Class collaboration is a principle of social organization that forms part of
FascistFascism, , comprises a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology and a corporatist economic ideology developed in Italy. Fascists believe that nations and/or races are in perpetual conflict whereby only the strong can survive by being healthy, vital, and by asserting themselves in...
philosophy. It is based upon the belief that the division of society into a hierarchy of
social classSocial classes are the hierarchical arrangements of people in society as economic or cultural groups. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political economists and social historians...
es is a positive and essential aspect of
civilizationA civilization is a complex society or culture group characterized by dependence upon agriculture, long-distance trade, state form of government, occupational specialization, population, and class stratification.-Definition:...
. In the words of
Benito MussoliniBenito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini,
KSMOM GCTE was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism. He became the Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and began using the title Il Duce by...
, "[Fascism] affirms the irremediable, fruitful and beneficent inequality of men." Given this premise, Fascists conclude that the preservation of social hierarchy is in the interests of all classes, and therefore all classes should
collaborateCollaboration is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together in an intersection of common goals — for example, an intellectual endeavor that is creative in nature—by sharing knowledge, learning and building consensus. Most collaboration requires leadership, although...
in its defense.
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Class collaboration is a principle of social organization that forms part of
FascistFascism, , comprises a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology and a corporatist economic ideology developed in Italy. Fascists believe that nations and/or races are in perpetual conflict whereby only the strong can survive by being healthy, vital, and by asserting themselves in...
philosophy. It is based upon the belief that the division of society into a hierarchy of
social classSocial classes are the hierarchical arrangements of people in society as economic or cultural groups. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political economists and social historians...
es is a positive and essential aspect of
civilizationA civilization is a complex society or culture group characterized by dependence upon agriculture, long-distance trade, state form of government, occupational specialization, population, and class stratification.-Definition:...
. In the words of
Benito MussoliniBenito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini,
KSMOM GCTE was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism. He became the Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and began using the title Il Duce by...
, "[Fascism] affirms the irremediable, fruitful and beneficent inequality of men." Given this premise, Fascists conclude that the preservation of social hierarchy is in the interests of all classes, and therefore all classes should
collaborateCollaboration is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together in an intersection of common goals — for example, an intellectual endeavor that is creative in nature—by sharing knowledge, learning and building consensus. Most collaboration requires leadership, although...
in its defense. Both the lower and the higher classes should accept their roles and perform their respective duties.
In Fascist thought, the principle of class collaboration is combined with strong
nationalismNationalism is an ideology, a sentiment, a form of culture, or a social movement that focuses on the nation. It is a type of collectivism emphasizing the collective of a specific nation...
. The stability and prosperity of the nation was seen as the ultimate purpose of collaboration between classes.
Opposition to class struggle
Class collaboration is to a large extent the reversal of the
MarxistMarxism is the political philosophy and economic worldview based upon a materialist interpretation of history, a Marxist analysis of capitalism, a theory of social change, and an atheist view of human liberation derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels; three primary aspects of...
concept of
class struggleClass struggle is the active expression of class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, leading ideologists of communism, wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle".Marx's notion of class has...
. Whereas the doctrine of class struggle urges the lower classes to overthrow the ruling class and the existing social order for the purpose of establishing equality, the doctrine of class collaboration urges them to accept inequality as part of the natural state of things and preserve the social order. Furthermore it holds that the State alone 'reconciles' class antagonisms in society, and that the strife which gives rise to Communism can be harmonized. The idea that inequality is natural and that social progress must be resisted is a distinctly reactionary and more conservative view, while more radical fascists such as the Falangists and early Italian fascists called for a social-revolution to overcome the old injustices which were holding back their respective nations from becoming truly great. That in itself is a great divide between the radical fascists and the conservative autocratic ones.
Some Marxists use the term "class collaboration" as a pejorative term describing working class organisations that do not pursue class struggle.