For Julià Gómez Reig, questions about the legacy of authoritarianism began with his own family history. His PhD project at the EUI explores fascism as a transnational phenomenon and shows how far-right movements in the 1920s built an international order that transcended national borders.
Julià revisits overlooked moments, such as the 1923 visit of Spanish dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera to Rome, and uncovers how ideas of empire and “Latin civilisation” connected Italy and Spain. His research shows us how societies can become authoritarian without overt signs when intolerance and violence are gradually normalised.
Watch the full video to learn how personal history and global politics intersect in Julià Gómez Reig’s research.
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Julià Gómez Reig is a PhD researcher at the EUI Department of History. His PhD thesis ‘Transnational fascism and internationalism: Political culture, cooperation and governance between Italy and Spain, 1922-1945’ is supervised by Pieter M. Judson and Lucy Riall.