Episode 4: Fascism in the 21st Century, Part 1.

This is Episode 4 of the State of the Theory Podcast. Politics. Power. Popular Culture. And other stuff, probably. In this series, we’re like super nerdy philosophical DJs: mashing up Serious Academic Questions with the most topical news and trends in pop culture. Each week, we’ll tackle a new topic and collide it with ‘critical theory’ (we’re pretty loose with our definitions, though, so expect the unexpected). Our aim is to destroy the stuff we know, explore the stuff we don’t and unsettle everything we think we know about the world. We take the obvious, the commonsensical, the certain, and then we rip it all to shreds. We are your theory doctors and we are always on call. In this episode, we consider Donald Trump in USA, and Narendra Modi in India through theories of Fascism. We ask to what extent these politicians and the movements they lead can be described as 21st Century forms of Fascism. The theoretical texts we refer to are: "The Origins of Totalitarianism" by Hannah Arendt (http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Origins-Totalitarianism-Hannah-Arendt/dp/1849028974) "Ur-Fascism" by Umberto Eco (http://www.pegc.us/archive/Articles/eco_ur-fascism.pdf) "Selections from the Prison Notebooks" by Antonio Gramsci (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Selections-Prison-Notebooks-Antonio-Gramsci/dp/0853152802) Our theme music is "The Face of God" by The Agrarians (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Agrarians/The_Jovial_Shepherd/The_Face_of_God) State of the Theory is brought to you by Hannah Fitzpatrick (University of Aberdeen) and Anindya Raychaudhuri (University of St Andrews) Find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/stateofthetheorypodcast/?fref=ts) or Tweet us @drhfitz and @DrAnindyaR