The New Fascist Body: Dagmar Herzog on Eugenics and Sexuality

• Historian Dagmar Herzog analyzes the continuity between Nazi bodily politics and modern far-right strategies in her book, The New Fascist Body.
• Nazi ideology functioned through the duality of elevating the 'pure' Aryan body and demanding the exclusion or extermination of 'imperfect' individuals.
• Contemporary far-right parties, such as Germany's AfD, instrumentalize 'sexy racism' to mobilize voters and propagate xenophobic agendas.

Nazi Roots and Eugenic Logic

• During the Weimar Republic, the 'stab-in-the-back' myth scapegoated Jews, socialists, and those deemed 'mediocre' or 'imperfect'.
• Hitler argued that the state could not afford to sustain the vulnerable, leading to mass forced sterilization and the murder of those with disabilities.

The Weaponization of Sexuality

• Modern movements use erotically charged imagery to promote racism, framing minority men as sexual threats to white women.
• Herzog defines this as 'sexy racism', where sexuality is used not for pleasure, but as a political tool to exploit human vulnerabilities and generate feelings of superiority.

Attacks on Inclusion and Social Welfare

• The far-right frames disability and diversity as threats to the 'national health', opposing inclusive education to maintain segregation.
• This discourse acts as a 'Trojan horse' to justify dismantling social safety nets, pitting the vulnerable against one another while promoting a new, brutal social Darwinism.

Anti-Humanism in the 21st Century

• Herzog warns that the current rise of techno-eugenics and the dehumanization of the 'unproductive' by ultra-wealthy elites represents a shift toward overt anti-humanism.
• The push for hyper-competitiveness and indifference toward the weak is described as a deliberate attack on the social contract and democratic equality.