Zines as part of an antifascist pedagogical practice

These zines responded to the rise of the online ‘tradwives’ movement, drawing parallels with Fascist ideas of womanhood.

Amy King is a Senior Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of Bristol specializing in the history and memory of the Italian far right over the past century. She teaches The F-Word: Understanding Italian Fascism Then and Now, a course designed to examine both historical fascism and its modern manifestations.

The course is split into two sessions each week: a "then" class, which unpacks historical fascism, and a "now" class, which explores how those same forces shape today’s global far-right movements. Covering topics such as hyper-masculinity, propaganda, race, and antisemitism, the course emphasizes that fascism isn’t just history—it’s a persistent and evolving threat.

Thanks to a teaching fellowship she has collaborated with Ioana Simion—creative programmer, arts facilitator, and founder of Artizine UK—to develop a zine-making workshop that connects directly to the course’s themes. By engaging in hands-on creative expression, students don’t just study fascism—they actively challenge it.

"Moreover, the collage form of zines and the range of primary sources from the historic and contemporary period enabled students to draw explicit temporal links between then and now. As one student wrote, ‘the use of random magazines\literature helped refine one’s knowledge as you are trying to make certain images/words/quotes apply to a specific context within fascism as you design the pages of the zine.’"

"By inviting creative self-expression and the humorous use of deep knowledge to subvert authoritarianism, and in creating an analogue and collaborative environment that challenges the anonymous and fragmented far-right online environment, zine-making is an important part of a creative antifascist pedagogy that empowers students today."

ARTICLE:Towards a Creative Antifascist Pedagogy: Zine-Making in the Classroom

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