Ideological Consistency and Ideological War: American Fascism vs Antifascism – January 2021

Abstract

This work analyzes the ideological war between American fascists and antifascists and the relation between the existence of an ideological consistency among the masses and the emergence of this type of conflict. The storming of the US Capitol in January 2021 by fascists and the activities of fascists and antifascists on social media serve as subjects for the analysis of this ideological war. The purpose of this work is to study literature on ideological wars and analyze how States encourage extremist ideologies based on their own ideological consistencies. The method employed to expose the ideological war is a content analysis of social media used by the Proud Boys and Atlanta Antifascists. The results show that the two competing ideologies cannot coexist peacefully in the same territory and at the same time. The State and the elites agree that the confrontation should end. This work can be useful for academics, policy makers and students working on the issue of fascist and extremist ideologies, as well as for developing ways to fight these ideologies by addressing their enablers.