[Me & X] State, Markets and Fascism
X : Ain't state controlled markets like Fascism?
Me : The origin of fascism lies partially in the ideas of Giovanni Gentile (more of a ghostwriter than a sole originator) and in corporatist theories in which society is organised into functional "corporations" subordinated to the state. But this is only part of the story. Fascism emerged from a confluence of ideas and pressures including radical nationalism, reaction against socialism, and the social and economic dislocation that followed the First World War.
The reaction against socialism is particularly revealing because it highlights how different political traditions position the relationship between society and the market. In socialist systems such as contemporary China or social democratic Norway, the market is treated as a tool that exists to serve society. Under neoliberalism, the relationship is inverted with society treated as a tool to serve the market.
Markets are inherently exclusionary because access is controlled by price, property and trade. Whereas Societies, in contrast, must continually balance exclusion (property, responsibility, boundaries) with inclusion (opportunity, rights, public goods) i.e. two prominent values.
Neoliberal systems reinforce exclusion through economic categories such as lack of property, inability to pay, insufficient market value. Fascist systems reinforce exclusion based on racial, nationalist and ideological categories. Socialist systems attempt to counter these exclusive forces by rebalancing inclusion and exclusion e.g. using markets (a mechanism of exclusion) in ways that serve society (which requires both inclusion and exclusion).
So the question of state directed markets is not inherently problematic. It depends on the underlying intent. If the state uses markets to strengthen both inclusion and exclusion in a balanced way by protecting opportunity while preserving necessary boundaries then the system can be stable and socially productive. If the state uses markets (or abolishes them, or subordinates them) in order to enforce pure exclusion whether economic (neoliberal), racial (fascist), or political (authoritarian repression) then the system becomes destructive.
I would suggest the issue, then, is not the presence of state directed markets, but the intent behind that direction and whether it aims at a balanced society, or at a society rooted in exclusion.
Originally published on LinkedIn.