Presence of Neo-fascism in Contemporary European Democracies

Abstract

This article aims to expose the presence of neo-fascism in European democracies. Neo-fascism is not a static phenomenon and it has manifested itself in several stages: schools of thought, social movements, political parties and political regimes. Without an ideology, fascism in the inter-war period was a pragmatic phenomenon that evolved according to the environment, thus neo-fascism should be approached according to this same dynamic, namely, from its origin as a movement until its final manifestation as a political regime. Today, neo-fascism exists as a profitable option in the electoral market and its presence has grown over the recent years in parliaments, as evidenced by the Greek case of Golden Dawn.