Othering

The Mechanism of Othering: How Fear and Projection Fuel Fascism

What makes a society turn against its own people? How does an ideology justify mass persecution, purges, and violence? The answer lies in othering—the psychological mechanism of defining an enemy to avoid confronting one’s own contradictions. Othering is not just a symptom of fascism; it is at its foundation. When a society is trapped in binary thinking, contradictions become unbearable, and the easiest way to resolve them is by projecting internal fears onto an external enemy.

This article builds upon the themes explored in Shadow & Light, which examined the interplay between repression and projection in shaping collective ideologies. While that piece delved into the broader philosophical and psychological framework of these dynamics, here we focus on a concrete historical case: The Great Purge. By analyzing its mechanisms, we can better understand how othering fuels fascism and why it ultimately leads to collapse.

The Great Purge (1936–1938) under Joseph Stalin stands as a horrifying example of this dynamic, where the Soviet Union descended into paranoia, mass executions, and political purges. Stalin’s obsession with eliminating ‘enemies of the people’ became one of history’s most extreme cases of othering gone unchecked—where fear of internal contradiction led to escalating cycles of repression and self-destruction. A similar pattern emerged during the McCarthy era in the United States, where paranoia about communist infiltration fueled blacklists, career destruction, and widespread fear, demonstrating how othering can manifest across vastly different political contexts.

The Logic of Othering: Projection and Binary Thinking

At its core, othering is fueled by cowardice of the self—the refusal to confront contradictions within. Instead of acknowledging internal uncertainty, insecurity, or repressed desires, individuals and societies externalize them onto a defined other. This process follows a consistent pattern:

1. Binary Thinking Entraps the Mind – The world is divided into pure vs. corrupt, loyal vs. traitor, superior vs. inferior. Once trapped in binary thinking, contradictions cannot be integrated. They must be eliminated.
2. Projection of the Shadow – As Carl Jung described, what is denied within the self is projected onto others. The more violently a trait is condemned, the more likely it is an unacknowledged part of the condemner’s own psyche.
3. Paranoia Ensues – The enemy must be everywhere, always expanding. The definition of “the other” keeps widening to justify more purges, more persecution.
4. Blame-Shifting Becomes the Default Response – Every failure, every societal problem, every personal insecurity is redirected onto “the other.” Neither the individual nor the in-group is ever at fault—every weakness, every instability is blamed on an external force. This relentless deflection ensures that self-reflection is not just avoided but made impossible, locking the system into a cycle of escalating repression and failure.
5. Self-Destruction is Inevitable – The system turns on itself. No one is safe. The purity spiral leads to total collapse.

The Great Purge: A Case Study in Escalating Othering

Stalin’s Great Purge was a textbook example of how othering escalates into mass violence. Originally targeting political dissidents, the purge soon consumed high-ranking officials, military leaders, intellectuals, and even Stalin’s closest allies. The cycle followed a predictable pattern:

• Creating an Enemy – Stalin framed perceived opponents as “enemies of the people,” blaming them for sabotage, disloyalty, and betrayal.
• Expanding the Definition – As initial targets were eliminated, paranoia increased. Loyal party members, former supporters, and even longtime friends became suspect.
• Self-Destruction of the System – The purge became a death spiral. Even those enforcing it were eventually consumed by it. The more Stalin tried to eliminate opposition, the more fragile the system became.

By the time it ended, an estimated 700,000 people had been executed, and millions more had been imprisoned or exiled. The irony? The very act of purging created more instability than the supposed “traitors” ever could.

From State Purges to Individual Projection

Othering is not merely an intellectual process—it is driven by desire twisted by fear. At its root, this fear is the fear of confronting the self, of acknowledging contradictions, of facing uncertainty. Fascism redirects desire, channeling personal insecurity into political aggression.

Fascism thrives not just on fear, but on longing: for purity, for order, for power, for belonging. It offers a fantasy of restoration, where every contradiction is erased, where those who feel powerless are elevated, and where those who are confused or insecure are given clarity through a rigid hierarchy.

This mechanism is deeply personal, often manifesting in those who most violently repress parts of themselves they cannot accept. The Nazis, for example, relentlessly persecuted homosexuals, branding them as threats to their vision of a “pure” society. Yet, history has revealed that some high-ranking Nazi officials were themselves gay—proving once again that the most violent repression often hides deep personal contradictions. This is not an isolated phenomenon; it is a pattern seen throughout history, where those who shout the loudest against an other are often struggling with their own repressed traits.

The dynamic of repression leading to projection is not just a historical phenomenon—it plays out on an individual level in society today. Some of the most vocal opponents of LGBTQ+ rights, for example, have been exposed for engaging in the very behaviors they condemned. This isn’t coincidence; it’s a direct consequence of suppressed identity.

• Anti-Gay Politicians Caught in Gay Scandals – Time and time again, right-wing politicians who push anti-LGBTQ+ legislation are later revealed to have engaged in same-sex relationships. Their public hatred is a cover for their private repression.
• The Catholic Church and Systemic Suppression – The church’s enforced celibacy and rigid moral doctrine have led to endless sexual abuse scandals. When natural human desires are denied, they manifest in perverse and destructive ways.
• Fascist Fixation on Gender Norms – Fascist regimes obsess over rigid gender roles because fluidity threatens binary control. Trans and nonbinary identities expose the artificiality of gender constructs, making them existential threats to authoritarian ideologies.

The louder someone rages against ‘deviance,’ the more likely they are struggling with what they condemn. Repression breeds obsession, which inevitably turns into persecution—the same mechanism that powered the Great Purge.

Desire plays a central role in fascism’s spread: the individual who represses uncertainty finds solace in the collective certainty of the group. The collective, in turn, reshapes the individual, amplifying resentments and making them dependent on the ideology for their sense of purpose. This feedback loop—where repression fuels ideology and ideology demands further repression—ensures that what begins as personal discontent metastasizes into systemic violence.

At its core, fascism does not eliminate desire—it redirects it. The fear of confronting the self transforms the longing for connection into hostility toward the ‘other.’

Fascism is Always Self-Destructive

The actual is not what we are, but rather what we become, what we are in the process of becoming—that is the Other, our becoming-other.

Gilles Deleuze

Othering does not create stability—it creates a downward spiral. Fascism is not merely doomed to collapse eventually; it is doomed from its very inception. By its nature, it turns against itself, ensuring its own destruction.

Fascism is Self-Defeating Because:

• It is Directed Against Itself from the Start –As Deleuze suggests, fascism is an attempt to arrest identity—to freeze it in place and deny the inevitable process of becoming-other. But identity is never static; self-actualization is an ongoing process. In its desperate struggle to maintain a false sense of purity, fascism devours itself, always searching for new threats, new enemies—until nothing remains.
• It Cannot Stop Expanding its Enemies – Fascism is fueled by paranoia. There is no final victory in purging. The moment one other is eliminated, another must take its place. This ensures a never-ending cycle of violence, as the definition of the enemy expands until even the most loyal followers become suspect.
• It Attacks its Own Loyalists – Stalin’s purges did not stop at his political rivals; they extended to his closest allies. In fascist systems, loyalty is never enough, because ideological purity is a moving target. No one is ever “pure” enough to be safe indefinitely.
• It Stifles Innovation and Growth – Fascism fears creativity, dissent, and free thought. Intellectuals, artists, and scientists are among the first to be purged. This leaves a stagnant, paranoid society incapable of progress.

Fascism does not merely fall—it drags everything into destruction on an unprecedented scale. The last time it was allowed to take full hold, millions were slaughtered in concentration camps, entire cities were bombed into dust, and the world was thrown into the deadliest war in human history. The Third Reich was not simply defeated—it was obliterated, leaving behind smoldering ruins and the deaths of millions of soldiers and civilians. World War II was not merely the consequence of fascism’s rise; it was the price of allowing it to fester unchecked. And when fascism was finally crushed, it was not through debate or ideology—it was through fire and blood, through total war.

Even today, de-Nazification remains an ongoing process, a testament to how deeply fascism poisons a society long after its collective manifestation and apparent defeat. Yet, as history warns, fascism is never truly eradicated—it mutates, it metastasizes—circulating between the individual and the collective. It spreads like a contagion, infecting minds, embedding itself into institutions, rhetoric, and policy. And as the infected collective reshapes the individual, the cycle deepens—each feeding into the other, normalizing its logic, making the unthinkable acceptable and the inhumane desirable.

Conclusion: The Escape Route from Othering

A society is defined not by its contradictions but by its lines of flight, by the escape routes it allows or prevents.

Gilles Deleuze

The way out of the cycle of othering is to reject binary thinking and integrate contradictions rather than externalizing them. Othering is a form of cowardice—a refusal to face the complexity of the self. Fascism thrives by creating enemies, but in doing so, it seals its own fate.

The lesson of the Great Purge, of religious repression, of authoritarian moral crusades, is clear: The harder you fight the other, the more you reveal your fear of yourself. And in the end, that fear does not just consume you—it devours everything in its path, leaving nothing but ruin.