anti-fascism Archives

July 10, 2023

Why Indiana and the Rest of the U.S. Needs a Revolutionary Socialist Movement

If you mention Indiana to someone on the U.S. Left, they are likely to know two things: that Eugene Debs, the one-time leader of the American Socialist Party, was born there; and that Indiana was a birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan. In the first 30 years of the 20th century, these forces fought tooth and nail over the direction of Indiana and American politics: the Socialist Party held an inaugural ratification convention in Indianapolis in 1901, and held its national convention there in 1912, when Debs got more than a million votes running for President.

February 12, 2022

by Atlee McFellin

Moving Beyond Settler Colonialism to Oppose Resurgent Fascism in Ameri(kkk)a

Over a year has passed since the January 6th insurrection in DC and, sadly, it’s unclear what we’ve learned. Shortly after that multifaceted coup attempt, sociologist Waldon Bello warned us as to what was coming. Reflecting on his own experiences of US-backed fascism in Chile and the Philippines, he pointed to their source. “America Has Entered the Weimar Era,” he said, that the insurrection “underlies the face of crises to come.”

Fast forward to today; Newsweek warns of the potential for a violent coup come 2024. Generals in the military warn of their own internal civil war, so their ability to “Choose Democracy,” like many hoped in the case that Trump refused to leave, is now off the table. Despite the chorus of warnings, our supposed left leadership chooses to put their heads in the sand. Instead, we must place revolution back on the table, one at the intersection of Clara Zetkin and Ella Baker.

January 27, 2022

by Atlee McFellin

The Solidarity Economy: anti-fascism at the intersection of Ella Baker and Clara Zetkin

This article is a continuation of a previous one titled “Rethinking Revolution for an Age of Resurgent Fascism.” Ella Baker’s work leading the Young Negroes’ Cooperative League (YNCL) from 1930-1933 is here used to further inform today’s anti-fascism. Overall, this article relates Baker’s work to the dissenting views of German Communist Party (KPD) co-founder Clara Zetkin, specifically her views on fascism and the systemic alternative she referred to as a “Soviet Congress for a Soviet Germany.” This was a federation of autonomous councils formed in neighborhoods and workplaces for mutual aid, self-defense, and as dual power to succeed in revolution through general strikes in the event of a Nazi coup.

May 20, 2020

by Héctor Rivera

La lucha contra el fascismo: lecciones del pasado

Las crisis sanitarias y económicas desatadas por el COVID-19 han movilizado las fuerzas de extrema derecha en todo el mundo. La izquierda socialista necesita aprender de las luchas del Siglo XX para confrontar estas fuerzas antes de que se transformen en movimientos de masas. Puntorojo ofrece esta reseña sobre el libro Fighting Fascism (2017), publicado por Haymarket Books en inglés, para presentar a nuestros lectores un resumen de las teorías y estrategias aplicadas por la Comunista Internacional para luchar contra este fenómeno reaccionario. Ante la crisis actual, organizarnos en amplias coaliciones contra la extrema derecha es una cuestión de vida o muerte para los socialistas, la lucha feminista, y los movimientos indígenas.