Fascism and liberalism: Carl Schmitt and the total state

• Autores: Felipe Alves da Silva
• Localización: Constelaciones: Revista de Teoría Crítica, ISSN-e 2172-9506, Vol. 13, 2021 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Liberalismo, capitalismo y autoritarismo: actualidad de una constelación / coord. por Cristina Catalina Gallego, Daniel Barreto González), págs. 167-185
• Idioma: inglés
• Títulos paralelos:
  • Strong State, Sound Economy: Carl Schmitt and the Total State: Carl Schmitt and the total state
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• Resumen
  • español

       Carl Schmitt’s concept of “total state” was formulated to describe the liberal state of the Weimar Republic that intervenes in all spheres of human life, overcoming the division between state and society. It is a total state by weakness since it is unable to curb social demands and to face the pluralism of interests of the political parties, which is followed by the subsequent bet on a real total state, called qualitative, thinking along the lines of the Italian fascist state: only a qualitative total state would be able to depoliticize society, overriding the interests of groups that seek to control the state, as a result, with non-intervention in the economy. Marcuse’s use of the term total-authoritarian state, in reference to the qualitative total state, and Heller’s concept of authoritarian liberalism helps us to understand the correlation between a strong state and a free economy. 

  • English

    Carl Schmitt’s concept of “total state” was formulated to describe the liberal state of the Weimar Republic that intervenes in all spheres of human life, overcoming the division between state and society. It is a total state by weakness since it is unable to curb social demands and to face the pluralism of interests of the political parties, which is followed by the subsequent bet on a real total state, called qualitative, thinking along the lines of the Italian fascist state: only a qualitative total state would be able to depoliticize society, overriding the interests of groups that seek to control the state, as a result, with non-intervention in the economy. Marcuse’s way to deal with this concept, using the term total-authoritarian state in reference to the qualitative total state, helps us comprehend the intimate relation between fascism and liberalism.