Fascism thrives on weakening of working-class: Prabhat Patnaik

Renowned economist Prabhat Patnaik discusses the rise of fascism and weakening of the working class due to neo-liberalism.

Fascism has been thriving on weakening of working class across the world, renowned economist Prabhat Patnaik has said.

Speaking on the theme ‘How Democracy Dies: Neo-liberalism and Fascism’ at the International Literature Festival of Kerala (ILFK) here on Tuesday, he said the working class all over the world is on the defensive.

“The striking power of the working class has gone down considerably. If the workers in a country demand wage hike, the capitalists threaten to move out of the country. Thus, workers are not in a position to bargain,” he said. Dismantling of public sector, a characteristic of the neo-liberalism, has weakened the trade unions, he noted.

Even though the GDP growth rate is claimed to have doubled compared to the rate prevalent before the advent of neo-liberalism, annual employment growth has halved, he said

Neo-liberalism created an agrarian crisis because of the withdrawal of welfare measures. This turned many farmers into job seekers, Professor Patnaik said.

Notably, there has been a clear shift towards the right all over the world. And the liberal intelligentsia call these governments as right-wing populist governments. This is misleading. These governments have many similarities with the fascist movements that emerged in the 1930s, he said.

“These fascist movements can be called neo-fascist movements. They entail state repression against dissenting voices and undermine democratic institutions. They combine state repression with street thuggery. Authorisation of hapless minority group as ‘other’, against whom hatred has been generated by majority, is another characteristic. All these regimes are closely aligned with a particular neo-segment of the monopoly capitalists, which is their hallmark,” he noted.