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Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future
From Yale professor and bestselling author of How Fascism Works, a searing confrontation with the authoritarian right's efforts to annihilate public education, silence teachers, and use taxpayer money to undo a century of work to advance social justice action on race, gender, sexuality, and class.
Combining historical research with an in-depth analysis of our modern political landscape, Erasing History issues a dire warning for America and the the worst fascist movements of humanity's past began in schools; the same place so many of today's right-wing political parties have trained their most vicious attacks. Donald Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Vladimir Putin, Turkey's Recip Erdogan, and Argentina's Javier Milei have all reached the same conclusion: if you want to roll back the clock on civil rights, equity, and inclusion, a great place to start is in our schools.
Yale professor Jason Stanley exposes the true danger of the right's tactics and traces their inspirations and funding back to some of the most dangerous ideas of human history. He shows that hearts and minds are won in our elementary schools, high schools, and universities—and that governments are currently ill-prepared to do the work of uprooting fascist policies being foisted upon our children through school boards, in courtrooms, and in the boardrooms of the companies trusted to train our teachers and create the materials they'll share with their students. Deeply informed and urgently needed, this book is a vibrant call to action for lovers of democracy worldwide.
Combining historical research with an in-depth analysis of our modern political landscape, Erasing History issues a dire warning for America and the the worst fascist movements of humanity's past began in schools; the same place so many of today's right-wing political parties have trained their most vicious attacks. Donald Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Vladimir Putin, Turkey's Recip Erdogan, and Argentina's Javier Milei have all reached the same conclusion: if you want to roll back the clock on civil rights, equity, and inclusion, a great place to start is in our schools.
Yale professor Jason Stanley exposes the true danger of the right's tactics and traces their inspirations and funding back to some of the most dangerous ideas of human history. He shows that hearts and minds are won in our elementary schools, high schools, and universities—and that governments are currently ill-prepared to do the work of uprooting fascist policies being foisted upon our children through school boards, in courtrooms, and in the boardrooms of the companies trusted to train our teachers and create the materials they'll share with their students. Deeply informed and urgently needed, this book is a vibrant call to action for lovers of democracy worldwide.
1 pages, Audio CD
First published January 1, 2024
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About the author
Jason F. Stanley
7 books630 followersJason Stanley is the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University. He is the author of five books, including How Propaganda Works, winner of the Prose Award in Philosophy from the Association of American Publishers, and How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, about which Citizens author Claudia Rankine says: “No single book is as relevant to the present moment.” Stanley serves on the board of the Prison Policy Initiative and writes frequently about propaganda, free speech, mass incarceration, democracy, and authoritarianism for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Boston Review, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Guardian.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 641 reviews
January 30, 2025
I want to be reading smut and romance, but this shitty conservative government has me out here reading about fascism. I refuse to ignore what's happening in our country.
October 6, 2024
Democracy is on the ballot this year in the USA, and that's what I'm voting for.
October 23, 2024
“Whether we call them fascist or not, there is widespread agreement that the social and political movements we are witnessing today employ many of the same political tactics and rhetorical techniques that past fascist movements have — conjuring of violent vigilante mobs to threaten those who oppose them, stacking courts with loyalists to a leader or a party, directing hatred against immigrants and LGBTQ citizens, dismantling, reproductive rights, and using education to indoctrinate the young in a narrative of national greatness, rooted in a glorious past.”
“… fascist education works by strategically erasing accounts of history and current events that include a diversity of perspectives, narrowing the scope of what can be taught until students are presented with a single viewpoint, which is formulated specifically to justify and perpetuate a hierarchy value between groups. This narrowing is inconsistent with multi-racial democracy, antithetical to egalitarianism, and carries a possibility of conjuring mass violence.”
“Besides lying, those in power can ban concepts necessary for understanding the world we inhabit, such as structural racism, and institutions, such as the Gulag. They can ban concepts such as human rights or the equality of humankind. They can ban inquiry into the human caused climate change. Those lacking such essential concepts, or knowledge of essential facts, will respond differently to events. Unaware of the range of explanations and options, they can easily be manipulated.”
You would have to be intentionally blinkered to avoid recognizing the fascist-leaning elements in the current United States. Such elements are also alive and well in other parts of the world. This book helps identify the methods employed by fascists. Fascism thrives on ignorance and misinformation. Knowledge is power. This is a useful book. Although short, it is well researched and covers a lot of history. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Dion Graham. He did an excellent job as always.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
“… fascist education works by strategically erasing accounts of history and current events that include a diversity of perspectives, narrowing the scope of what can be taught until students are presented with a single viewpoint, which is formulated specifically to justify and perpetuate a hierarchy value between groups. This narrowing is inconsistent with multi-racial democracy, antithetical to egalitarianism, and carries a possibility of conjuring mass violence.”
“Besides lying, those in power can ban concepts necessary for understanding the world we inhabit, such as structural racism, and institutions, such as the Gulag. They can ban concepts such as human rights or the equality of humankind. They can ban inquiry into the human caused climate change. Those lacking such essential concepts, or knowledge of essential facts, will respond differently to events. Unaware of the range of explanations and options, they can easily be manipulated.”
You would have to be intentionally blinkered to avoid recognizing the fascist-leaning elements in the current United States. Such elements are also alive and well in other parts of the world. This book helps identify the methods employed by fascists. Fascism thrives on ignorance and misinformation. Knowledge is power. This is a useful book. Although short, it is well researched and covers a lot of history. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Dion Graham. He did an excellent job as always.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
March 11, 2025
The Memory Hole Project
Ignorance is Power
Creating a strong sense of grievance with an enemy to blame, and vengeance to gain, is essential to a fascist movement. A common or shared reality must be destroyed and replaced with willful stupidity as freedom from reality itself is the ultimate payoff. The authoritarian project provides a false history or reality by erasing real history and reality. Erasing history is like burning books. Erasing events and deleting words rather than faking events and making up words is more difficult to detect. It is much more difficult to see the real that has been removed than it is the fake that has been added. This absence (a negation) creates a new way of pseudo- knowing (an affirmative). The erasing of history, the negation of reality, and the creation of lies are part of the same fascist project. Changing the well accepted and well understood meaning of words and grammar is part of the revisionist history project. Without a clear and honest understanding of history, reality, and language we cannot understand the world as it exists today.
America The Beautiful
The U.S. population is willingly choosing fascism and authoritarianism without there being an external threat forcing such a choice on the voting public. This is collective willful stupidity sanctified by Christianity. Rage, anger, and despair are just excuses for the willfully stupid racism, misogyny, and bigotry upon which rolling fascism thrives. We see this in the myths created by Vance, the lies told by Musk, and the scapegoating done by Trump. In our current political moment, erasing history has translated into the deleting of government web pages with information on vaccines, veterans care, scientific research, healthcare options, etc. What is left unsaid becomes the main means of manipulation. Another example is the instant deletion of DEI, now consigned to the trash bin, this is disguised as efficiency. Efficiency becomes its own tyranny just as power needs no reason and becomes its own justification. Next, a constitution in crisis will become a constitution erased. Not only do the victors get to write history, but they also get to erase it. For example, the founding of America based on slavery and geocide sanctified by Christianity is not acknowledged. There is an obvious straight-line relationship between fascism and colonialism in that both are dehumanization and genocidal projects just as there is a straight-line relationship between American exceptionalism and American Christian fascism. We now have Christian capitalism sanctifying exploitation and oppression. American fascism is composed of the unique combination of right-wing libertarianism + neoliberalism + social conservatism + religious fundamentalism. The clue to an anti-reality false history narrative is its mythic quality combined with its anti-intellectual methodology and the misconceptions used to reinforce, normalize, and whitewash history which reads like heroic fiction. Totalitarian, authoritarian, fascist, and communist history is characterized by its simplified unitary account of events. Education becomes religious indoctrination or bare bones vocational training. Another obvious example is to erase the history of racism, so nothing needs to be done about racism in the present. History is erased and replaced by invented constructions of history to serve the interests of those who do the erasing and rewriting. An example is erasing the history of the American labor movement resulting in the eight-hour day, the weekend, and living wages. The willing acceptance of lies makes people easy to manipulate and creates a willing acceptance of tyranny and corruption as empowerment.
The Holy Land
Just like its mentor state The U.S., Israel is the very model of a modern major colonial-settler state. Cruelty and colonization are travelling companions and the enemies of democracy and the rule of law. The advancement of civilization becomes the justification for savagery. The Zionists who came to Palestine in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century represented it as an empty land that they had the moral right to occupy based on their religious mythology. The religious mission is always part of the sanctification of any colonial project. The savagery of the colonizers is justified by their religious (Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Hindu) mission. Also, paramount to the colonial project is the erasure of the history and language of the people to be colonized followed by the replacement of each with the colonizer’s history and language. It is much easier to justify the colonization of people with no history and the expropriation of land that is empty. The Israeli strategy in Palestine, and The U.S. did the same with the native American population, is to remove or kill the native population and then represent the land as unoccupied. Having no history is then presented as having no legitimate claim on the present. There is a straight-line from the practices of 19th Century imperialism to 20th Century genocide in Palestine by the Zionist fascists. Colonialism, fascism, nationalism, Zionism, and American exceptionalism are about myth making, same as religion and totalitarianism.
The Dilemma
As Professor Stanley points out, history is about multiple perspectives on the past. I see this as becoming a misused justification for the authoritarian rewrite of history. It is presented as just another reflection or reimagination of the received narrative based on new ‘evidence’ and new ideas. The totalitarian history is justified as just another alternative perspective, or as getting back to the original meaning, but it is the one that erases all other perspectives leaving it as the only authoritative history. That is, the defense of history as consisting of multiple perspectives on the past opens the door for the totalitarian rewrite and erasure of history as just another perspective deserving of equal consideration until it takes over as the only authorized perspective. The idea that history is not static, that it is dynamic and subject to update is an idea defended by Professor Stanley, but this provides the conceptual opening for the dishonest rewrite and erasure of history.
Ignorance is Power
Creating a strong sense of grievance with an enemy to blame, and vengeance to gain, is essential to a fascist movement. A common or shared reality must be destroyed and replaced with willful stupidity as freedom from reality itself is the ultimate payoff. The authoritarian project provides a false history or reality by erasing real history and reality. Erasing history is like burning books. Erasing events and deleting words rather than faking events and making up words is more difficult to detect. It is much more difficult to see the real that has been removed than it is the fake that has been added. This absence (a negation) creates a new way of pseudo- knowing (an affirmative). The erasing of history, the negation of reality, and the creation of lies are part of the same fascist project. Changing the well accepted and well understood meaning of words and grammar is part of the revisionist history project. Without a clear and honest understanding of history, reality, and language we cannot understand the world as it exists today.
America The Beautiful
The U.S. population is willingly choosing fascism and authoritarianism without there being an external threat forcing such a choice on the voting public. This is collective willful stupidity sanctified by Christianity. Rage, anger, and despair are just excuses for the willfully stupid racism, misogyny, and bigotry upon which rolling fascism thrives. We see this in the myths created by Vance, the lies told by Musk, and the scapegoating done by Trump. In our current political moment, erasing history has translated into the deleting of government web pages with information on vaccines, veterans care, scientific research, healthcare options, etc. What is left unsaid becomes the main means of manipulation. Another example is the instant deletion of DEI, now consigned to the trash bin, this is disguised as efficiency. Efficiency becomes its own tyranny just as power needs no reason and becomes its own justification. Next, a constitution in crisis will become a constitution erased. Not only do the victors get to write history, but they also get to erase it. For example, the founding of America based on slavery and geocide sanctified by Christianity is not acknowledged. There is an obvious straight-line relationship between fascism and colonialism in that both are dehumanization and genocidal projects just as there is a straight-line relationship between American exceptionalism and American Christian fascism. We now have Christian capitalism sanctifying exploitation and oppression. American fascism is composed of the unique combination of right-wing libertarianism + neoliberalism + social conservatism + religious fundamentalism. The clue to an anti-reality false history narrative is its mythic quality combined with its anti-intellectual methodology and the misconceptions used to reinforce, normalize, and whitewash history which reads like heroic fiction. Totalitarian, authoritarian, fascist, and communist history is characterized by its simplified unitary account of events. Education becomes religious indoctrination or bare bones vocational training. Another obvious example is to erase the history of racism, so nothing needs to be done about racism in the present. History is erased and replaced by invented constructions of history to serve the interests of those who do the erasing and rewriting. An example is erasing the history of the American labor movement resulting in the eight-hour day, the weekend, and living wages. The willing acceptance of lies makes people easy to manipulate and creates a willing acceptance of tyranny and corruption as empowerment.
The Holy Land
Just like its mentor state The U.S., Israel is the very model of a modern major colonial-settler state. Cruelty and colonization are travelling companions and the enemies of democracy and the rule of law. The advancement of civilization becomes the justification for savagery. The Zionists who came to Palestine in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century represented it as an empty land that they had the moral right to occupy based on their religious mythology. The religious mission is always part of the sanctification of any colonial project. The savagery of the colonizers is justified by their religious (Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Hindu) mission. Also, paramount to the colonial project is the erasure of the history and language of the people to be colonized followed by the replacement of each with the colonizer’s history and language. It is much easier to justify the colonization of people with no history and the expropriation of land that is empty. The Israeli strategy in Palestine, and The U.S. did the same with the native American population, is to remove or kill the native population and then represent the land as unoccupied. Having no history is then presented as having no legitimate claim on the present. There is a straight-line from the practices of 19th Century imperialism to 20th Century genocide in Palestine by the Zionist fascists. Colonialism, fascism, nationalism, Zionism, and American exceptionalism are about myth making, same as religion and totalitarianism.
The Dilemma
As Professor Stanley points out, history is about multiple perspectives on the past. I see this as becoming a misused justification for the authoritarian rewrite of history. It is presented as just another reflection or reimagination of the received narrative based on new ‘evidence’ and new ideas. The totalitarian history is justified as just another alternative perspective, or as getting back to the original meaning, but it is the one that erases all other perspectives leaving it as the only authoritative history. That is, the defense of history as consisting of multiple perspectives on the past opens the door for the totalitarian rewrite and erasure of history as just another perspective deserving of equal consideration until it takes over as the only authorized perspective. The idea that history is not static, that it is dynamic and subject to update is an idea defended by Professor Stanley, but this provides the conceptual opening for the dishonest rewrite and erasure of history.
March 31, 2025
“Battles over education are battles over freedom.”
October 11, 2024
If you’re going to write about the fight for Palestine’s liberation the least you can do is denounce Israel’s horrible regime and be clear about Palestinian oppression. The author kept talking about October 7 as if that was the beginning of this genocide. Yes, he talks about the Nakba but emphasizes october 7 so many times that he makes it seem as if that is the reason for the current situation in that region… be fr Jason
January 11, 2025
Disappointingly for a book about how history and written narratives can support or reinforce genocidal ideas, this book is surprisingly unable to name the genocide in Palestine or to do anything other than note that Israel’s actions were “arguably genocidal” without actually taking a stance. Somehow manages to spread the myth that there is a war, not a genocide, taking place and that the conflict began on Oct 7 2023, while also mentioning the Nakba (although it states that this is the term the Palestinians use and it is originally referred to as “Israel’s war of independence.” Not bad on a craft level, fairly interesting, and containing a lot of useful information that I enjoyed, but correctly labeling all the other genocides mentioned in the book other than the one occurring in Palestine really dulled my enjoyment of the book. Had it not literally been a book about fascism and history with a big focus on education and reading materials I would’ve had more grace for it, but the fact that it was such an integral part of of the content led to me giving it a 2 instead of a 3- Had it properly named the genocide, I probably would’ve given it a 4.
Read
November 19, 2025Ok dla osób, które nie ogarnęły jeszcze, że rządzące nami (w Polsce, UK, itd) partie mają faszystowskie zapędy i że najlepszym narzędziem do budowania faszystowskiej narracji jest szkoła. Dla mnie nic odkrywczego. Poza tym autor trochę się powtarza, więc momentami łapałam się na tym, że tylko szybko skanuję tekst.
Plus za fajną redakcję, dobrze się to po polsku czytało. I za skład papierowej książki, super rozmiar czcionki/krój/marginesy.
Plus za fajną redakcję, dobrze się to po polsku czytało. I za skład papierowej książki, super rozmiar czcionki/krój/marginesy.
December 2, 2024
an informative and eerily timely read. the material is accessible and does a fantastic job at drawing parallels between states that have seen the rise of fa$cism, and how multiple perspectives in history is a corner stone of democracy.
![Profile Image for laurel [the suspected bibliophile].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1645808644i%2F7494844._UX200_CR0%2C6%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
October 7, 2025
It's nothing I didn't already know (for the most part) but a really good primer on how fascists take control of the historical narrative and turn it toward their own purposes (creating an us vs them structure, a glorious past we must return to, forcibly stamping out the history that contradicts their goals, etc).
A commitment to anti-fascism is also believing in and supporting first amendment rights. The right to free speech (note: not speech without consequences but the right to speak without government censorship), the right to assemble, the right to believe (or not!) in the religion of your choice.
A belief in the first amendment and a commitment to anti-fascism is also a commitment to truth and uplifting historically marginalized voices, particularly those of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities.
Anywho, a good read for Banned Books Week.
A commitment to anti-fascism is also believing in and supporting first amendment rights. The right to free speech (note: not speech without consequences but the right to speak without government censorship), the right to assemble, the right to believe (or not!) in the religion of your choice.
A belief in the first amendment and a commitment to anti-fascism is also a commitment to truth and uplifting historically marginalized voices, particularly those of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities.
Anywho, a good read for Banned Books Week.
September 7, 2025
Jason F. Stanley follows-up on his highly popular book How Fascism Works with another jarring tome. He seeks to explore the authoritarian right and its attempts to erase past events that would dilute its power. Targeting public schools, educators, and anyone who seeks to teach history, these authoritarians choose to focus on the present and the future though the lens of this right of centre political core. By doing so, there is little chance for uprisings and second thoughts about what is being spoon fed by the governing body. Thoroughly intriguing and troubling in equal measure, Jason F. Stanley presents a book that many ought to read, if only to see how things are happening in this ever-moving machine. Well worth my time and that of the attentive reader!
Jason F. Stanley offers an ominous warning in his latest book. His stellar historical research and analysis into the far-reaches of the subject matter, Stanley explores the root of modern fascist movements. His transparent conclusion is that schools are forced to foster these far-right views, the plan of most authoritarian governments, to plant seeds at an early age of the populace. Not only do they offer strict views for students to follow, but also ensure that other opinions are erased to keep the education from being too congested. Stanley shows how authoritarians target history and scrub out views that explore topics that clash with the accepted narrative. Rights and equality are washed out, replaced with unity and the exploration of groups seeking to fray the fabric of the core. Stanley presents this in a clear and yet worrisome manner for the reader to explore on their own.
Civil rights in a larger sense are left on the cutting floor by authoritarians. There is no room for varied views and uprising that seek to poke holes in the government centre are vilified as problematic. Look at views of the LGBTQ+ groups that emerge across the world, where they are spun to be ‘against the grain’ of the norm and what is needed in the state. There is no means of building up the core (read: creating traditional families), birthing generations to support the authoritarian foundation. This can be seen across the world in various states that spin it as ‘quelling the protests’ and seeking to pull others on side to show how disruptive protests can be. Stanley extends this to race, gender equality, and class protests, all of which are mocked or downplayed in their importance.
Governments are not fully prepared to put a plug in this authoritarian plan, choosing instead to push back in their own realms, rather than try to educate the larger populace. Here in Alberta (the Canadian province in which I live), the provincial government pushes vilification of various groups and calls them a scourge on the well-running population. They seek to tinker with books available to children, as if they are ‘saving’ them from the evils of alternate views and spin it to their favour. Vilification occurs, those who do not agree push back, but the larger discussion is somewhat silenced. While Canada has constitutional laws around free speech, this is used as a shield by the ignorant to explain why they can say what they want without punitive action. Funny, they do not see the other side of the coin as they seek to mute those who present views that open the eyes of the population against authoritarian views.
Stanley explores various ways in history that authoritarians have pushed their views on groups and sought to herd people together, blinding leading them to extinction or at least diluting social and cultural sentiments. Many countries are guilty of colonisation throughout history, seeking to strengthen the core through unity. This has a place in the discussion, but there is clearly an issue with this that cannot be downplayed. Stanley seeks to ensure the reader does not forget the evils that history has shown us in an effort not to replicate them. While authoritarians seek to scrub out these lessons and turn things away from struggle, other than the fight to purify the core, there is something to be said for history’s way of educating and ensuring an open-eyed sentiment when assessing world events and movements. It’s truly a troubling situation at a time when authoritarian views are permitted to creep into all four corners of the world.
Jason F. Stanley has taken on some hard views in this book, though he does so with confidence. Stanley uses his book to argue the troubles that are continuing to emerge and points are meant to save the world from this whitewashing, His various chapters seek to push views of critical thinking, rather than opening one’s mouth and accepting the pablum. However, even this will be spun as indoctrination, as Stanley is not weak in his presented sentiments. He cuts to the bone to ensure the reader is aware of all that is going on and pulls no punches about where things are headed, given the time. This is a well-paced book for those who possess and open mind and who are eager to understand the subtle movement to place political and social land mines to destroy anything but authoritarian views, As the United States joins other countries in pushing these right-wing views of poisonous sentiments, we must all worry, particularly because their leader is anything but able to handle things properly. It’s time to stand up and take notice, making differences rather than hoping the next person will do so!
Kudos, Mr. Stanley, for this refreshing, yet troubling, look at the world today.
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September 17, 2024
e-ARC provided by Atria Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
ERASING HISTORY should occupy the same shelf space as books such as Ibram X. Kendi’s How to Be an Antiracist and Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race. In terms of being an introduction to how fascism works and where we can see examples of fascism in our history and current events, it’s successful. I did wish, however, that it could have committed to a more discerning definition of fascism, as well as focused more on rising fascism in the US.
Jason Stanley is a professor specializing in philosophy of education, so he has the depth and breadth to write about this subject. In ERASING HISTORY, Stanley first gives us an overview of the reasons why fascists are threatened by a democratic, pluralistic view of history: because understanding that there are multiple perspectives on history is tantamount to admitting that different perspectives, and therefore different people, are valuable, and fascism is all about controlling the narrative for the powerful to maintain their influence.
Things that made me think from reading ERASING HISTORY include:
- Settler colonialism using the erasure of indigenous history and culture to justify implanting their superior culture on an “unclaimed” land;
- “Civilization savagism” as the act of rendering the local population deserving of being colonized or ruled by the colonizing nation’s universally superior cultural norms;
- The need for “supremacist nationalism” to justify their manifest superiority by portraying themselves in only a good, pure, and innocent light, e.g. the way in which US conservatives have tried to rewrite the US’ history with slavery and the actions of the Ku Klux Klan as being beneficial to Black people;
- The five themes of fascist education being national greatness, national purity, national innocence, strict gender roles, and vilification of the left;
- The susceptibility of populations educated with myths of national supremacy to the Great Replacement Theory (or the fear that their position of influence in their society will be replaced by invading foreign stains), because their nationhood is predicated on the belief that they are superior to others.
Stanley pulls on historical examples from Nazi Germany, India, Hungary, Russia, and more to support his arguments. All of this is fascinating, but I found myself wishing he would stick more to analyzing historical and current US events, as ERASING HISTORY inadvertently gives off the impression that “Well, the US may be bad in some ways, but at least we’re not Nazi Germany!” which is not really the message that we need right now.
Indeed, one could argue that Stanley is so quick to assign the label of fascism to contemporary societies that it starts to lose its impact. In taking a broader view in his analysis, the book could end up confusing or misleading readers into thinking that fascism is less a threat to the US than it really is, because he switches from talking about non-US examples of fascism to US examples in a way that sort of obfuscates the seriousness of the rise of fascism in the US.
Finally, I wasn’t that impressed that, for someone so quick to throw out the labels of fascism and genocide (he calls what Russia is doing to Ukrainians a genocide, or at least a “cultural genocide”), Stanley delicately yet noticeably avoids labeling Israel’s actions against Palestinians as a genocide. Every time Israel is brought up as an example, the book is careful to preface it by saying that Israel acted in response to a “horrific” terrorist attack by Hamas, whereas Israel’s actions are only “arguably genocidal”. Interesting because on his social media he DOES call a genocide a genocide, but limitations were placed on this book? Shrug.
As far as literature on fascism is concerned, I’m not sure if ERASING HISTORY breaks any new ground, but it is a good summary of the concept for those who are, perhaps, just beginning to un-learn the things that we had been taught. A more specific focus on the US and more actionable measures that we can take against fascism would have made it a stronger read for me.
ERASING HISTORY should occupy the same shelf space as books such as Ibram X. Kendi’s How to Be an Antiracist and Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race. In terms of being an introduction to how fascism works and where we can see examples of fascism in our history and current events, it’s successful. I did wish, however, that it could have committed to a more discerning definition of fascism, as well as focused more on rising fascism in the US.
Jason Stanley is a professor specializing in philosophy of education, so he has the depth and breadth to write about this subject. In ERASING HISTORY, Stanley first gives us an overview of the reasons why fascists are threatened by a democratic, pluralistic view of history: because understanding that there are multiple perspectives on history is tantamount to admitting that different perspectives, and therefore different people, are valuable, and fascism is all about controlling the narrative for the powerful to maintain their influence.
Things that made me think from reading ERASING HISTORY include:
- Settler colonialism using the erasure of indigenous history and culture to justify implanting their superior culture on an “unclaimed” land;
- “Civilization savagism” as the act of rendering the local population deserving of being colonized or ruled by the colonizing nation’s universally superior cultural norms;
- The need for “supremacist nationalism” to justify their manifest superiority by portraying themselves in only a good, pure, and innocent light, e.g. the way in which US conservatives have tried to rewrite the US’ history with slavery and the actions of the Ku Klux Klan as being beneficial to Black people;
- The five themes of fascist education being national greatness, national purity, national innocence, strict gender roles, and vilification of the left;
- The susceptibility of populations educated with myths of national supremacy to the Great Replacement Theory (or the fear that their position of influence in their society will be replaced by invading foreign stains), because their nationhood is predicated on the belief that they are superior to others.
Stanley pulls on historical examples from Nazi Germany, India, Hungary, Russia, and more to support his arguments. All of this is fascinating, but I found myself wishing he would stick more to analyzing historical and current US events, as ERASING HISTORY inadvertently gives off the impression that “Well, the US may be bad in some ways, but at least we’re not Nazi Germany!” which is not really the message that we need right now.
Indeed, one could argue that Stanley is so quick to assign the label of fascism to contemporary societies that it starts to lose its impact. In taking a broader view in his analysis, the book could end up confusing or misleading readers into thinking that fascism is less a threat to the US than it really is, because he switches from talking about non-US examples of fascism to US examples in a way that sort of obfuscates the seriousness of the rise of fascism in the US.
Finally, I wasn’t that impressed that, for someone so quick to throw out the labels of fascism and genocide (he calls what Russia is doing to Ukrainians a genocide, or at least a “cultural genocide”), Stanley delicately yet noticeably avoids labeling Israel’s actions against Palestinians as a genocide. Every time Israel is brought up as an example, the book is careful to preface it by saying that Israel acted in response to a “horrific” terrorist attack by Hamas, whereas Israel’s actions are only “arguably genocidal”. Interesting because on his social media he DOES call a genocide a genocide, but limitations were placed on this book? Shrug.
As far as literature on fascism is concerned, I’m not sure if ERASING HISTORY breaks any new ground, but it is a good summary of the concept for those who are, perhaps, just beginning to un-learn the things that we had been taught. A more specific focus on the US and more actionable measures that we can take against fascism would have made it a stronger read for me.
July 22, 2024
Thoroughly researched, Jason Stanley presents a book with the possibility of an authoritarian regime in America. He shows how omitting critical parts of shared history in schools and universities is a strategy developed by leaders in the world who have been able to manipulate and control societies.
I thought: “What can he say that I don’t know already?” A lot. He educates the reader with what has happened in the world with countries such as China, India and Russia that are controlled by authoritarians. Some examples were noted with Hitler’s movement during WWII, McCarthy era in America and Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Stanley provided steps that authoritarian governments have used to change democracies with examples from Project 2025. There were classifications that were new to me such as Supremacist Nationalism. It was distressing to read: “America’s greatness stems from both its whiteness and its Christianity” knowing that my ancestor, Thomas Harris, nearly escaped after refusing to join the religious group at a placed called the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1600s. I learned more about Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán recent speech at a Dallas, TX political event attacking the idea of a mixed race. This book revealed historical accounts of the Native Americans and Black slavery that is an important part of our past.
The truth can be overwhelmingly depressing. This book entails a lot of information that can hit hard with reality that made me pause with my own questions. How do we fight back for public education and free-speech at universities? The author said American style liberal arts colleges do not exist in authoritarian countries.
Stanley was raised with ancestors who suffered greatly from Hitler and Stalin. He has spent years studying the effects of an authoritarian government and has presented a solid analysis of his findings in this book. He provides evidence of what’s happening in America and helps the reader to understand how we are moving in a direction of Christianity in southern schools and erasing parts of history that can later be manipulated.
The author has continued the work of his late father, Manfred Stanley, a Syracuse professor who taught about the meanings of democratic citizenship. Our world is changing with Artificial Intelligence and the massive amounts of internet news along with the bias news from the media. It’s important that we keep informed with the truthful past and present.
My thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of September 10, 2024.
I thought: “What can he say that I don’t know already?” A lot. He educates the reader with what has happened in the world with countries such as China, India and Russia that are controlled by authoritarians. Some examples were noted with Hitler’s movement during WWII, McCarthy era in America and Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Stanley provided steps that authoritarian governments have used to change democracies with examples from Project 2025. There were classifications that were new to me such as Supremacist Nationalism. It was distressing to read: “America’s greatness stems from both its whiteness and its Christianity” knowing that my ancestor, Thomas Harris, nearly escaped after refusing to join the religious group at a placed called the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1600s. I learned more about Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán recent speech at a Dallas, TX political event attacking the idea of a mixed race. This book revealed historical accounts of the Native Americans and Black slavery that is an important part of our past.
The truth can be overwhelmingly depressing. This book entails a lot of information that can hit hard with reality that made me pause with my own questions. How do we fight back for public education and free-speech at universities? The author said American style liberal arts colleges do not exist in authoritarian countries.
Stanley was raised with ancestors who suffered greatly from Hitler and Stalin. He has spent years studying the effects of an authoritarian government and has presented a solid analysis of his findings in this book. He provides evidence of what’s happening in America and helps the reader to understand how we are moving in a direction of Christianity in southern schools and erasing parts of history that can later be manipulated.
The author has continued the work of his late father, Manfred Stanley, a Syracuse professor who taught about the meanings of democratic citizenship. Our world is changing with Artificial Intelligence and the massive amounts of internet news along with the bias news from the media. It’s important that we keep informed with the truthful past and present.
My thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of September 10, 2024.
October 31, 2025
Erasing History examines how governments manipulate and rewrite the past to fit their current political agendas. Memory politics happens to be a topic I have researched and published about, so I was pretty excited to read a book covering different fascist governments (my research is exclusively North Korea). The book promises a lot early on, saying it’ll do an analysis on history manipulation focusing on a group of countries and sometimes connect it to what we’re seeing right now coming out of the United States.
I don’t think the book did what it said it would. It’s also hypocritical, but I’ll touch on that later. The reality was that this was a book about the United States. Which I think it’s a pattern. Any book coming from a US author promising something general, it always ends up being 97% United States but featuring 3% of random country mentions to justify the books’ international scope.
I found the book pretty disorganized. It made good points, but it went from topic to topic, always using different countries as an example (95% Germany and 5% whatever fit what he was saying). Which is why I didn’t get why the Intro had to mention a group of countries he’d focus on. This was mostly an “I’m American but I took the 23andme test and I came out 90% German, 7% Polish. So trust me bro I’ve got the data.”
Anyways, besides the lack of flow, I find the book erred on how the author tried to adapt the book to its audience. The focus on social issues in the US and Russia concerns is done well. But then, I feel the author knew its audience. Antifascists are passionate about Palestine, so Palestine is covered here. The wording used is… noncommittal. Israel has “arguably genocidal intent.” It all started after a horrific terror attack in October 2023… etc. This is an example of erasing history, because the author is choosing to not be political by ignoring decades of occupation, ethnic cleansing. apartheid, and systemic dispossession. A little hypocritical, I’d say? But by writing this book and claiming himself against fascism he gets to look good. So task failed successfully, I guess?
I also feel it’s very………. Interesting to use classic philosophers (Plato, Kant) to justify the narrative, but then forget to speak about Hanna Arendt. The words memory politics or public sphere aren’t even mentioned. It was just weird. I am flimflammed, bamboozled, and hoodwinked at how disappointing, basic, and under-researched this “analysis” was. It’s like Stanley has mistaken name-dropping for depth.
(PS: if someone gets the flimflammed, bamboozled, hoodwinked reference… let’s be friends haha)
I don’t think the book did what it said it would. It’s also hypocritical, but I’ll touch on that later. The reality was that this was a book about the United States. Which I think it’s a pattern. Any book coming from a US author promising something general, it always ends up being 97% United States but featuring 3% of random country mentions to justify the books’ international scope.
I found the book pretty disorganized. It made good points, but it went from topic to topic, always using different countries as an example (95% Germany and 5% whatever fit what he was saying). Which is why I didn’t get why the Intro had to mention a group of countries he’d focus on. This was mostly an “I’m American but I took the 23andme test and I came out 90% German, 7% Polish. So trust me bro I’ve got the data.”
Anyways, besides the lack of flow, I find the book erred on how the author tried to adapt the book to its audience. The focus on social issues in the US and Russia concerns is done well. But then, I feel the author knew its audience. Antifascists are passionate about Palestine, so Palestine is covered here. The wording used is… noncommittal. Israel has “arguably genocidal intent.” It all started after a horrific terror attack in October 2023… etc. This is an example of erasing history, because the author is choosing to not be political by ignoring decades of occupation, ethnic cleansing. apartheid, and systemic dispossession. A little hypocritical, I’d say? But by writing this book and claiming himself against fascism he gets to look good. So task failed successfully, I guess?
I also feel it’s very………. Interesting to use classic philosophers (Plato, Kant) to justify the narrative, but then forget to speak about Hanna Arendt. The words memory politics or public sphere aren’t even mentioned. It was just weird. I am flimflammed, bamboozled, and hoodwinked at how disappointing, basic, and under-researched this “analysis” was. It’s like Stanley has mistaken name-dropping for depth.
(PS: if someone gets the flimflammed, bamboozled, hoodwinked reference… let’s be friends haha)
December 28, 2024
The book connects a lot of dots in a compelling way, but most of the people reading it won’t be surprised by it, and most of the people who should read it won’t.
October 4, 2025
Na Goodreads znalazłam taki komentarz do tej książki: „I want to be reading smut and romance, but this shitty conservative government has me out here reading about fascism. I refuse to ignore what’s happening in our country”. I ja również wolałabym czytać zupełnie inną literaturę niż książkę opisującą obrzydliwe mechanizmy manipulacji stosowane przez faszystów do wymazywania niewygodnych dla nich faktów historycznych, które nie wpisują się w ich narrację. Jednak podobnie jak autorka powyższego komenatarza, nie mogę ignorować szerzenia się propagandy, która pogłębia podziały społeczne, podważa znaczenie nauki, ogranicza dostęp do rzetelnej edukacji, a w konsekwencji zatrzymuje, a nawet cofa całe grupy społeczne w rozwoju. I co najistotniejsze, nie ważne gdzie obecnie żyjemy, faszyzm ma realny wpływ na nasze życie i nie możemy dopuścić, by miał jeszcze większe, a żeby potrafić z nim walczyć musimy znać jego metody.
I tu cały na biało wchodzi Jason Stanley, który w bardzo przystępny sposób i na przykładach czy to z przeszłości czy z teraźniejszości rozkłada faszystów na czynniki pierwsze. Co ważne, nie pisze tylko o swoim kraju (USA), ale również o przykładach z bliższego nam poletka. Autor próbuje odpowiedzieć na pytanie dlaczego faszyści najbardziej zajadle atakują mniejszości, np. osoby transpłciowe czy całą społeczność LGBTQ+ lub imigrantów. Wykłada dlaczego autokraci boją się edukacji, zakazują niektórych książek i karmią swoich wyborców strachem i teoriami spiskowymi. Podkreśla również to, że faszyzm jest nierozerwalnie związany z kolonializmem, przywołując przykłady historyczne, ale wskazując też kolonialny faszyzm dziejący się na naszych oczach, polegający na wymazywaniu historii ludności zamieszkujących okupowane ziemie, odbierając im prawa do pamięci, tożsamości i swojej narracji historycznej.
To bardzo ważna książka na nasze czasy (niestety) i bardzo wam ją rekomenduję.
I tu cały na biało wchodzi Jason Stanley, który w bardzo przystępny sposób i na przykładach czy to z przeszłości czy z teraźniejszości rozkłada faszystów na czynniki pierwsze. Co ważne, nie pisze tylko o swoim kraju (USA), ale również o przykładach z bliższego nam poletka. Autor próbuje odpowiedzieć na pytanie dlaczego faszyści najbardziej zajadle atakują mniejszości, np. osoby transpłciowe czy całą społeczność LGBTQ+ lub imigrantów. Wykłada dlaczego autokraci boją się edukacji, zakazują niektórych książek i karmią swoich wyborców strachem i teoriami spiskowymi. Podkreśla również to, że faszyzm jest nierozerwalnie związany z kolonializmem, przywołując przykłady historyczne, ale wskazując też kolonialny faszyzm dziejący się na naszych oczach, polegający na wymazywaniu historii ludności zamieszkujących okupowane ziemie, odbierając im prawa do pamięci, tożsamości i swojej narracji historycznej.
To bardzo ważna książka na nasze czasy (niestety) i bardzo wam ją rekomenduję.
September 20, 2025
Lektura obowiązkowa.
October 16, 2024
This is one of the worst ones I've read in a while. Stanley is so myopic he's a character in the Odyssey.
He's not all wrong about the things he says and there were one or two facts I appreciated but he only looked at the issue from one side. Of course, it those were his parameters it would be an alright nook. But he moves on from describing just fascism and contends that anyone who doesn't take a liberal arts approach to education is a fascist. Moreover, he refuses to admit that anyone else ever uses the education system to force their message on youths. In fact he categorically denies it. I don't take a side here but if you think one side is pure evil and one side is angelic in their altruism, you're not really thinking critically.
It's a blindly one sided view and it drifts from facts and figures to wild allegations and baseless accusations. Just a testament to a non-scientific approach politics and political thinking.
Do not bother with this, you won't learn anything and unless you ascribe exactly to Stanley's worldview, you'll be bored and annoyed.
He's not all wrong about the things he says and there were one or two facts I appreciated but he only looked at the issue from one side. Of course, it those were his parameters it would be an alright nook. But he moves on from describing just fascism and contends that anyone who doesn't take a liberal arts approach to education is a fascist. Moreover, he refuses to admit that anyone else ever uses the education system to force their message on youths. In fact he categorically denies it. I don't take a side here but if you think one side is pure evil and one side is angelic in their altruism, you're not really thinking critically.
It's a blindly one sided view and it drifts from facts and figures to wild allegations and baseless accusations. Just a testament to a non-scientific approach politics and political thinking.
Do not bother with this, you won't learn anything and unless you ascribe exactly to Stanley's worldview, you'll be bored and annoyed.
September 25, 2025
Honestly, this is one of the most disappointing books I’ve read this year. I opened it hoping to gain a lot of new information, but I was instead bombarded with unresearched, one-sided narratives. The author seemed to have a preset narrative in mind and simply collected sources that supported their own views.
I found that the author relies heavily on sources that only support a single point of view, completely lacking perspective from different sources. For me, it's a real issue when so many statements are cited using news articles from outlets like the New York Times and BBC, which I find says a lot about their authenticity.
I also felt that the content at times even lacked proper research and citations, with some arguments feeling completely baseless and without a reliable source. While a few points were well-made, I thought the book as a whole was largely a single perspective with a noticeable lack of thorough research.
I honestly expected more. I think the book would have had a real in-depth feel if the author had experienced things firsthand rather than treating news articles as the ultimate truth. To me, it feels
like a shame to see such a missed opportunity for a truly balanced and insightful work.
I found that the author relies heavily on sources that only support a single point of view, completely lacking perspective from different sources. For me, it's a real issue when so many statements are cited using news articles from outlets like the New York Times and BBC, which I find says a lot about their authenticity.
I also felt that the content at times even lacked proper research and citations, with some arguments feeling completely baseless and without a reliable source. While a few points were well-made, I thought the book as a whole was largely a single perspective with a noticeable lack of thorough research.
I honestly expected more. I think the book would have had a real in-depth feel if the author had experienced things firsthand rather than treating news articles as the ultimate truth. To me, it feels
like a shame to see such a missed opportunity for a truly balanced and insightful work.
September 7, 2024
The book is Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future by Jason Stanley. The book is scheduled to be published on September 10.
I know that certain factions have insisted on a revised of history. It never made any sense to me. But that is probably because I am an American. The government could insist that something was true and maybe even force the education department to go along with it.
But in a democracy there would always be a those who voiced another opinion. And as Americans we would be free to decide who to believe. But what if we were not be free to disagree with the government version of history. There was only 1 acceptable version. And that was designed to make us believe what the government wants us to believe.
In Erasing History, Jason Stanley discusses how and why rewriting history is part of authoritarian and fascist governments method to gain power and eliminate democracy. This has happened in many counties around the world. So now I understand why they want us to believe their version of history and how they use it to enhance there power over the people,
It is happening in the United States and must be stopped if we would like to remain a free country.
Several years ago I reviewed a book called The Death of Democracy: Hitler’s Rise to Power and the Downfall of the Weimar Republic by Benjamin Carter Hett.
I was stuck in particular by the statement:
“among the Weimar Republic’s more fatal defects was that millions of its people deeply believed things that were verifiably untrue.”
This is true in America today. I closed my review by asking:
Is history repeating itself? It is not exactly the same but some things seem pretty close.
I know that certain factions have insisted on a revised of history. It never made any sense to me. But that is probably because I am an American. The government could insist that something was true and maybe even force the education department to go along with it.
But in a democracy there would always be a those who voiced another opinion. And as Americans we would be free to decide who to believe. But what if we were not be free to disagree with the government version of history. There was only 1 acceptable version. And that was designed to make us believe what the government wants us to believe.
In Erasing History, Jason Stanley discusses how and why rewriting history is part of authoritarian and fascist governments method to gain power and eliminate democracy. This has happened in many counties around the world. So now I understand why they want us to believe their version of history and how they use it to enhance there power over the people,
It is happening in the United States and must be stopped if we would like to remain a free country.
Several years ago I reviewed a book called The Death of Democracy: Hitler’s Rise to Power and the Downfall of the Weimar Republic by Benjamin Carter Hett.
I was stuck in particular by the statement:
“among the Weimar Republic’s more fatal defects was that millions of its people deeply believed things that were verifiably untrue.”
This is true in America today. I closed my review by asking:
Is history repeating itself? It is not exactly the same but some things seem pretty close.
March 5, 2025
An educational, credible and well-researched resource to explore the concepts of fascism, how it works, how it develops, and ways to combat it. I learned an extraordinary amount from this book, and I encourage everyone to read it, now more than ever. Regardless of your feelings on the topic, this movement is prevalent today around the globe. Understanding it through learning, discussion, and research is the most effective and powerful way to clarify personal views, find the courage to challenge modes of thinking and recognize -as well as resist- the presence of these ideals in the modern world. Education is the most powerful thing we can do for ourselves. Let's utilize it. Read this book, and expand yours.
August 12, 2025
The bulk of this is well-researched and hits the nail on the head. However, I cannot stand all these cowards who couch every criticism of israel’s genocidal campaign against Palestinians with “October 7 October 7 October 7.” Almost 80 years of colonization, ethnic cleansing, countless rapes and murders, apartheid, and erasure are enough to make any people take up arms against their oppressors. I refuse to condemn October 7 over and over and over again and I am so disappointed that Stanley continues this narrative that it is some outlier catalyst event that must be mentioned when defending Palestinians right to be alive. Massive letdown on an otherwise well-thought out book
May 9, 2025
A good overview of tactics used by fascist movements to gain power. Best in providing historical context for modern day right-wing politics. Arguments in the last 2 chapters were harder to follow and felt less researched/structured.
December 2, 2025
Absolutely fascinating and terrifying. Stanley illustrates how manipulation of education is always one of the key methods used by fascism to gain power. Meanwhile, we have an administration trying to eradicate the Department of Education, and just recategorized teaching degrees as not "professional" which will discourage people from choosing that career path, and limit access to student loans if they do anyway.
Probably a coincidence.
Read this book. Fuck fascism.
Probably a coincidence.
Read this book. Fuck fascism.
April 11, 2025
This book was fantastic! You should read it. Yes, you!
July 7, 2025
The New York mayoral primary offers a chilling case study of the very thesis laid out in Erasing History: that fascism thrives not through brute strength alone, but through careful manipulation of public memory, fear, and the erasure of inconvenient truths.
Zohran Mamdani’s historic primary victory—despite being outspent 20-to-1—is a testament to how powerful grassroots movements rooted in popular, material policies can be. And yet, instead of celebration, his win has been met with vitriol from both the right and the political establishment. The right has resorted to predictable but dangerous tactics: painting him as an outsider, calling for his deportation, and claiming immigrants are “overrunning” the country. These tropes aren’t new—they’re a century-old strategy to stoke white status anxiety while deflecting blame away from the true culprits of economic suffering: the oligarchs consolidating wealth and power.
In their quest to rewrite history, today’s fascists want us to forget that New York has always been a city of immigrants. They fabricate a mythic, racially “pure” past that never existed, and then scapegoat immigrants for the modern crises of housing, healthcare, and affordability—crises created by the very people pointing fingers.
Instead of addressing Mamdani’s policies—rent relief for 2 million New Yorkers, public grocery stores to combat price gouging, free public transit—the opposition smears him with racialized attacks. Why? Because these policies are wildly popular. So they pivot to what the fascist playbook demands: fear, division, and manufactured cultural panic. As fascists whip up outrage about immigrants, they quietly pass dystopian legislation: expanding the surveillance state, gutting social services, and handing even more money to the military-industrial complex.
Take the proposed “Alligator Alcatraz”—a grotesque immigrant detention center intended to warehouse “criminal undocumented immigrants,” a category that conveniently broadens over time to include anyone poor, foreign, or simply inconvenient to the state. When the base cheers for this, they cheer for their own subjugation. They’ve been sold a lie that punishing the vulnerable will somehow restore their lost economic security. It won’t. Deporting immigrants won’t lower your grocery bill or get you healthcare. But it will help billionaires redirect your rage.
The Trump administration’s war on the university system is a textbook example of fascist control over knowledge. Under the guise of fighting “wokeness,” they seek to censor what can be taught, replacing critical thinking with indoctrination. In doing so, they weaponize the state to install their own revisionist history—a false past where the powerful are always right, and the oppressed are always to blame.
But fascism doesn’t rise in a vacuum. It requires complicity. The Democratic Party, in its corruption and cowardice, has become an enabler. After rigging three consecutive primaries and abandoning candidates like Mamdani, the party has all but forfeited the ability to offer meaningful resistance. Mamdani’s decisive win—despite no institutional support—exposes this rot. When someone runs on policies that actually benefit working people, the response from both parties is the same: silence, sabotage, and suppression.
This is the fascist paradox: authoritarianism cloaked in populism, oligarchy masked as patriotism, a hollow nationalism that thrives on fear and nostalgia while the country’s wealth is siphoned upward. The billionaires who have spent the last 70 years funding think tanks, rewriting laws, and rigging elections now claim to be the real victims. And the corporate press amplifies these lies as if they’re objective truth.
Fascism in America isn’t on the horizon—it’s here. Erasing History makes clear that when the foundations of democracy are already rotting, it doesn’t take much to bring the whole structure down. The Trump movement aims to finish the job. The question is whether we allow them to, or whether we organize behind bold, humane policies that serve the many—not the wealthy few.
4.4 stars
Zohran Mamdani’s historic primary victory—despite being outspent 20-to-1—is a testament to how powerful grassroots movements rooted in popular, material policies can be. And yet, instead of celebration, his win has been met with vitriol from both the right and the political establishment. The right has resorted to predictable but dangerous tactics: painting him as an outsider, calling for his deportation, and claiming immigrants are “overrunning” the country. These tropes aren’t new—they’re a century-old strategy to stoke white status anxiety while deflecting blame away from the true culprits of economic suffering: the oligarchs consolidating wealth and power.
In their quest to rewrite history, today’s fascists want us to forget that New York has always been a city of immigrants. They fabricate a mythic, racially “pure” past that never existed, and then scapegoat immigrants for the modern crises of housing, healthcare, and affordability—crises created by the very people pointing fingers.
Instead of addressing Mamdani’s policies—rent relief for 2 million New Yorkers, public grocery stores to combat price gouging, free public transit—the opposition smears him with racialized attacks. Why? Because these policies are wildly popular. So they pivot to what the fascist playbook demands: fear, division, and manufactured cultural panic. As fascists whip up outrage about immigrants, they quietly pass dystopian legislation: expanding the surveillance state, gutting social services, and handing even more money to the military-industrial complex.
Take the proposed “Alligator Alcatraz”—a grotesque immigrant detention center intended to warehouse “criminal undocumented immigrants,” a category that conveniently broadens over time to include anyone poor, foreign, or simply inconvenient to the state. When the base cheers for this, they cheer for their own subjugation. They’ve been sold a lie that punishing the vulnerable will somehow restore their lost economic security. It won’t. Deporting immigrants won’t lower your grocery bill or get you healthcare. But it will help billionaires redirect your rage.
The Trump administration’s war on the university system is a textbook example of fascist control over knowledge. Under the guise of fighting “wokeness,” they seek to censor what can be taught, replacing critical thinking with indoctrination. In doing so, they weaponize the state to install their own revisionist history—a false past where the powerful are always right, and the oppressed are always to blame.
But fascism doesn’t rise in a vacuum. It requires complicity. The Democratic Party, in its corruption and cowardice, has become an enabler. After rigging three consecutive primaries and abandoning candidates like Mamdani, the party has all but forfeited the ability to offer meaningful resistance. Mamdani’s decisive win—despite no institutional support—exposes this rot. When someone runs on policies that actually benefit working people, the response from both parties is the same: silence, sabotage, and suppression.
This is the fascist paradox: authoritarianism cloaked in populism, oligarchy masked as patriotism, a hollow nationalism that thrives on fear and nostalgia while the country’s wealth is siphoned upward. The billionaires who have spent the last 70 years funding think tanks, rewriting laws, and rigging elections now claim to be the real victims. And the corporate press amplifies these lies as if they’re objective truth.
Fascism in America isn’t on the horizon—it’s here. Erasing History makes clear that when the foundations of democracy are already rotting, it doesn’t take much to bring the whole structure down. The Trump movement aims to finish the job. The question is whether we allow them to, or whether we organize behind bold, humane policies that serve the many—not the wealthy few.
4.4 stars
March 18, 2025
Good, not great. Lots of important (and unsettling) information, but seriously lacks organization. The narrative gets lost, and feels more like just listing facts rather than presenting a clear thesis.
March 17, 2025
Jason Stanley is shaping up to be my favorite historian and modern day philosopher. Grand educator may be my prime term for him. I have listened to two of his books back to back and have found them to be scary, yes, with how accurately they reflect the current state of America, a country I grew up believing would never fall to fascist ideology, but also incredibly informative and important. Knowledge is going to be our weapon in the years to come. Knowing what we’re up against and how the other side wields fear and manipulation as theirs helps us get an idea of just how we need to fight back, and how we need to retain the knowledge of all that has come before. Excellent book. I know I am not the one who should be making this comment, but after these two books, Jason Stanley HAS to be invited to the cookout, right?
June 13, 2025
This is about such an important topic and I felt like I learned a lot!
I’m taking a star off though due to the author calling the genocide of the Palestinian people a “war” but simultaneously acknowledges that Israel uses fascist tactics that harm (and kill) Palestinians. The author acknowledges other genocides, like the u.s genocide against the indigenous population, but not the current genocide Israel is conducting against Palestinians…
I’m taking a star off though due to the author calling the genocide of the Palestinian people a “war” but simultaneously acknowledges that Israel uses fascist tactics that harm (and kill) Palestinians. The author acknowledges other genocides, like the u.s genocide against the indigenous population, but not the current genocide Israel is conducting against Palestinians…
September 11, 2025
Good research and importnat read, but dear author, reading that Bronisław Malinowski was a Polish-BRITISH anthropologist hurt my Polish feelings. Calling him British because what?, he was working on University of London or something...? Like, no? And the fact it happened in chapter 7 that is about “Reclaiming History” was a BIT ironic.
Anyway, fully recommended.
Anyway, fully recommended.
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