The Helsinki Notebooks

#CFP for Vol. 2 of "The Helsinki Notebooks" (ISSN 2984-5343): We publish essays that connect the histories of fascism and colonialism / antifascism, anti-colonialism or antiracism. Follow @helsinkinotebooks.bsky.social and check the THN-website for more information: helsinkinotebooks.com

Tracing the Proto-Fascist Origins of Conflict in Cameroon Cameroon’s Violent Legacy On February 14, 2020, local security forces attacked the village of Ngarbuh in North-West Region of Cameroon, killing at least 21 civilians, including 13 ch…

Walter Gam Nkwi's new important essay on Cameroon’s violent genealogy and how it reveals fascism as not confined to Europe, but as embedded in colonial mechanisms: helsinkinotebooks.com/2025/09/15/t...

Tracing the Proto-Fascist Origins of Conflict in Cameroon Cameroon’s Violent Legacy On February 14, 2020, local security forces attacked the village of Ngarbuh in North-West Region of Cameroon, killing at least 21 civilians, including 13 ch…

Walter Gam Nkwi's new important essay on Cameroon’s violent genealogy and how it reveals fascism as not confined to Europe, but as embedded in colonial mechanisms: helsinkinotebooks.com/2025/09/15/t...

The Children of Gaza – Night Skies The night sky lights up with stars and timeless lullabies for children in South Africa.Palestinian children no longer see the gentleness of the moon. Only the glow of blood born of massive bombs Mo…

To the children of #Gaza - a powerful new poem by Ncebakazi Makwetu, published in the new "Visions" Series of The Helsinki Notebooks: helsinkinotebooks.com/2025/08/29/t...

Reclaiming the Dąbrowszczacy: Memory Battles and Antifascism in Post-Communist Poland Between 1936 and 1939, thousands of foreign volunteers travelled to Spain to fight against fascism. Among them were nearly 5,000 Polish combatants who joined the 13th International Brigade. They we…

A must-read for anyone interested in the memory battles in post-communist Europe. The case of Poland, presented by Jan Bobrowski and Grzegorz Piotrowski: #memorystudies helsinkinotebooks.com/2025/08/04/r...

Remember to follow @lazaroskaravasilis.bsky.social for new research on populism and democracy.

Populism Is Not Fascism: Here Is How Antifascist Movements Can Benefit From That Distinction It has become almost redundant to talk about the fluid nature of the populism concept and the buzzword-like label it has gained over the past two decades. Indeed, when discussing populism in the ac…

Lazaros Karavasilis is the latest contributor to The Helsinki Notebooks. An important essay on the left-wing progressive potential of populism: helsinkinotebooks.com/2025/07/15/p...

Navigating the Fascist Creep: Strategic Anti-Fascism in an Era of Political Confusion In response to the civil disobedience that erupted across US cities following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, President Donald Trump defiantly asserted that, “it is essential that we pro…

For those on the fence: Sofia Kankaanpää's THN essay offers a critical look at why many people are struggling to identify themselves as anti-fascist. "Navigating the Fascist Creep: Strategic Anti-Fascism in an Era of Political Confusion" helsinkinotebooks.com/2025/07/01/n...

Navigating the Fascist Creep: Strategic Anti-Fascism in an Era of Political Confusion In response to the civil disobedience that erupted across US cities following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, President Donald Trump defiantly asserted that, “it is essential that we pro…

For those on the fence: Sofia Kankaanpää's THN essay offers a critical look at why many people are struggling to identify themselves as anti-fascist. "Navigating the Fascist Creep: Strategic Anti-Fascism in an Era of Political Confusion" helsinkinotebooks.com/2025/07/01/n...

I. Do not obey in advance 12. Make eye contact and Defend institutions small talk Beware the one-party 13. Practice corporeal state politics Take responsibility for 14. Establish a private life the face of the world 15. Contribute to good Remember professional causes ethics 16. Learn from peers in Be wary of paramilitaries other countries Be reflective if you must 17. Listen for dangerous be armed words 8. Stand out 18. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives 9. Be kind to our language 19. Be a patriot 10. Believe in truth II. Investigate 20. Be as courageous as you can

On fascism from Timothy Snyder.

Edited volume forthcoming! Stay tuned if you want to read about how fascism has been challenged in urban spaces and how the anti-fascist city of the future can be created👇

Notes on the Imagining the Anti-Fascist City Conference On July 5-6, 2025, we hosted participants from around the world for the ‘Imagining the Anti-Fascist City: Contested Geographies of Resistance and Solidarity Conference!’. Scholars, researchers, com…

What is an "Anti-Fascist City"? In early June, the LGP-project organised an international conference in Helsinki to discuss people's right to the city and how to challenge fascism. Read our report to get a quick overview of this thought provoking event: helsinkinotebooks.com/2025/06/16/n...

Visual Resistance: How Jewish Artists Confronted Fascism Through Art in Britain and the United States Amid the horrors of fascism and genocide, Jewish artists forged a powerful form of resistance through visual art. Their works did not mythologize or glorify Nazi perpetrators; rather, they delivere…

In our latest essay, Dr. Diana I. Popescu (Birkbeck) writes on how Jewish artists confronted fascism through art in Britain and the USA in the mid 20th century. They still represent a vital resource for the historical portrayal of Nazi era perpetrators.
helsinkinotebooks.com/2025/06/02/v...

Language as a Site of Struggle in Anti-colonial and Anti-fascist Resistance Language, in its many forms, semantics, and phonetics, plays a fundamental role in human interaction. It operates on multiple planes: vertically, it helps shape hierarchies and consolidate power; h…

Read our latest essay by Yanee Dewoo on "Language as a Site of Struggle in Anti-colonial and Anti-fascist Resistance" / Amid the shadows of resurgent fascism in 2025, this truth beckons us to seize language too – to wield it as a flame to light our own battles. helsinkinotebooks.com/2025/05/01/l...

The Nemesis of Fascism: Faith, Exclusion, and Migrant Lives That human beings are agentic rational creatures is hardly disputed. It is upon this that worldview analysis is imperative in understanding the overwhelming impact of fascism in the 21st century. I…

Charles Prempeh (KNUST, Ghana) argues in this new THN-essay that the surge in fascism in the Euro-American world constitutes a major nemesis to the much-touted Western civilization and a potential blot on the conscience of Evangelical Christians.

The Nemesis of Fascism: Faith, Exclusion, and Migrant Lives That human beings are agentic rational creatures is hardly disputed. It is upon this that worldview analysis is imperative in understanding the overwhelming impact of fascism in the 21st century. I…

Charles Prempeh (KNUST, Ghana) argues in this new THN-essay that the surge in fascism in the Euro-American world constitutes a major nemesis to the much-touted Western civilization and a potential blot on the conscience of Evangelical Christians.

A black and white photograph of books being burned as men in SA uniforms look on

#OnThisDay in 1933, university students, supported by the Nazi Party, instigated book burnings of 'blacklisted' authors across Germany

The book burnings stood as a powerful symbol of Nazi intolerance and censorship. #HolocaustExplained buff.ly/VPao61H

Patriot Front is hidden hand behind dozen active clubs The white nationalist hate group is trying to boost recruitment by secretly controlling a large swath of the active clubs network.

NEW, from me: I found Patriot Front trying to boost recruitment by secretly controlling a large part of the active clubs network according to audio messages and a leaked document I reviewed.

www.splcenter.org/resources/ha...

Imagining the Anti-Fascist City: Contested Geographies of Resistance and Solidarity Conference! 5–6 June 2025, University of Helsinki, Finland. The anti-fascist urban experience is traditionally portrayed through symbolic spatial politics and confrontational tactics – marches, demonstrations, street battles, and anti-fascist block tactics.…

Announcing the full program of the "Imagining the Anti-Fascist City: Contested Geographies of Resistance and Solidarity" Conference! 5–6 June 2025 in Helsinki. Check it out! #antifascism helsinkinotebooks.com/2025/05/07/i...

Imagining the Anti-Fascist City: Contested Geographies of Resistance and Solidarity Conference! 5–6 June 2025, University of Helsinki, Finland. The anti-fascist urban experience is traditionally portrayed through symbolic spatial politics and confrontational tactics – marches, demonstrations, street battles, and anti-fascist block tactics.…

Announcing the full program of the "Imagining the Anti-Fascist City: Contested Geographies of Resistance and Solidarity" Conference! 5–6 June 2025 in Helsinki. Check it out! #antifascism helsinkinotebooks.com/2025/05/07/i...

Language needs to be considered as a vital site of struggle in both anticolonial and antifascist resistance - learn more in this important essay by Yanee Dewoo:

Reposting the THN Mission Statement to our new followers: Get in touch if you want to contribute!

Language as a Site of Struggle in Anti-colonial and Anti-fascist Resistance Language, in its many forms, semantics, and phonetics, plays a fundamental role in human interaction. It operates on multiple planes: vertically, it helps shape hierarchies and consolidate power; h…

Read our latest essay by Yanee Dewoo on "Language as a Site of Struggle in Anti-colonial and Anti-fascist Resistance" / Amid the shadows of resurgent fascism in 2025, this truth beckons us to seize language too – to wield it as a flame to light our own battles. helsinkinotebooks.com/2025/05/01/l...

The Writer, the Witch and Jesus: The Prose of Mirjam Tuominen and Fiction Writing as an Antifascist Practice in the 1930s and 40s In her essay, Besk brygd (“Bitter Brew”, 1947), the Finland-Swedish writer Mirjam Tuominen describes a Nazi soldier in the following words: Fellow feeling did not exist for the child-tormentor, oth…

!! Read our latest essay by Ylva Perera on antifascist poetics, collective guilt and the role of art in resisting fascism !! #antifascism helsinkinotebooks.com/2025/04/15/t...

The Writer, the Witch and Jesus: The Prose of Mirjam Tuominen and Fiction Writing as an Antifascist Practice in the 1930s and 40s In her essay, Besk brygd (“Bitter Brew”, 1947), the Finland-Swedish writer Mirjam Tuominen describes a Nazi soldier in the following words: Fellow feeling did not exist for the child-tormentor, oth…

!! Read our latest essay by Ylva Perera on antifascist poetics, collective guilt and the role of art in resisting fascism !! #antifascism helsinkinotebooks.com/2025/04/15/t...

Erasing the Yugoslav Revolution: (Mis-)Remembering Antifascism in Serbia and the Post-Yugoslav Space The People’s Liberation War (Narodnooslobodilački rat, NOR), as the Yugoslav Partisans’ antifascist struggle and parallel socialist revolution during World War II were officially termed, was the bi…

The People’s Liberation War, as the symbol of Yugoslavia, became in the 1990s the subject of radical revision in the often-parallel processes of erasure, demonisation, inversion and appropriation. Read @jelenadj.bsky.social new essay in The Helsinki Notebooks: helsinkinotebooks.com/2025/04/01/e...

Thinking Toward an Anti-Fascist Politic: Lessons from Buen Vivir and Pluriversality Fascism is back. In reality, it never went away. The surge of right-wing populism across the globe, the re-emergence of the strong leader and reactionary socio-cultural politics have severely ruptu…

Keira Anderson and @shanealittle.bsky.social have written an original essay for The Helsinki Notebooks: "Thinking Toward an Anti-Fascist Politic: Lessons from Buen Vivir and Pluriversality" / #antifascism #BuenVivir helsinkinotebooks.com/2025/03/17/t...

Remembering Dockworkers and their Fight Against Fascism As T-Bone Slim, a Finnish American born Matti Valentin Huhta who wrote poems and songs, organized for the Industrial Workers of the World, and hoboed around America, once declared, “[w]herever you …

Peter Cole: "Remembering Dockworkers and their Fight Against Fascism" / on how workers can use their power to act in solidarity with other people fighting fascism, imperialism, and white supremacy. #solidarity #antifascism #Chile #ElSalvador #ILWU

helsinkinotebooks.com/2025/03/03/r...

Thank you George Bishi for this excellent essay! On the importance of including fascism and antifascism in the analysis of southern African history. #Zimbabwe

Rhodesia’s Settler ‘Fascism’ and the Radical Imagination of Liberation: Reclaiming Anti-Colonial Resistance in the Shadow of Global White Supremacy The history of colonial Zimbabwe is not merely a chronicle of stolen land and broken treaties but a searing testament to how power constructs itself through myth and erasure. In the mid-20th centur…

George Bishi has written a powerful new essay for The Helsinki Notebooks on "Rhodesia’s Settler ‘Fascism’ and the Radical Imagination of Liberation: Reclaiming Anti-Colonial Resistance in the Shadow of Global White Supremacy": #fascism #antifascism helsinkinotebooks.com/2025/02/17/r...