David Broder

After the fall of Benito Mussolini, antifascism became the founding principle of the Italian Republic. Now, eighty years later, Italy is governed by political forces directly descending from historical fascism. How did this happen?

In his latest book Mussolini’s Grandchildren: Fascism in Contemporary Italy, David Broder answers this question by looking at the history of neofascist movements in Italy after the Second World War. By integrating neofascist tradition into a broader framework of international conservative politics, the Italian far right has proven alarmingly successful in legitimising its presence in contemporary politics. However, this would not have been possible without a decades-long process of undermining antifascist memory culture and revising Italy’s recent history. Broder’s book meticulously reconstructs the strategy of restoring neofascism into the mainstream – and warns that its effectiveness is not limited to Italy.

David Broder is a historian of French and Italian communism and Jacobin’s Europe editor. After the book talk, a discussion with the audience will follow. The talk will take place in-person.

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