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Volume 3, Issue 2
  • ISSN: 2211-6249
  • E-ISSN: 2211-6257
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Abstract

The focus of this article is the ideological formation of so called ‘New-Swedish Socialism’, an indigenous form of fascist thought formulated by the Swedish ideologue Per Engdahl (1909–1994) in the early 1930s. New-Swedish Socialism should not be equated with either Italian-styled Fascism or National Socialism, but must be seen as an original form of fascist thought. This fascist variant can be described as comparatively flexible, low-key and intellectual. The present analysis of the formation of New-Swedish Socialism follows the model for ideological analysis suggested by the British political scientist Michael Freeden. Freeden’s analytical mode defines an ideology in terms of a core cluster of interrelated and ineliminable political concepts which are essentially contestable. Starting from a definition of generic fascism and using the core concepts that can be identified from this definition, the presence, de-contestation and interrelatedness of these core concepts within New-Swedish Socialism is studied and analyzed. This article addresses whether New-Swedish Socialism can correctly be labelled fascist as well as capturing its special character as a fascist variant in its own right. The study has been limited to the ideological formation process in the early and mid-1930s but Engdahl remained an important influence on Swedish as well as European fascism throughout his life.

© 2014 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
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2014-10-27
2025-12-16
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References

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/content/journals/10.1163/22116257-00302001
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): fascist variants; ideological formation; interwar period; Nysvenska Rörelsen; Per Engdahl; Sweden; Swedish fascism

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