Why is fascism so libidinal?

The opposite of domination is not innocence it’s intimacy

We have to come to terms with the fact that fascism is not only ideological; it’s libidinal. It does not merely tell us what to think. It offers solutions to wounds.

It offers belonging without vulnerability, certainty without complexity, righteousness and entitlement to “safety” instead of accountability. It promises power (over) without intimacy (power with).

When people are overwhelmed, frightened, isolated, humiliated, or grieving, domination can feel seductive because it promises relief. It promises that someone else is to blame. It promises purity. It promises that if we eliminate the problem (which is often people who are different from us), we can stop feeling what we feel.

In this sense, fascism is not simply a political formation. It is a relational one.

---

And that is why abolition can never be only a political project.

Because if fascism recruits through our unmet needs for belonging, dignity, safety, certainty, and significance, then abolition must become capable of meeting those needs differently.

I have written here about our core needs (safety, dignity, belonging) are all relational. And how the state seduces us with their near enemies.

Instead of safety, the state offers us complacency or survival.

Instead of dignity, the state offers us hierarchy and coercion.

Instead of belonging, the state offers us fitting in.

What I find interesting in radical leftist spaces, is that although we are really good at naming those structures of harm, we don’t really practice living the wounds together (outside of horrible conflict). Maybe I should speak from the I, so let me reframe.

I find that in my spaces, folks who do not share my intersections walk on eggshells around me. I catch my selves walking on eggshells around you. And this makes me feel more lonely than I already am. We keep each other at arm’s length because we are terrified to embody the structures we so wish to destroy.

We forget the quieter truth, that we feel destroyed inside.

Innocence does not actually challenge the architecture of domination. It often reproduces it. Intimacy asks different questions.

Can I remain connected to myselves when I make a mistake?

Can I remain connected to you when you disappoint me?

Can we tell the truth about harm without needing someone to disappear?

Can we survive complexity?

Can we survive each other’s humanity?

How do we cultivate a nervous system that can survive honesty—one that understands that being human is not a liability?

This is why accountability feels so threatening to the nervous system. Many of us learned that making a mistake meant abandonment, humiliation, violence, exclusion, or loss of belonging.

So when accountability arrives, our bodies often hear: I am about to be exiled.

---

The reality is that:

I/you will hurt people.

People will hurt me/you.

We are shaped by domination.

The people we love are shaped by domination.

None of us are innocent… and,

None of us are disposable.

And perhaps that is where the libidinal question comes back.

If fascism offers a libidinal attachment to certainty, purity, innocence, and domination, then abolition must cultivate a libidinal attachment to something else… but what?

After all, the body learns on YES. We simply cannot transform away from something (fascism, terror…), we need to transform towards something that excites us deeply, in each cell of our body.

We need to cultivate a libidinal attachment to:

intimacy, repair, complexity, interdependence, the relief of not having to be perfect to belong (!), the experience of being known and remaining connected.

How do we build relationships capable of meeting the needs that domination has been falsely promising to meet all along: safety, dignity and belonging?

We’ll be looking at those questions and practicing the answers together in my next workshop next Sunday (and the next!). Yes, this one is a 2-day workshop and will go deep. So if you’ve been feeling, just like me, that our relationships are not meeting the urgency of this moment, come join us !

---

The opposite of domination is not innocence it’s intimacy: THE WORKSHOP

How do we excavate the wounds structures created while keeping ourselves and each other close?

How do we destroy the empire while feeling destroyed within?

A 2-DAY WORKSHOP TO PRACTICE ABOLITION TOGETHER!!!! PRICE IS FOR THE 2 DAYS - RECORDING AVAILABLE IF U REGISTER !

DAY 1 (Sunday, June 14th, 6–8 PM CEST // 12–2 PM ET // 9–11 AM PT)

DAY 2 (Sunday, June 21st, 6–8 PM CEST // 12–2 PM ET // 9–11 AM PT)

DAY 1 (Sunday, June 14th, 6–8 PM CEST // 12–2 PM ET // 9–11 AM PT)

Part 1: Locating Ourselves Inside the System

The master’s tools live in our bodies too.

* Intersections and social location

* Trauma and core needs

* Survival strategies: fight, flight, freeze, dissociate, fawn

* Mapping our inherited survival strategies

Part 2: TJ, a practice of Accountability Beyond Punishment

If we cannot face the harm we cause, we cannot transform!

* Transformative Justice vs Restorative Justice

* What is accountability and why accountability feels threatening to the nervous system?

* Building a culture of accountability

* Over-accountability, under-accountability, and centered accountability

DAY 2 (Sunday, June 21st, 6–8 PM CEST // 12–2 PM ET // 9–11 AM PT)

Part 3: The Opposite of Domination is Not Innocence—It’s Intimacy

Can we remain connected while telling the truth?

* Near enemy//far enemy

* Pod

* Apology Lab

* Q&A and integration