Fascism has always drawn significant strength from the middle classes — those squeezed between big capital and organised workers, fearful of crisis and desperate for stability.

From interwar Europe to the far-right insurgencies of today, sections of the middle class have been mobilised behind violent nationalist fantasies that promise order and moral renewal.

This session explores why these layers are so vulnerable to fascist politics, how their anxieties are weaponised by the right, and what this means for the left’s strategy in confronting fascism.