To what extent can pre-war Japan be described as a Fascist regime? In the field of Political Science, fascism is broadly characterised in terms of its opposition to other ideas such as liberalism, socialism and ideas associated with the enlightenment. This should not suggest that it is impossible to identify core fascist values and behaviours. Fascism manifests a social order and harmony through an extreme form of nationalism and political mass mobilisation based on naked coercion. It consolidates and justifies its coercive actions by radically oppressing other forms of ideas or values to which fascist followers do not subscribe (Laqueur, 1996). However, such characteristics do not subsequently differentiate a fascist regime from other forms of government such as totalitarian regimes, military dictatorships, and civil democratic regimes which occasionally employ coercive actions. A common problem arises when assessing fascism is vagueness. It is unclear whether terms...
This is a collection of personal and largely unedited observations covering the years from 2006 to now; I assert my copyright but am fine with links and footnotes. Some posts are obviously much more researched than others, and any errors are wholly mine except where I have innocently disseminated or linked to other bloggers or commentators.