On Karl and/or Michael Polanyi on the Rise of Fascism.

Totalitarianism, hostile to all dynamic systems, attacks their standards and ideals. In the totalitarian view those who pursue ideals are neglecting their duty to society, for the sake of unsubstantial values of purely formal significance. The...[denial of] the justification of pure science, is a case in point. We will come back to it later in detail.

Another aspect of the same conflict arises from the democratic nature of the dynamic systems. Their growth takes place through the life and action of the community of specialists in charge. It is a democratic life conducted publicly, under the voluntarily accepted laws of this circle. We have seen how every new addition to the social heritage is suggested in public, discussed and codified, or rejected in public under the guidance of the "influentials" acting as elected officers. At the same time the specialist circles keep up popular contacts all around them. They appeal to a wider range of lay connoisseurs or specially interested members of the general public, and through these they recommend themselves to the common man throughout the entire community. Thus they establish the standing of their particular pursuits in the life of society as a whole. The inner circle of creative men becomes entrusted by the whole of society with the cultivation of certain ideals, in which the rest of the people take part at various stages of interest. We have here a system of indirect representation, at each stage of which people less experienced and interested in a particular field confide in others, more intimately concerned with it.

The expansion of modern public life during the 19th century, which has continued rapidly during the past two decades through the advent of the wireless and film, had made this informal mode of self- government, by direct response of the public to the activities of various specialised strata, a most important element of democracy. It has recently become a factor in politics, where it seems to be side-tracking to some extent the electoral machine. In the United States in particular, the division between the Legislative and the Executive has invited the development of this type of direct public influence-- exercised through the press and the results of private polls which sway in major issues the views. of the professional politicians-the electoral machinery retaining of course its function as the ultimate sanction of public opinion.

The existence of this modern form of democracy, upheld by the circles of dynamic systems and the general public connected with them, makes it necessary for modern dictators to become totalitarian. No absolute ruler can be satisfied to-day with dominion life alone. That realm in itself is shadowy and for example by the regime of South American can become real to-day only by eradicating the cultural life with all its widespread popular roots. prestige of the guardians of intellectual and moral their autonomous circles are dispersed, and the wider thereby to a helpless mass, can the dictator address without fear of control or criticism.'--Michal Polanyi (1941) "The Growth of Thought in Society, Economica, 442-3

Last week, I noted that in the Great Transformation (1944), Karl Polanyi argues that markets are inherently fragile and proper functioning markets are very disruptive of traditional forms of life and destroy previously existing organic culture. This generates reactions that have the (possibly conflicting) aims to shore up and protect the market and protect society to slow down the rate of social change. In some some cases these reactions work in the same direction and thereby strengthening forces that threaten to overwhelm liberal society. Thus, "Fascism, like socialism, was rooted in a market society that refused to function."  Because nineteenth century liberal society was global, for Polanyi the fascist reaction to the implosion of market society is a world-wide phenomenon. Given the clear rise of fascist tendencies around the world, Polanyi's thought has returned to salience.*

One arresting feature of  Karl Polanyi's account is his treatment of the capitulation of democratic forces against rather weak fascist action. And while he sometimes -- in a minor key -- suggests this was due to a kind of cynical miscalculation (from craven self-interest) by conservative business-friendly interests, his account implies -- in the major key -- the shocking result is due to a lack of faith among democratic elites. Why this is so, he does not quite explain.+ So, while Polanyi is strong on describing the triggering conditions when liberal societies are vulnerable to implosion, he does not explain the mechanism. Somewhat surprisingly, the thought of another Polanyi can be helpful here.  

Karl Polanyi's younger brother, Michael, had more liberal political tendencies than Karl. Unlike Karl -- who has a narrow identification of liberalism with free markets in people and land, and a fixed exchange rates (i.e., the gold standard) --, Michael Polanyi emphasizes the rise of specialized, partially self-governing intermediary societies (within science, art, law, the crafts, engineering, medicine, etc.) as constitutive of liberal society. In these intermediary societies, professionals get to exercise independent judgment that, regardless the diversity of underlying private motives, indirectly serve the common good (over time). These self-governing intermediary societies have a complex inward-looking dynamic and a complex outward-looking dynamic partially mediated by what Polanyi calls "influentials." (In my own work (recall) I call these "aggregators".)

The evolving views that are characteristic of development of these intermediary societies are fundamentally influenced by discussion about evidence and ideals.) And, while Michael Polanyi, does not use the phrase, it's clear he thinks these intermediary societies are democratic in virtue of the fact that they instantiate the ideal of 'government by discussion' not force, among (relative) equals. As it happens, one of the more important intermediary societies is political in character at the interface of professional politicians and opinion makers and the expert-influentials that advise them. (Here Polanyi seems to echo (recall) Lippmann, who he does not quote.)

Michael Polanyi thinks that the attack, characteristic of fascist thought, on elites is really an attack on the significance of these 'influentials' and the independent power(s), including prestige, these represents. (He thinks this, partially, reflects the legacy of aristocratic disdain of science.) I find this helpful in understanding why anti-liberal political movements ranging from populists to fascists and marxists, never let up in attacking many of the intermediary societies, but especially law and the academy, as long as they are independent. The whole point is to make these intermediaries feel isolated so that when the inevitable power grab comes, the ruling strata of these intermediaries lack the faith and confidence to stand for their independence. It's an insight that today's fascists have grasped.

*But (recall) Melinda Cooper's excellent account of the limitations of Polanyi's analysis.

+Culture and socialization are important recurring features of Polanyi's larger analysisin The Great Transformation.