Archive of The Poulantzas Reader

The most pressing debates in left theory, from 50 years of radical publishing.

In 1977, an intense debate raged in the Greek press between Nicos Poulantzas and Cornelius Castoriadis, sparked by remarks made by Poulantzas in an article that questioned Castoriadis political commitment to ending the dictatorship in Greece, and his position as a high-level economist for the OECD. Here, published in English for the first time, is the record of the debate – published with an introduction by Dimitris Psarras and Dimitris Karidas.

The global far-right is returning at an alarming rate, with the latest example being that of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil (analysed by Perry Anderson in the latest LRB). But, is this fascism? The first thing we need to know before we can answer that is a full definition of fascism as an historical phenomena. In this extract from his republished classic Fascism and Dictatorship, Nicos Poulantzas explains the relationship between fascism and the dominant classes.