At Socialism 2026, Activist Da’Shaun L. Harrison Frames GLP-1 Drugs as 'Fascistic' in Broader Critique of Anti-Fatness and Anti-Blackness

At the Socialism 2026 conference in Chicago, held September 4-6, activist and author Da’Shaun L. Harrison presented on the panel 'Health Fascism, Body Politics, and the Anti-State State,' arguing that the political deployment of GLP-1 receptor agonists like Ozempic and Wegovy constitutes 'fascistic' conditions rooted in a society 'fixated on genociding fat people.' Harrison, author of 'Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness,' linked these drugs not to individual choice but to systemic 'policing of Black fat flesh' and colonial surveillance frameworks drawn from Frantz Fanon.

The conference schedule confirms the panel featuring Harrison alongside Beatrice Adler-Bolton and Artie Vierkant. Video clips and direct quotes shared on X by Stu Smith document Harrison stating: 'The political deployment of GLP-1s is fascistic, not because individuals take them, but because the conditions under which they become necessary are shaped by a world fixated on genociding fat people.' Harrison extends prior work positing anti-fatness as anti-Blackness, critiquing BMI, diet culture, and medical institutions as tools of discipline and governance.

This rhetoric intersects with wider debates on GLP-1 drugs. Usage has surged, with reports of 11% of Americans currently using them by 2026, amid discussions of their economic impacts, potential to overlook food environment reforms, and emerging stigma. Harrison’s framing echoes fat liberation movements but draws sharp pushback for equating weight management interventions with genocide, highlighting tensions between public health policy and identity-based critiques of medicalization.