CONTINUIETIES OF FASCISM ~ The distinction between reason and unreason, a tenet of Enlightenment thought, sustains the universal appeal of liberal democracy, but leaves unexamined the paradoxes that haunt modernity, particularly its colonial foundations, thus obscuring the continuities between imperial policies and fascism. The recent book, The White West: Fascism, Unreason, and the Paradox of Modernity, contends that without confronting the structuring force of race in the production and reproduction of global wealth disparities, fighting for reason only leads to flawed utopias in which a critique or disruption of capitalism is easily inflected in the direction of neofascism. ~ In conversation with cultural theorists Ana Teixeira Pinto ( beloved DAI tutor from 2018 till 2025 .. and beyond) and Anselm Franke ( returning DAI friend), using their collected volume as a point of departure, Clio Nicastro and Agata Lisiak will critically unpack the ongoing processes of fascisization in Germany and beyond, reflecting on how the most recent political developments have affected, or possibly challenged, their theorization of fascism. Interrogating fascism’s genealogies and legacies, they will also contemplate possible ways forward, outside myopic and harmful frameworks of universality.
Continuities of Fascism
Friday, December 12, 2025 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm CET/GMT+1
diffrakt | zentrum für theoretische peripherie e.V., Crellestraße 22, 10827 Berlin
diffrakt | centre for theoretical periphery.
Ana Teixeira Pinto is now a professor at HGB Leipzig. She is the editor of the Sternberg Press series On the Antipolitical and co-organized HKW Berlin's “The White West” conference/podcast series, co-editing the subsequent publication Fascism, Unreason and the Paradox of Modernity. Her forthcoming book is Death Wall (Sternberg Press).
Anselm Franke is a Professor for Cultural Critique / Curatorial Studies at ZHdK - Zurich University of Arts. He has numerous realized exhibitions and publications.
