc ion
o adi ional eli es, social s uc u es and eligious ins i u ions on a pa wi h Bolshe ism.
See: An ónio Cos a Pin o and A is o le Kallis, ed., Re hinking Fascism and Dic a o ship in Eu-
ope (London: Palg a e, 2014).
3 This opic is explo ed in chap e s 6, 8, 10 and 11 o Roge G i in, Mode nism and Fascism: The
Sense o a Beginning unde Mussolini and Hi le (London: Palg a e, 2007).
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han on he Falangis aes he ic heo y ha had been he subjec o he o iginal
pape on Spain, a decision app o ed by P o esso Wahnón.
The e a e se e al a ionales behind he eclec ic choice o na ional case s ud-
ies, apa om he ac ha hey cumula i ely demons a e ye again how mis-
guided i was o an ea lie gene a ion o schola s o assume ha ascisms and
hei kind we e nihilis ic, backwa d-looking, an i-mode ni y, an i-cul u e, and
ope a ed wi hou a ecognizable ideology. One is ha o oo long compa a i e
ascis s udies ha e emained s ubbo nly Eu ocen ic and igno ed he wide
in e na ionalis dimension o ascism and ela ed au ho i a ianisms, despi e
he ac ha Plínio Salgado’s Ação In eg alis a B asilei a [aib; B azilian In e-
g alis Ac ion] p oduced a highly o iginal and widely suppo ed, hough ul-
ima ely abo i e, ascis mo emen , and Pe onism in A gen ina was clea ly
in luenced by elemen s o he ‘na ional socialism’ pionee ed by p e-Axis
I alian Fascism. The e we e o he ailed mo emen s clea ly indeb ed o Eu o-
pean ascism in Chile (Mo imien o Nacional Socialis a de Chile), Sou h A ica
( Ossewab andwag), India (Indian Legion), China ( he Blueshi s), all o which
belonged o he ex ended amily o ascis assaul s on s a e powe , wi hou o -
ge ing Japan, whose o ali a ian egime was no echnically ascis (because
o i s dependency on he adi ional cul o a di ine empe o ), bu was deeply
indeb ed o i s e hos, o ganiza ional s uc u es, and s yle o e en s in Nazi
Ge many in i s o ma i e s age. Meanwhile, igh -wing egimes in Eu ope and
La in Ame ica displayed a ying deg ees o ‘ ascis iza ion’ ha poin ed o an
a ini y and solida i y wi h he ‘ ascis e a’.
Second, explo ing a opic which b ings oge he ascis wi h pa a- ascis
dic a o ships wi hin he same hema ic analysis consciously con ibu es o
he g owing schola ly ecogni ion ha such mo emen s and egimes mus
be s udied mo e ex ensi ely in hei wide his o ical con ex and no jus as
samples o gene ic ascism and dic a o ship. Mo e p ecisely, hey a e o be
app oached as p oduc s o a deeply c isis- idden pe iod o mode n his o y
when, as he Spanish Ci il Wa came o symbolize o an en i e gene a ion,
an almos Manichaean s uggle was widely belie ed o be aking place o he
soul o Wes e n ci iliza ion. In (pa ially) Eu opeanized egimes all o e he
wo ld wo i al s a egies o e e sing chaos and decline had c ys allized in
he wake o he G ea Dep ession: a ious pe mu a ions o adical (illibe al)
igh we e pi ed agains he o ces o he adical (illibe al) le . The six a icles
appea ing in his and he las issue o Fascism complemen each o he in cas -
ing a na ow beam o ligh on a complex, messy wo ld o global socio-poli ical
uphea al, c isis and isions o enewal in o which he Wes had descended by
he 1930s. I is a beam ha illumina es he way a chi ec s and own planne s
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137Edi o ial In oduc ion
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wi h an i-libe al, an i-communis , and na ionalis ic ideals played hei pa in
wea ing wha Da id Robe s calls ‘ he b aided dynamic’ and ‘complex web o
in e ac ion’ which cons i u ed ‘a new uni e se on he Righ ’ o which ascism
was only a ‘subse ’.4 Once his posi ion is accep ed, i is no longe possible o
ea ascism as a disc ee , pu e phenomenon which has been abs ac ed om
his o y, like an o gan su gically emo ed om he li ing body o his o y and
placed in a ja o in es iga ion. In hese six a icles he dense connec i e is-
sues be ween sepa a e bu o ganically ela ed cul u al phenomena and he po-
li ical egimes ha sponso ed o hos ed hem a e in en ionally le isible, and
he po ousness o he memb anes be ween hem made e iden .
Hope ully, his p ojec will encou age o he schola s wo king in ascis
s udies o u n hei minds o wo k collabo a i ely on ui ul case s udies in
he signi ican a eas o o e lap, con inui y, and communica ion ha exis ed
be ween ascisms, conse a i e e olu ions, mode nizing pa a- ascisms, and
eac iona y conse a isms ha a ose be o e 1945 in di e se poli ical, social,
and cul u al sphe es. As mo e s uden s o ascism adop his app oach, he e
is bound o be a g owing app ecia ion o he his oi es c oisées and dynamic
ansna ional bo owings, in e ac ions and in luences which cha ac e ize he
ela ionship be ween indi idual ascisms and o he adical igh -wing and le -
wing policies o he ime gene a ed as esponses o he deepening s uc u al
p oblems o libe al democ acy as a iable o m o economic sys em and po-
li ical go e nance, an appa en ly global c isis which caused so many a e e y
le el o socie y o look o a way ou o he cul-de-sac and e en pos ula e he
dawning o a ‘new e a o humani y’.5
The inal a ionale, which became pa icula ly e iden when he i s d a s
o all six a icles we e ead oge he , is ha hey demons a e he po en ial
alue o compa a i e s udies in ascism, mode ni y, and cul u al inno a ion
o he concep ‘ oo ed mode nism’. Ce ainly, i is a concep ha seems o ap-
ply o he hyb ids be ween adi ion and mode n a chi ec u e ha p oli e a ed
unde all six egimes. Much ime is de o ed o making he case o his concep
4 Da id Robe s, Fascis In e ac ions: P oposals o a New App oach o Fascism and i s E a, 1919–
1945 (New Yo k: Be ghahn, 2016), 224–227.
5 This is he main heme o A Qua a Humanidade [The Fou h Humani y] (Rio de Janei o:
Li a ia José Olympio, 1934), w i en by he leade o B azilian In eg alism, Plínio Salgado,
bu is a ecu en heme oo o I alian Fascism ( o he cen ali y o he same palingene ic
my h o I alian Fascism, see Pie -Gio gio Zunino, L’ideologia del ascismo: Mi i, c edenze e
alo i nella s abilizzazione del egime (Bologna: Il Mulino, 2013), Chap e 2, ‘Senso del empo
e senso della s o ia’.
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in G i in’s a icle on he a chi ec u e o he Thi d Reich, so space does no
need o be de o ed o i s exposi ion he e, excep o sugges ha a deep psycho-
logical signi icance and a dis inc i e cul u al s a emen can be ead in o he
equen ecou se o ascis and pa a- ascis egimes o s ipped classicism o
o o he , mo e idiosync a ic a emp s o blend allusions o icon building-s yles,
designs, o echniques om he na ion’s eal o my hic pas wi h ul a-mode n
elemen s. They epi omize an age collec i ely diso ien ed and auma ized by
wa , social-economic collapse, he spec e o global ci iliza ional decline, and
he h ea o Bolshe ism, and in need o a ec i e e e ence poin s and cul u al
bea ings. While h oughou he ‘Wes ’ eli es in e e y sphe e o c ea i i y and
e o m did hei bes o poin o a pa h along which hei na ion could mo e
o wa ds in o wha Wins on Chu chill called ‘b oad, sunli uplands’, many
among hem, along wi h hei public, we e anxious o keep in sigh he eas-
su ing pano ama o he lowland alley o he pas ha s e ched benea h, e en
i i s sigh was now pa ially blocked by ominous clouds.
Fo he pu poses o his explo a o y exe cise in compa a i e ascis and
pa a- ascis s udies, each specialis was in i ed o w i e an a icle wi hin a
b oadly sha ed concep ual amewo k. This accep s he o ali a ian and hus
e olu iona y na u e o ascis ul ana ionalism, which dis inguished i om
he an i- e olu iona y and ul ima ely an i- ascis na u e o pa a- ascis e-
gimes which pa ially emula ed hem, a s ance which did no p e en hem
om bo owing om some o hei ex e nal ea u es. Gi en he leng h o each
a icle i was decided o publish hem in wo g oups o h ee. In he las issue
o Fascism ( olume 7, issue 1), Roge G i in’s a icle on he oo ed mode nism
o Nazi a chi ec u e, was ollowed by A is o le Kallis’ accoun o he in ense
compe i ion among highly inno a i e a chi ec s unde Mussolini o es ablish
a s yle which e lec ed he essen ial na u e o he egime. The hi d was Anahi
Ballen ’s su ey o he a ied a chi ec u al aes he ics ha came in o being un-
de Pe onism, a poli ical ideology and sys em pa ly inspi ed by I alian Fas-
cism, e en hough he Axis Powe s had al eady been de ea ed. The aspi a ions,
aes he ics, and building p ojec s conside ed in he a icle esona e s ikingly
wi h hose o he wo ascis egimes examined in he ea lie a icles. Wha
eme ges oo is he shee a ie y o he pe mu a ions o a mode nism oo ed in
he alues o an o en my hicized pas , which o m a hidden common denomi-
na o o a emp ed schemes o cul u al enewal unde Hi le , Mussolini, and
Pe ón despi e hei ob ious con as s.
In he p esen issue, he a chi ec u e o h ee clea ly pa a- ascis egimes
comes unde he spo ligh : hose o Spain, Po ugal, and B azil, in each o which
a genuine ascis mo emen was ei he abso bed in o a igh -wing dic a o ship
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(as occu ed unde F anco) o disbanded by i while pe cep ibly e aining
some ascis elemen s (as in he case o he Salaza and Va gas egimes). Once
again, he jux aposi ion o he a icles e eals unexpec ed elemen s o in e -
na ionalism, en anglemen s, and his oi es c oisées bo h sides o he A lan ic
in he impac o he ascis expe imen s in Ge many and I aly. I would be
hea ening o hink ha he combined impac o his wo-pa special issue
will be o encou age his o ians o such dispa a e ields as A , Cul u e, Li e a-
u e, An h opology, socio-poli ical heo y, eugenics, cinema, own planning,
Law, poli ical eligion and s a e p opaganda, o be lu ed in o he compa a i e
s udies o de elopmen s unde ascis , pa a- ascis , o conse a i e igh -wing
egimes in he wen ie h cen u y which bea wi ness o he ac ha he con-
ques o powe and c ea ion o a new ype o s a e by ascis mo emen s in
I aly and Ge many did indeed gi e ise o o e a decade o mode n his o y a
‘ ascis e a’.
This e m is ce ainly no o be unde s ood as e e ing o he spon ane-
ous o e h ow o libe al o conse a i e egimes by ully- ledged ascis s a es
all o e he wo ld. Fa om i . Bu i sugges s ha he wo ascis egimes o -
e ed ole models o how o b ing abou na ional g ea ness, a dynamic u u e,
and na ional enewal secu ed h ough he, some imes u hless, deploymen
o a monopoly powe o s a e powe , he eby gene a ing a g a i a ional o ce
wi hin na ionalis poli ics which cu ed poli ical, social, and cul u al space
owa ds hem. The age o indi idualism, laissez- ai e capi alism and he ‘nigh -
wa chman’ s a e seemed o e o good. A bulwa k had o be c ea ed by he
mode n s a e agains he socie al b eakdown being p esided o e by libe alism
and he des uc ion o adi ion, eligion, and he na ion h ea ened by he
sp ead o Bolshe ism. The solu ion was a s a e based on powe ul na ionalism,
wi h o wi hou a adically an i-conse a i e, e olu iona y agenda o ans o -
ma ion. The high deg ee o imp o isa ion demanded by mo emen s and s a e
agencies in he chao ic, c isis- idden na ional and in e na ional si ua ion o
he in e wa pe iod is e lec ed in he plu al, p o oundly incohe en schemes
o a chi ec u al enewal. Ye e en in hei he e ogenei y and equen de i a-
i eness, he p ojec s e iewed in hese six a icles also e lec how a chi ec s,
he mos op imis ic o c ea i e a is s, s uggled o es ablish isual and men al
empla es which would poin he way o al e na i e mode ni ies, new wo lds
and und eam u opias.
They ha e been w i en in he hope ha he expe imen al, u u al, and
some imes e en ludic quali y o some a chi ec u e and own planning in he
ascis e a will gain wide ecogni ion as aspec s o an a emp ed cul u al
enaissance. Pe e Adam exho ed us in A o he Thi d Reich o see e e y hing
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he Nazis p oduced in he name o cul u e ‘ h ough he lens o Auschwi z’ and
hence ‘as he a is ic exp ession o a ba ba ic ideology’.6 By con as , hese
essays in i e eade s no o misin e p e ascis and pa a- ascis expe imen-
a ion and inno a ion in he cul u al sphe e by hei ine i able associa ion
wi h s a e e o , o al wa and genocide. Ra he hey a e o be app oached as a
la gely spon aneous and o en c ea i e esponse o he dep hs o he in e wa
c isis, and as he exp ession o o en imp essi ely imagina i e ques s o new
ci iliza ional meanings, asks, and o ms symbolizing hope in a new u u e,
and anew mode nism.
6 Pe e Adam, A o he Thi d Reich (New Yo k: Ab ams, 1992), 9.
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