Orion Ussner kidderMay 26

Is the Empire, as depicted in Andor, fascist? I'm not convinced. It's authoritarian, totalitarian and bureaucratic, certainly.

But for fascism, you need a leader figure who's the focus of all the propaganda, and the Emperor is not that, and you need designated outgroups: Jews, disabled, trans, etc.

#StarWars #Andor #StarWarsAndor #TheEmpire #fascism #colonialism #totalitarianism #authoritarianism

Show threadOrion Ussner kidderMay 26
I think the Empire is what it says it is: an empire. Specifically, a colonialist one. Yes, it came up through a democracy and ate it, very fascist, but what it does with conquered/colonized worlds is suck them dry of resources, which is very colonialist.
Show threadOrion Ussner kidder
There are no hard borders between colonialism and fascism--and of course, many argue fascism develops out of colonialism, specifically the European kind--but I think Andor's view of the Empire leans towards a bureaucratized colonizer more so than a fascist state.
May 26 at 5:22pmWeb
Show threadOrion Ussner kidderMay 26
What difference does it make, you might ask? Well, I think glossing over the bone-deep fascist prejudices against specific groups of people defined by race, gender and sexuality, ableism, and ideology presents fascism to us as simple tyranny rather than recognizing who it targets, whose lives it seeks to ruin, and therefore, who should be our top priority in aiding and supporting: queer & trans, women, Black, Latine, Jews, the disabled, and the list goes on.
Show threadfanf42May 28
@OrionKidder OK, it misses "turned inward" from "fascism is colonialism turned inward" ?
Show threadOrion Ussner kidderMay 28
@fanf42 I've read colonialism as European classism turned outwards, so this is intriguing. Can you expand on what you mean, here?
Show threadfanf42May 28

@OrionKidder it's unlikely by me, I think I saw it elsewhere but your explanation rang a bell.
The idea, iirc, is that colonialism is a form of imperialism that predates in some classes of people in the conquered land (typically, African black people slavery) and use of cruelty, dehumanizing, etc against them to make it OK with the dominant class moral.
Fascism does the same with classes inside the geographuc limits of the country itself. It points to some demographic groups as "less than humans".

OK, found it back: Zak Cope, "Geographically speaking, on its own soil fascism is imperialist repression turned inward"
I think i read it in "Fascism & Anti-Fascism
A Decolonial Perspective"

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ena-emaehkiw-wakecanapaew-kes-qnaeh-fascism-anti-fascism-a-decolonial-perspective

Fascism & Anti-Fascism

Ena͞emaehkiw Wākecānāpaew Kesīqnaeh Fascism & Anti-Fascism A Decolonial Perspective February 11, 2017

The Anarchist Library
Show threadOrion Ussner kidderMay 28
@fanf42 Very interesting. I will read this as soon as I can. Good old anarchist library!
Show threadfanf42May 28
@OrionKidder my pleasure, your analysis was very interesting, I missed that and used to see the empire as fascist, and I believe not anymore