Doublespeak: The Rhetoric of the Far Right Since 1945

by Matthew Feldman (Editor), Paul Jackson (Editor)

This timely intervention exposes the euphemized language of the extreme right as a deceptive attempt to secure greater influence over public policy. Since the end of World War II, the extreme right has made strategic use of "doublespeak," which apes the language of liberal democracy. Attentive observation and accurate recognition of these tactics means taking the extreme right's deliberately crafted slogans, symbols, and themes seriously. These essays investigate the extreme right's attempts at "repackaging" contemporary ultranationalism to make it more palatable to mainstream European and American tastes.

Genres: Politics

336 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2014

Reviews

[Roger Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

This helpful collection of essays goes a long way to create an understanding of the persistence and transformation of language employed by the far right since the break-up of Nazi Germany. It also covers the tactics the far right uses to engage in and liberal politics with opposing agendas. Unfortunately, I have to recommend this to most Americans right now. I'm thankful that these scholars have been doing the difficult work of engaging with what I find to be really unsavory ideas.