The classical definition of fascism is something like "a reactionary mass mobilization directed against the labor movement and democracy as such, headed by an authoritarian right-wing party with pseudo-socialist traits", one of these being a mixed economy under strict government supervision.
But is that really the only way fascism can manifest? Why can´t there be a neo-liberal form of fascism, for instance? After all, Social Democrats or centrists can adopt neo-liberal policies, so why can´t fascists?
In the United States, David Duke - if I understand him correctly - calls for a free market economy. However, it would be weird not to call him a fascist. He has, after all, an almost explicit Nazi ideology on all other points! Indeed, most American far right-wingers probably call for a free market (or a combination of free domestic markets and closed borders).
Other examples inlcude the Islamic Salvation Front in Algeria, or the BJP in India (or at least the earlier and more militant incarnations of the Hindutva movement).
Another interesting question is if fascism can also take a Communist form. Most people would think of Stalin, but for obvious reasons, Stalin and mass mobilizations (at least in his home town) didn´t exactly mix. More relevant examples would be the Russian Red-Brown Bloc of the 1990´s, Sendero Luminoso in Peru, and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
Of course, the term "fascism" doesn´t have an essentialist meaning, so strictly speaking, we can define it anyway we see fit. (Stalin notoriously called the Social Democrats "social fascists"!) However, if stormtroopers start stirring up "the masses" against your union hall in the name of the Nation, the Great Leader and the free market, it would seem strange not to see this as somewhat analogous to Hitler or Mussolini...
Without corporativism it isnt fascism. Thats included in The original definition and using any other definition is just confusing. I would say present day Canada is close to fascism with blurred lines between the political elite and Big Pharma. But The fascist leaders of today are so uncarismatic and boring. Mussolini at least had character and could entertain the masses. Trudeau is the essence of a person without character.
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