Between Antifascism and Antifa: A Conversation with Mark Bray, Author of Antifa

Abstract

Antifa, by Mark Bray, innovated in a field of study with wide coverage: fascism. Bray dared to look at the other and forgotten side: anti-fascism. In his book Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, Bray deals not with anti-fascism as mere opposition to fascism, but with a tradition of political combat that dates back to the beginnings of Mussolini’s Fascism. It is noticeable in Antifa, and even in the interview that follows, the combination between the two universes of the author. Bray, an academic historian at Dartmouth College, analyzes historical and contemporary fascisms, as well as the evolution of the concept of fascism over the last century and the equally secular struggle of anti-fascists. But this is not just a book of academic or historiographical analysis. The militant side of the author (one of the organizers of Occupy Wall Street) emerges, especially in the dozens of interviews with anti-fascists around the world.