How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them

by Jason F. Stanley

“No single book is as relevant to the present moment.”—Claudia Rankine, author of Citizen“One of the defining books of the decade.”—Elizabeth Hinton, author of From the War on Poverty to the War on CrimeNEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS’ CHOICE • With a new preface • Fascist politics are running rampant in America today—and spreading around the world. A Yale philosopher identifies the ten pillars of fascist politics, and charts their horrifying rise and deep history.  As the child of refugees of World War II Europe and a renowned philosopher and scholar of propaganda, Jason Stanley has a deep understanding of how democratic societies can be vulnerable to Nations don’t have to be fascist to suffer from fascist politics. In fact, fascism’s roots have been present in the United States for more than a century. Alarmed by the pervasive rise of fascist tactics both at home and around the globe, Stanley focuses here on the structures that unite them, laying out and analyzing the ten pillars of fascist politics—the language and beliefs that separate people into an “us” and a “them.” He knits together reflections on history, philosophy, sociology, and critical race theory with stories from contemporary Hungary, Poland, India, Myanmar, and the United States, among other nations. He makes clear the immense danger of underestimating the cumulative power of these tactics, which include exploiting a mythic version of a nation’s past; propaganda that twists the language of democratic ideals against themselves; anti-intellectualism directed against universities and experts; law and order politics predicated on the assumption that members of minority groups are criminals; and fierce attacks on labor groups and welfare. These mechanisms all build on one another, creating and reinforcing divisions and shaping a society vulnerable to the appeals of authoritarian leadership. By uncovering disturbing patterns that are as prevalent today as ever, Stanley reveals that the stuff of politics—charged by rhetoric and myth—can quickly become policy and reality. Only by recognizing fascists politics, he argues, may we resist its most harmful effects and return to democratic ideals.“With unsettling insight and disturbing clarity, How Fascism Works is an essential guidebook to our current national dilemma of democracy vs. authoritarianism.”—William Jelani Cobb, author of The Substance of Hope

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History, Philosophy, Audiobook, Sociology, Political Science

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 4, 2018

About the author

Jason 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.

Reviews

[Darwin8u · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Trump, trump, trump, trump, trump."
- Trump, Trump



Trump, trump, trump, trump. The Mythic Past. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump? Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Hitler. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump; Trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Propaganda. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump! Trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump? Trump, trump, trump, trump -- trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Anti-Intellectual. Trump, trump, trump, trump.

Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Viktor Orbán. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Unreality. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump? Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump; Trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Hierarchy. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump! Trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Victimhood. Trump, trump, trump, trump? Trump, trump, trump, trump -- trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Trump, trump, trump, trump.

Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Law and Order. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Vladimir Putin. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump? Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump; Trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Sexual Anxiety. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Sodom and Gommorah. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump! Trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Benito Mussolini. Trump, trump, trump, trump? Trump, trump, trump, trump -- trump. Arbeit Macht Frei. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump. Trump, trump, trump, trump.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascism is iniguitous. It creeps into the many weaknesses of democracy until the system is fatally damaged. In How Facism Works, Jason Stanley lists the various ways that facism undermines democracy.
The appeal of facism lies in its radical authoritarian ultranational stance. Immigrants and minorities, in other words those not like the major population, are the first to be blamed for woes facing the nation. Propaganda is ramped up. Sexual proclivity is exposed and demonized. The blame game continues and intensifies until the ruling heirarchy winnowed to a small select faction.
Ten separate facets of facism are listed, explained and documented in the book. There are facist states in the world today. Facism didn’t end in Nazi Germany. This makes for stressful reading. It becomes clear that facism is not a tidal wave of the past but is the riptide that flows beneath the surface of the river of our civilization.
Please read the book and let yourself think.
I received an advance copy of this book from Netgalley. #netgalley #howfacismworks

[Richard Derus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: The reason I want to review this right now is the 14 May (2022) Buffalo mass shooting and its root cause, the idiotic and racist replacement theory. It is a pernicious and evil set of beliefs demanding that white people remain in power forever because it's theirs by right. Colonialism and racism and fascism are in lock step, and their grip on the unintelligent, badly educated, and ill-informed is only strengthening.

I make no apologies for my opinions, or for expressing them in strong and probably insulting terms, as those who subscribe to these idiotic beliefs make no apologies for theirs or their own method of expressing them. I oppose these views. I oppose their open, uncontested expression. I oppose people who make their own need to control others, body, mind, and soul, their purpose for public action. And no, demanding that these True Believers NOT be allowed to dictate the continued lives, personal liberties, and rise to political power of those who are not them, is not at all the same thing.

This book is a compendium of pithily expressed, carefully researched, and very well-sourced conclusions that are not readily dismissable based on modern evidence. I cede the floor to Author Stanley:

Fascist politics does not necessarily lead to an explicitly fascist state, but it is dangerous nonetheless. Fascist politics includes many distinct strategies: the mythic past, propaganda, anti-intellectualism, unreality, hierarchy, victimhood, law and order, sexual anxiety, appeals to the heartland, and a dismantling of public welfare and unity.

On fascism's roots:

In book 8 of Plato’s Republic, Socrates argues that people are not naturally led to self-governance but rather seek a strong leader to follow. Democracy, by permitting freedom of speech, opens the door for a demagogue to exploit the people’s need for a strongman; the strongman will use this freedom to prey on the people’s resentments and fears. Once the strongman seizes power, he will end democracy, replacing it with tyranny. In short, book 8 of The Republic argues that democracy is a self-undermining system whose very ideals lead to its own demise. Fascists have always been well acquainted with this recipe for using democracy’s liberties against itself; Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels once declared, “This will always remain one of the best jokes of democracy, that it gave its deadly enemies the means by which it was destroyed.” Today is no different from the past. Again, we find the enemies of liberal democracy employing this strategy, pushing the freedom of speech to its limits and ultimately using it to subvert others’ speech.

–and–

In a 1922 speech at the Fascist Congress in Naples, Benito Mussolini declared: We have created our myth. The myth is a faith, a passion. It is not necessary for it to be a reality….Our myth is the nation, our myth is the greatness of the nation! And to this myth, this greatness, which we want to translate into a total reality, we subordinate everything. Here, Mussolini makes clear that the fascist mythic past is intentionally mythical. The function of the mythic past, in fascist politics, is to harness the emotion of nostalgia to the central tenets of fascist ideology—authoritarianism, hierarchy, purity, and struggle.

On racism's roots and branches:

“Check your privilege” is a call to whites to recognize the insulated social reality they navigate daily.

–and–

Hutu power movement was a fascist ethnic supremacist movement that arose in Rwanda in the years before the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

–and–

Nixon’s chief of staff, H. R. Haldeman: “You have to face the fact that the whole problem is really the blacks,” Haldeman quoted Nixon as saying in a diary entry from April 1969. “The key is to devise a system that recognizes this while not appearing to.”

–and–

Mussolini denounce{d} the world’s great cities, such as New York, for their teeming populations of nonwhites. In fascist ideology, the city is a place where members of the nation go to age and die, childless, surrounded by the vast hordes of despised others, breeding out of control, their children permanent burdens on the state.

See also my review of Cockroaches for extra and personal information about the racist roots of Rwanda's genocide. See my review of The Man Who Lived Underground for a prescient prefiguring of the Othering that racism relies on's horrific costs.

Author Stanley doesn't, I think I've shown, pull punches. He also sources his claims with admirable clarity. There are dozens of notes in each chapter; there are dozens of reputable scholars cited. In his Epilogue, Author Stanley considers the hazards and risks we're running simply by normalizing (or really continuing to normalize) the ongoing fascist politicizations we see around us now.

Pratap Mehta wrote: 'The targeting of enemies—minorities, liberals, secularists, leftists, urban naxals, intellectuals, assorted protestors—is not driven by a calculus of ordinary politics….When you legitimize yourself entirely by inventing enemies, the truth ceases to matter, normal restraints of civilization and decency cease to matter, the checks and balances of normal politics cease to matter.'

–and–

In fascist politics, women who do not fit traditional gender roles, nonwhites, homosexuals, immigrants, “decadent cosmopolitans,” those who do not have the dominant religion, are in their very existence violations of law and order. By describing black Americans as a threat to law and order, demagogues in the United States have been able to create a strong sense of white national identity that requires protection from the nonwhite “threat.”

–and–

The dangers of fascist politics come from the particular way in which it dehumanizes segments of the population. By excluding these groups, it limits the capacity for empathy among other citizens, leading to the justification of inhumane treatment, from repression of freedom, mass imprisonment, and expulsion to, in extreme cases, mass extermination.

What's happening now is not the Will of the People. It's not the inevitable outcome of "them" becoming a threat. This is proof of "...a growing body of social psychological evidence substantiates the phenomenon of dominant group feelings of victimization at the prospect of sharing power equally with members of minority groups. A great deal of recent attention has been paid in the United States to the fact that around 2050, the United States will become a 'majority-minority' country, meaning that whites will no longer be a majority of Americans," threatening “...the lengthy history of ranking Americans into a hierarchy of worth by race, the “deserving” versus the “undeserving.” And I feel confident I need not say directly that deserving = white for you to get the full, appalling picture. If you're up for more, there's On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, which I've reviewed; it's another, and shorter, work of synthesis and explication.

Where do we go from here? How do the majority of US citizens resist this ever-worsening attack on our bodies, our minds, our freedoms and rights?

First, VOTE. Second, read and learn from the folks farther along the trail through the thickets of trouble and outrage meant to scare and dishearten you. Nothing about the fascism threatening reason and freedom in the US is inevitable or unstoppable or, most importantly, right and correct. You've watched The Handmaid's Tale and read Christian Nation...you know what's at stake for women, and every single one of you knows a woman; also for QUILTBAG folks, and if you're reading this you know at least one of those (me). Act like this is an emergency.

Because it very much is.

[Sharad Pandian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book commendable in its breadth, but almost entirely lacking in depth.

I. Breadth

Jason Stanley creates a model for identifying "fascist politics", which he thinks of as tactics that rely on "ultranationalism of some variety (ethnic, religious, cultural), with the nation represented in the person of an authoritarian leader who speaks on its behalf" as a "mechanism to achieve power".

He then identifies 10 distinct strategies, each of which gets a chapter dedicated to it:
1. the mythic past
2. propaganda
3. anti-intellectualism
4. unreality
5. hierarchy
6. victimhood
7. law and order
8. sexual anxiety
9. appeals to the heartland
10. dismantling of public welfare and unity.

He then applies this model to various contemporary movements, including Republicans in the US, Poland, Hungary, Turkey, India. By showing that these elements are real and recurring, he forces us to see that there are real patterns which should be paid attention to. His chapter on the attempts at discrediting universities and the press using charges of corruption, Marxism, etc., is particularly good, as is his brief recounting of the treatment of African-Americans (although the latter isn't new or even unambiguously relevant). He also has some occasional ideas along the way which are remarkably insightful, eg: "corruption, to the fascist politician, is really about the corruption of purity rather than of law". He also points out rightly that a lot of Fascism is a response to dominant groups perceiving wrongly themselves as oppressed when their unjust power is taken away by the demand for equality.

All of this serve as a useful guide to identify and pay closer attention to right-wing activities constructing arbitrary and pernicious divisions between "us" and "them".


II. Depth

On the downside, although Stanley does a pretty good job of identifying Fascist strategies, he doesn't really explain why Fascism appeals to people, and therefore how it can be opposed. Why do people get disenchanted with liberal democracy, and instead fixate on narrow identity considerations? There are two aspects I think are important to consider.

a. Economics

Strikingly, the relationship between economic conditions and the rise of Fascism isn't given enough attention. And this is in large part because the entire book relies on an asymmetry - Fascism needs to be analyzed but the status quo doesn't. Given that the decades where liberal democracy in the US was taken to be the unquestioned ideology (at least in terms of principles) all while economic inequality skyrocketed and massive corporate hegemony took hold, shouldn't the legitimate grievances of the alienated and impoverished be considered part of the story? Stanley's stance seems to be an almost imperceptibly whispered "yes" at best. Consider him writing:

political theorists have known that democracy cannot flourish on soil poisoned by inequality. It is not merely that the resentments bred by such divisions are tempting targets for a demagogue. The more important point is that dramatic inequality poses a mortal danger to the shared reality required for a healthy liberal democracy.

In keeping with being an academic philosopher, he seems intent on thinking about inequality in terms of effects on ideas instead of as material conditions that cause dissatisfaction and destabilization of political arrangements themselves! Instead he tries to link it to a "danger to the shared reality"? Trump and Hillary get mentioned, but Bernie Sanders doesn't, showing that Stanley is trying to force political reality into two boxes of evil, small-minded fascists and good, accepting cosmopolitans. These descriptions aren't entirely wrong, but they seem inadequate for political analysis.

The point, of course, isn't that Fascism is rational, but that no one seems to have any real solution to capitalistic excesses, and so Fascism might understandably very well seem like the only way to go to many. As Sheri Berman writes in Aeon, "fascism did not become powerful simply by appealing to citizens’ darkest instincts. Fascism also, crucially, spoke to the social and psychological needs of citizens to be protected from the ravages of capitalism at a time when other political actors were offering little help."

Also somewhat weirdly, Stanley also tries to link Fascists with the libertarian insistence on individualism and free market worship, but again as Berman points out, "The Nazis also supported an extensive welfare state (of course, for ‘ethnically pure’ Germans). It included free higher education, family and child support, pensions, health insurance and an array of publically supported entertainment and vacation options." Stanley 's categorization of Fascism seems historically wrong, and theoretically confused (how would a movement for unity also push for individualism without theoretical tensions all over the place?)

We then can't talk about the origins of Fascism without talking about why it suddenly seems particularly credible with a loss of faith in the economic system. So while everything Stanley says about how there's an erosion of trust in institutions, a disregard for truth and complexity, and purity politics on nitro, I don't think he's quite touched the engine driving Fascism entirely. At the end of his book he does talk about trade unions and how their presence correlates with equality because it promotes empathizing across divisions. True, but unions aren't a new idea, they were part of a political programme which was decimated by capital. And even if they could somehow be revived, they're hardly going to change the system as a whole, as much as soften the blow slightly. The truth, again, is that no one really knows what to do, with communism lacking credibility and democratic socialism too feeble, to provide serious theoretical/cultural opposition to capitalist excess and hence the resultant Fascistic politics.

b. Identity and Meaning

The deeper reason for my pessimism about liberal democracy's ability to counter Fascism can be understood from Richard Rorty's incredibly perceptive comment that

There are two principal ways in which reflective human beings try, by placing their lives in a larger context, to give sense to those lives. The first is by telling the Story of their contribution to a community. This community may be the actual historical one in which they live, or another actual one, distant in time or place, or a quite imaginary one, consisting perhaps of a dozen heroes and heroines selected from history or fiction or both, The second way is to describe themselves as standing in immediate relation to a nonhuman reality.

The latter might work for academics, but most people, Fascists and non-Fascists, need communities they see themselves as parts of to find meaning and take their bearings from. Now a political community built on abstract principles certainly isn't impossible, but I think it's becoming clear that it is particularly weak compared to more concrete and specific community narratives based on race, religion, etc. Unfortunately, liberalism with its insistence on perpetual openness to complex narratives is always going to be threatened because it cannot compete with the pull of easier Fascistic ones. As Orwell put it in his review of Mein Kampf,

Hitler, because in his own joyless mind he feels it with exceptional strength, knows that human beings don’t only want comfort, safety, short working-hours, hygiene, birth-control and, in general, common sense; they also, at least intermittently, want struggle and self-sacrifice, not to mention drums, flags and loyalty-parades. However they may be as economic theories, Fascism and Nazism are psychologically far sounder than any hedonistic conception of life.

Stanley seems completely insensitive to needs like the one Rorty talks about, because he keeps talking about the Fascist need to built themselves a mythology as though it were some unique evil tendency, rather than an all-too-human one. I would even speculate that Stanley is implicitly using his WEIRD identity (Western+educated+industrial+rich+democratic) as an obvious ethical given, instead of something of an anomaly. This leads him to completely miss the appeal of Fascism, making his analysis good at identifying certain patterns, but leaving readers completely unable to grapple with its origins or solutions.

[Sharon Orlopp · Rating 4 out of 5]

How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them was first published in September 2018. A new preface was written for the 2020 paperback version of the book. Jason Stanley, the author states that the focus of the book is on the fascist tactics that are used to achieve power.

I took many notes as I read this book. Some of the passages include:

* Conspiracy theories are the calling card of fascist politics.

* Education either poses a grave threat to fascism or becomes a pillar of support for the mythical nation.

* Fascist states focus on dismantling the rule of law, with the goal of replacing it with the dictates of individual rulers.

* When women attain positions of political power that are usually reserved for men, it is perceived as corruption.

* Fascist movements have been draining swamps for generations. Publicizing false charges of corruption while engaging in corrupt practices is typical of fascist policies.

* Fascist politics are threatened by growing gender equity and prefer patriarchal hierarchy.

* The attacks on expertise, science, and truth that are the life blood of fascist policies imperil much more than just our political system.

* Our Democratic culture is on life-support.

The book contains many historical and current examples. Unfortunately, history has a way of repeating itself. It clearly demonstrates how ultranationalism creates divisions of "us" versus "them" as well as a drumbeat to return to a mythical past.

This book is an eye-opener and a call to action. Stanley warns that complacency and normalization can transform the morally extraordinary into the ordinary.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author is the son of immigrants who fled Nazi Germany. He states that he is troubled that fascist politics is on the rise throughout the world again.

The book is well written and researched. Stanley analyzes the many strategies that fascist regimes employ: publicizing the idea of a mythic past, use of propaganda and conspiracy theories, anti-intellectualism, the replacement of reasoned debate with fear and anger, casting doubt on media, denial of equality, white male superiority, culture of victimhood, perpetuation of the Us and Them based on ethnic, religious and racial identities just to list a few the author discusses.
I felt the main message of the book was about his worry of complacency. He states his grandmother’s generation refused to acknowledge the Nazi threat until it was too late. He states that today the “normalization of extreme policies” poses an urgent challenge. Stanley is calling on democracies to resist the insidious encroachment of fascism.

I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is five hours and forty-four minutes. MacLeod Andrews does a good job narrating the book. Andrews is an actor and audiobook narrator. He has won the Audie Award for “Steelheart” and numerous EarPhone Awards.

[The Geeky Bibliophile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding--and chilling--book. Definitely an eye-opener.

Review:

In How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, Jason Stanley explains fascist ideologies, how it spreads, and why democratic societies are vulnerable to it.

I've delayed this review for quite a while, because I didn't know how to go about writing it. I'm still not sure how to go about it, but I'll share some thoughts I had while reading

The book consists of ten chapters: The Mythic Past, Propaganda, Anti-Intellectual, Unreality, Hierarchy, Victimhood, Law and Order, Sexual Anxiety, Sodom and Gomorrah, and Arbeit Macht Frei (German, meaning "work shall make you free"). With each chapter, one feeling was consistent—familiarity. Each fascist ideology discussed was all-too-familiar, because I've seen or heard it so many times before...

The mythic past: "Make America Great Again."
Propaganda: "Drain the swamp!""America First!"
Anti-Intellectual: "Intellectual elitism."
Unreality: False conspiracy theories, such as "Obama is Kenyan Muslim!"
Hierarchy: White supremacy.
Victimhood: "Christians are the most persecuted religion in America!"
Law and Order: Taking away the children of asylum seekers and putting them in cages.
Sexual anxiety: "Mexicans are rapists."
Sodom and Gomorrah: "Gay marriage is wrong!"
Arbeit Macht Frei/work shall make you free: "Poor people are lazy and I don't want MY tax dollars being used to support them!"

(These are simplistic examples, of course, but these are the types of things that came to mind as I read through the chapters.)

Overall, I consider this book to be a well-written, timely warning against the embrace and normalization of fascist ideologies. My review cannot begin to touch on all the things covered in this book, so I urge you to read it for yourself if you're interested in being informed about such things.

I received an advance reading copy of this book courtesy of Random House via Netgalley.

[Phillip Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a short and straightforward guide to how fascist politics can grab hold over a hugh mass of people. A fascist leader gives them a narrative of how those people are not like us and are the enemy out to destroy them. Jason E Stanley knows what he is talking about because his family faced Nazi persecution. It is amazing how many can be made to believe in the propaganda that fascists foist upon people. The first chapter deals with the ubiquitius story of a mythic golden age that has even appeared in an old 1990s Ann Landers column where a retired colonel submitted a piece on the decline of Ancient Athens Greece as a warning about the current moral decline. Many readers being educated did not buy that because they knew of some practices accepted in the past would be considered barbaric today like child labor. George Lucas admitted that Star Wars Revenge of the Sith was a commentary on how liberty dies due to a fascist tendency to create an enemy to justify their iron handed rule. This admission did not go over well with right wing bloggers that accused Lucas of promoting left wing ideology in a childrens movie. You can see much of the us versus them narrative in Donald Trump's program of American workers getting the shaft and blaming immigrants.

[Kaven Hirning · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would do better to be called “how fascist begins”
But either way, a great read! Unfortunately those who need to read it most, never will.

[Trey Malone · Rating 1 out of 5]

In which Jason Stanley does very little research and instead chooses to list all the things he dislikes as “fascist.”

[Anne-Marie Archer · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars.

Well, that certainly explains... *gestures broadly to everything*

[Michael Perkins]

Putin, the GOP, and memory laws....

https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...

==============

Brand new, spot on interview with the author....

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politi...

author's article on Buffalo shooting........

https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...

[Randall Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

How self-obsessed and fact-adverse are Trump supporters? “45% of Donald Trump’s supporters feel that whites are the most discriminated against racial group in America. 54% of Trump’s supporters believe that Christians are the most persecuted religious group in America.” Look at the white nationalist websites, they claim racism against whites, but never any against blacks. Nixon told H.R. Haldeman, “You have to face the fact that the whole problem is really the blacks. The key is to devise a system that recognizes this while not appearing to.” The Right attacks the right of free speech in universities because it is one of the few remaining places where free speech won’t get you in trouble. Fascist politics attack expertise by ridiculing it. Steve Bannon knows that “anger and fear is what gets people to the polls.” Reasoning does not attract, emotion does. “Fascist politics replaces the liberal ideal of equality with its opposite: hierarchy.” Those atop the food chain are indoctrinated to only see the lower status of others as somehow their fault. Racial hierarchy today is still at the level of during Reconstruction where for every $100 a white has, a black has only $5. Another fascist trick is “sexualizing the threat of the other” which relies on stoking patriarchy, anger and fear. The first female senator (1922) was also a women’s right’s advocate who had no problem saying, “if it takes lynching to protect women’s dearest possession from drunken, ravening beasts, then I say lynch a thousand times a week.” Ida Wells proved most lynchings had no connection with rape and was not believed. Fantasies of one’s ethnic group being raped by the other recently resurfaced in Myanmar with the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya being fueled by similar false rape stories.

We use a “linguistic intergroup bias” when talking about people we deem as “the other”. Research studies have shown people don’t like to remember bad things their group or country does (Motivated to Forget – 2013). Palestine/Israel today is “the contradiction between a struggle for equal respect and a struggle for dominance.” Watch how Fox News calls black unrest “riots” more often than “protest”, while CNN and MSNBC are better, but not by much. One reason the Right wants to incarcerate blacks is because, once released, former prisoners have far less civic participation rates, as well as far less employment opportunities (feeding the cycle of incarceration). DuBois’s Black Reconstruction shows how black lawmakers “bent over backward to accommodate the fears of their white fellow citizens.” Mussolini makes clear the fascist past is intentionally mythical, “We have created our myth. The myth is a faith, a passion. It is not necessary for it to be a reality.” In Germany, it is based on the patriarchal family and grew out of the German Volkish movement wanting a return to the German medieval past. Invented histories are common in the U.S. too: “Confederate monuments arose well after the Civil War had ended.”

“Fascist politics impugns the liberal ideal of freedom.” It also tries to minimize all thoughts of class struggle and so unions must be smashed. It’s rural America that gets its panties in a bunch about immigration, not urban America. Urban areas are much more multicultural and more tolerant historically by necessity. This is why the fascist message is crafted for rural ears and fears. The Nazis had a harder time getting to people protected in cities. Under fascism, worth is determined by productivity, and thus a big reason for fascists to always harp on “laziness”. “Arbeit macht frei” is a symbol of fascism, it embodies the idea that people being targeted are lazy and thus the cure is work. Such targeting explains why Nazi’s exterminated disabled people. Removing social safety nets and job training further reinforces the dominant laziness myth. Fascism tells you to enjoy what little you are given because in return you get now a sadist’s front row seat for the mistreatment of some group that will get far less than you, or maybe nothing. In other words, fascism’s job is “to normalize the unthinkable.” Because charges of fascism will always seem extreme, this normalization means the goalposts are constantly moving. This was explained by James McGill Buchanan (in the book Democracy in Chains) who taught the Right that “transformations can be achieved by increments that few will notice, because most people have no patience for minutiae.” And whatever today’s American Cletus wants to tell his beer swilling friends, “the majority of those who benefit from welfare programs are white.” Another great book by Jason.

[Leftbanker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascism is not a word that I throw around carelessly. It has been watered down over the years when used to describe movements of feminism, conservation and ecology, fundamentalist Islam, and many other things the far-right likes to use to frighten its base. The march of nations down the historic path towards fascism has been very well documented at this point; the USA has been showing the symptoms of the disease for decades, because as the author points out, “Fascism is not a new threat, but rather a permanent temptation.”

Written in clear and concise language, informative without ever being boring, this is a book that should be required reading for every concerned American citizen. It’s well past the time when people should take heed of the sinister nature of very powerful elements of our society with a ministry of propaganda working 24/7 to inculcate their narrow-minded constituency.

It’s a very short book and a quick read. Read it.

[Wenting Gao · Rating 1 out of 5]

My issue with the book lies in its dogmatic way of arguing. It seems to me that the author categorizes whatever that contradicts with his own interpretation of liberal values as Fascism. For topics as such, I personally prefer a tone with more neutrality, comprehensiveness, and readiness to be proven wrong.

[Michael Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

How Fascism Works packs a lot into a relatively short space, but it doesn't really explain how fascism works. It does a good job explaining what fascism is, and it contains stark warnings for Americans and people in other nations that are currently sliding into fascism, or, at least, dealing with fascist politicians. His examples are good, but he occasionally overstates the case and defines normal conservative positions (i.e. opposition to affirmative action, same-sex marriage, or an extensive welfare state) as inherently fascist. While fascists can certainly oppose these things, there are legitimate, non-fascist arguments against them that he does not acknowledge.

Generally, though, Stanley defines fascism by the positions that it takes in ways that work equally well for the 20th century fascist movements and the current politics of the United States, Poland, Turkey, Russia, Hungary, and other nations facing fascist revivals. The hallmarks of fascism that he analyzes include:

--Devotion to a mythic past that asserts the heroic origins of a particular nation, religion, ethnicity, or other kind of in-group.

--Attacks on scientists, historians, academics, journalists, and other "elites"--with elites meaning something like "people who know stuff."

--An "us" vs "them" mentality that groups all of the "elites" into the "them" category and the members of the favored in-group into the "us" category.

--Strict hierarchies that include the assertion of the inherent superiority, or fitness, of specific races, genders, family types, etc.

--The assertion that the favored group has been victimized by other groups, even though the favored group has all of the power and money.

--Attacks on refugees and immigrants, who are presented as forces polluting the purity of the in-group.

--The portrayal of urban areas as pollutions of the purity of rural life.

--A constant desire to destabilize any objective measurement of truth and replace it with power--i.e., the truth is what the powerful person says it is, with everything else being "fake news."

These are all valid definitions of fascism, and Stanley does a good job of showing how they worked for Hitler and Mussolini (really his only go-to historical examples) as well as Donald Trump, Viktor Orbán, and Recep Erdoğan. His indictments are powerful. He draws a difference between a fascist politician and a fascist state, so he is not quite calling the United States a fascist country. But I do not believe that there can be any reasonable doubt that Donald Trump is using the same electoral and governing strategies as the most well-known 20th and 21st century fascist politicians.

There is one set of assertions in the book, however, that I think that Stanley gets completely wrong, and in a way that (if he ends up convincing people) could produce exactly the opposite reaction that he wants it to have. It occurs on pp. 82-83, where he attacks Stephen Pinker for asking,"Do women, on average, have a different profile of aptitudes and emotions than men?" and "Are Ashkenazi Jews, on average, smarter than gentiles because their ancestors were selected for the shrewdness needed in money lending?" To these questions, Stanley responds,

The concern about this kind of writing is that it presents those who seek a natural source for inequality as brave truth-seekers, driven by reason to reject the heart's plea for equality. This research has proven to be suspect, at best. And yet, the search for the natural source of inequality . . . as fact somehow continues, grail-like.

Stanley is dangerously wrong here, not about the specific questions of women's aptitudes and Ashkenazi intelligence, but about the underlying assertion that variation is a form of inequality. The fact is that various populations of humans, and every other organism, have some natural variation. Males in some species are (on average) larger than females, or have more colorful tails. Turtles on one island are better at finding fish and turtles on other islands are better at evading predators.

I understand that Stanley is interested in preventing people from using physiological or cognitive variation as a way to validate inequality. But the way to do this is to assert that human equality has nothing to do with these variations. The fact that human males tend to be taller and heavier than human females does not make men superior to women. It does not make them more qualified for most positions, more worthy of love, or more capable of doing anything but a few occupations where size and strength are all that matters (such as, say, linebacker for a professional football team). Our error is to invest normal variation with moral significance.

Because variation is inevitable, trying to argue against it by equating it to inequality concedes exactly the point that people in liberal democracies should not be conceding.

This is a relatively minor point in Stanley's book, though, so I don't think that it ruins it or anything. But it is perhaps the clearest example of the way that he applies the epithet "fascism" to intellectual positions that are not fascist and that are much more defensible than he acknowledges. But he also applies the word to some very real and very important things that are happening in our country today that really are fascist. And that is reason enough to read the book.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though this is a good book, it is not the book I wanted to read. This is not necessarily the author's fault. He (and his publisher) at no time promised the book I wanted.

The title is “How Fascism Works”, and that's what it is about. The title of the book that I wanted to read would continue “….and What to Do About It”

This book says that the alarming turn of events which is currently going on here in the US fits into the Fascist model. It devotes a chapter to different aspects of this model including, but not limited to, appeal to a mythic past, anti-intellectualism, and law and order. Examples are not confined to the current-day USA, but also come from other unhappy places and times, both past and present.

Some questions that I would have liked answered, but weren't:

– Why does this happen in some places and not others?
– Is it possible to recognize movements like these in their nascent form?
– What are the best tactics to combat Fascism?
– Are there examples of places and times when Fascism has been dismantled without an orgy of bloodshed and mayhem?

I don't think why I wish to know these things is a big mystery.

I guess what I wanted was a cookbook, but what I got was a list of ingredients. To give due credit, the book is short, easy to read, and not overburdened with jargon or pointless displays of outrage.

I don't agree with everything that the author writes. For example, I think he covers labor unions with a rosy glow and treats labor union racism as an aberration rather than a sadly frequent occurrence, and does not address at all the long history of labor-union-related corruption and criminality.

But more frequently the author seems to be on target. I thought Chapter 10 was especially well-explained, especially the part where he explains how fascist policy often works to make fascist mythology seem more life-like (in and around Kindle location 1735).

An interesting book, but I'm still trying to find some really smart person to tell me what to do now.

See a review published on the web site of the New York Times on September 11, 2018, here.

I received a free electronic advance review copy of this book via Netgalley and Penguin Random House.

[Gyalten Lekden · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is hard to feel optimistic reading this seven years after its publication and having multiple immediate examples of how America has moved much closer to an authoritarian state during that time, not just continually embodying but amplifying the various points highlighted in the book. The book is insightful and firmly grounded in research and history, presenting a convincing argument as opposed to some alarmist screed. He looks at everything from media to education to trade unions to identities based in imagined histories and more, each a different piece that is put under some sort of strain or weaponization by fascist states, and demonstrates how the contemporary American project is exerting similar strains, utilizing similar disingenuous modes of weaponization (again, all of which have only been exacerbated in the intervening years since publication).

I did not find any of the information here especially new or revelatory, but I also stay informed of and engaged in leftist and socialist political activism. For the reader who has the sense that things feel like they’re slipping out of control but is not as politically engaged this does a great job of laying out the reality in a clear way. Even for someone who does have a decent knowledge of the topic this book is still useful, as it synthesizes ideas, connects topics, and offers evidence based in both social science and history. In that way it feels valuable to all readers, at the very least reminding us of what we need to pay attention to in order to try and protect our minds and societies against a creeping fascist agenda.

He isn’t an activist or organizer, and this book doesn’t offer pragmatic ways to actively fight against the fascist takeover. However, he does diagnose the problem in breathtaking clarity, and that feels critical to begin strategizing resistance on a larger scale.

(Rounded from 4.5)

[Laura Noggle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Key takeaway—Nations don't have to be fascist to suffer from fascist politics.

Equal parts sobering and alarming, Yale philosopher Jason Stanley lays out the ten pillars of fascist politics, analyzing the language and beliefs that divide “us” from “them.” A timely, yet chilling read so close to the election.

Thought to Ponder:

"In book 8 of Plato’s Republic, Socrates argues that people are not naturally led to self-governance but rather seek a strong leader to follow. Democracy, by permitting freedom of speech, opens the door for a demagogue to exploit the people’s need for a strongman; the strongman will use this freedom to prey on the people's resentments and fears. Once the strongman seizes power, he will end democracy, replacing it with tyranny. In short, book 8 of The Republic argues that democracy is a self-undermining system whose very ideals lead to its own demise.

Fascists have always been well acquainted with this recipe for using democracy’s liberties against itself; Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels once declared, “This will always remain one of the best jokes of democracy, that it gave its deadly enemies the means by which it was destroyed.” Today is no different from the past. Again, we find the enemies of liberal democracy employing this strategy, pushing the freedom of speech to its limits and ultimately using it to subvert others’ speech.”

[Ross Williamson · Rating 3 out of 5]

i have some miscellaneous notes that i may clean up and post later, but this is probably only a useful read if you know next to nothing about fascism—it’s got some very good data, but it’s all so wrapped up in convoluted semi-mccarthyist liberal vagueness that the thought of reading any more of it was just plain exhausting

[eta 9/9/19] the aforementioned notes:

this has a p good overview of the basic tenets of fascism and where it's most prevalent today, as well as its historical roots in america, but stanley acts like the current fascist move in american politics is a sort of corruption of what was previously a functional ("healthy") liberal democracy, as though that has no relation to fascist thought whatsoever. like. okay...?

stanley seems to agree with the far-right assertion that any and all Marxist & communist thought = evil which is just. Tiring. there's a bit at the beginning where he claims that marxists "weaponize class divisions," which is certainly one possible interpretation of marx, but not one that anybody who understands materialism at all would make. acting like liberalism is the political and ideological opposite of facism strikes me as sort of hopelessly naive, too. stanley kept discussing fascism in contrast to "healthy liberal democracy" which, as history shows us over and over, is itself often a genocidal institution. stanley says that liberalism cannot flourish on unequal soil, but doesn't acknowledge that the trend of modern liberalism has been to link itself inextricably with capitalism, which is an inherently unfree economic system. but then what can you expect from someone who thinks marxists weaponize class divisions, and liberals don't. apparently. or something. amazing

also the fact that stanley spends a lot of time "debunking" rt, which is afaik literally the only tv source of leftist news in america, itself seems a little... uh.......... okay... like i agree that giving voice to people on the far right is bad but i'm honestly just sort of exhausted by liberals who act like if you've heard of russia, you're a nazi

this is an ok intro work but it's definitely coming from an Extremely liberal perspective, in the sense that all "extremism" is considered Impolite and therefore invalid. very tired of liberals acting like my opinions only matter if i pretend not to give a shit about human suffering. i understand that liberals can't really conceive of any other political system beside neoliberal capitalism, but this repetition does, unfortunately, have the effect of making stanley sound like a total idiot. would love to read a book with the same like, goals by someone who's a bit less obtuse.

eta 190122: i’ve changed my mind about rt after reading peter pomerantsev’s works but i still recommend starting with clara zetkin if you need a short comprehensible intro to fascism!

[Dupont25 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Almost 40 years after Gilbert Allardyce called for the concept of fascism to be "de-modeled, de-ideologized, de-mystified, and de-escalated," out comes a book that purports to lay out the tenets of the fascist ideology. Anyone working to establish a definition of fascism, though, would seem to be confronted with a paradox. A definition of fascism that is to be universally applicable must transcend the limits of specific bodies of historical evidence. Yet to claim that fascism existed in France and Spain and now in the U.S. is to detract from a general understanding or theory of fascism. Stanley tries to provide an Occam's razor for fascism since the term is mentioned with increasing frequency. Drawing upon his background as a philosopher, he attempts to construct an ideological-political understanding of the term that hovers above historical analysis. Fascism seems useful when discussing events in the interwar period, but I'm ultimately not persuaded that it is an inherently meaningful frame to discuss events beyond Mussolini's movement in Italy and in Germany.

[SQAGuru · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yet another liberal intelligentsia effort to reshape the facts to characterize a large segment of a population of horrid goals -- without bothering to find out ANYTHING about the true nature of that segment of the population. If you are looking for more "evidence" of how evil your neighbors and co-workers are, then dive right in. If, on the other hand, you love your neighbors and your freedom, and you want to keep your blood pressure within the normal range, don't even think about reading or listening.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jason Stanley’s How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them is essential reading for all eager to understand declining western democracies. In simple and straightforward prose, Stanley unravels and lays bare the components of fascist politics: the creation and use of a mythic past, propaganda, anti-intellectualism, rejection of facts, victimhood, toxic patriarchy and hierarchy, and social anxiety among other themes. It’s a perfect exposition of praxis, with Stanley seamlessly moving back and forth between his theory of fascism and current and historical practical examples. How Fascism Works is remarkably accessible, well structured, and well written.

[Rocio · Rating 5 out of 5]

“We are waiting for the end”

[Paul (Life In The Slow Lane) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fascist politics are running rampant in America today--and spreading around the world.
Jason Stanley

Damn! That's the very first line of the book description. If I'd read that, I wouldn't have bothered with the book at all. And if like me, you're looking for something that explains Fascism in an unbiased fashion, then look elsewhere.

Yes, there is a fair amount of breadth to this study, and it is informative, but ultimately, the author displays left-wing views, and attempts to label Trump as a Fascist (or at least a Fascist in the making). Oh please. When an economy is in trouble, as Italy's was prior to Mussolini, and Germany's was prior to Hitler, it's easy to “sway the masses” by choosing a scapegoat and demonising them. In Hitler's case, it was the Jews, Christians and just about anybody not of true Aryan descent. Removing any traces of liberalism and indulging in ethnic cleansing, plus glorifying a mythical, non-existent past and suppressing any reference to naughty historical events is true Fascism. Maybe Trump is “borrowing” a few watered down versions of these and using it to his advantage (much to the disgust of the Mexicans, Chinese and Muslims) but he is NOT a true Fascist. He seems to be a misogynist, racist, capitalist xenophobe using people's insecurities to gain acceptance. He doesn't show any signs of wanting to ditch the US Constitution (he'd have a military revolution on his hands if he did), or dismantling the Liberal Democratic system.

I did like the author's chapter, “Anti-Intellectualism” and we have seen several versions of that even in recent times. The chapter on “Dismantling Public Welfare and Unity” was quite disturbing.

If the author had stuck to his knitting, and removed references to the current US political situation, this might have made three stars. I started to get bogged down by his boring rhetoric and lecture-like prose right from the beginning. A lot of repetition in places too. My old English teacher would call that “padding”.

Disclosure: I live in Australia, but follow US politics because it's infinitely more interesting than listening to the drongos we have running our country.

EDIT: In light of recent events, I have to eat my words. Trump is showing signs of fascism.

[Maricruz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fácil de leer, planteado a un nivel introductorio, y sobre todo muy necesario. Quizás no tanto para identificar cómo operan los fascistas, que también, sino más bien para advertir cómo, a resultas de la presión que ejercen sobre el discurso público, podemos acabar normalizando opiniones y conductas que debieran ser inaceptables. Es decir, cómo dejar entrar al fascismo en nuestras vidas nos acaba volviendo a todos un poco fachas a pesar nuestro y casi sin darnos cuenta. Y luego puede ser ya demasiado tarde.

[Shadin Pranto · Rating 3 out of 5]

গণতন্ত্রের ছলে, উন্নয়নের রঙে এবং জাতীয়তাবাদের ঢঙে সারাবিশ্ব জুড়েই ফ্যাসিজমের পুনরুত্থান ঘটছে। জেসন স্ট্যানলি বোঝাতে চেয়েছেন ফ্যাসিজমের বৈশিষ্ট্যগুলো কীভাবে রাষ্ট্রব্যবস্থাকে গ্রাস করে বিভিন্ন ছদ্মপন্থায়। যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের সমকালীন রাজনীতির প্রেক্ষাপটে রচিত হলেও পুরো পৃথিবীর রাজনৈতিক অঙ্গনকে স্পর্শ করতে চেয়েছেন জেসন স্ট্যানলি। সাফল্য শতভাগ নয়, তবে পাঠক পড়লে একেবারে হতাশ হবেন না।

ফ্যাসিজম নামক তমসা ঠিক কোন কোন চোরাগলি দিয়ে এগিয়ে আসে তা বুঝতে না পারলে ফ্যাসিজম নিয়ে আলোচনা জমবে না। লেখক এই সত্য জানেন। তাই হিটলারের কার্যকলাপকে ভিত্তি করে এগিয়েছেন সামনে। লিখেছেন গণতান্ত্রিক ব্যবস্থার মাধ্যমেই ফ্যাসিবাদী সরকার ক্ষমতার তখ্তে বসে। তারপর তাকে পেয়ে বসে জনতাকে নিয়ন্ত্রণ করে আজীবন নিজেদের ক্ষমতায় দেখবার বাসনা। মূলত এই বাসনাকে পূর্ণ করতেই তারা অতীতকে ব্যবহার করে। বারবার জনগণের সামনে পূর্বের কোনো গৌরবোজ্জ্বল ঘটনাকে নিয়ে আসে৷ মনে করিয়ে দেওয়া হয় একসময় তারা কত শৌর্যের অধিকারী ছিল। ব্যক্তিকে ঘিরে, অতীত দিনের কোনো ঘটনাকে নিয়ে মিথ তৈরি করে জনতার মগজধোলাইয়ে মনোযোগী হয় ফ্যাসিবাদী সরকার। জেসন স্ট্যানলি লিখেছেন,

"Fascist politicians justify their ideas by breaking down a common sense of history in creating a mythic past to support their vision for the present. They rewrite the population’s shared understanding of reality by twisting the language of ideals through propaganda and promoting anti-intellectualism, attacking universities and educational systems that might challenge their ideas. Eventually, with these techniques, fascist politics creates a state of unreality, in which conspiracy theories and fake news replace reasoned debate."


ফ্যাসিজমের পথে বাধা হতে পারে এমন কোনো ব্যক্তি বা প্রতিষ্ঠানকে সইতে পারে না ফ্যাসিবাদী সরকার। ভিন্নমতাবলম্বী ব্যক্তি বা প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলোকে বিভিন্নভাবে শায়েস্তা করার সুযোগ খোঁজে ফ্যাসিবাদীরা। সরকার সেখানে নিজস্ব মিথের সপক্ষে পুরো রাষ্ট্রযন্ত্রকে ব্যবহার করে। জাতীয়তাবাদের ট্যাগ লাগানো ব্যক্তি কিংবা ঘটনার মিথ সেই মুসোলিনির আমল থেকেই ফ্যাসিবাদীদের পছন্দের অস্ত্র। মুসোলিনি বলেছিলেন,

"We have created our myth. The myth is a faith, a passion. It is not necessary for it to be a reality….Our myth is the nation, our myth is the greatness of the nation! And to this myth, this greatness, which we want to translate into a total reality, we subordinate everything."

"দুর্নীতি" ফ্যাসিবাদের আরেকটি হাতিয়ার। এরা দুর্নীতির বিরুদ্ধে জিহাদ ঘোষণা করে, করে থাকে। কিন্তু দিনশেষে নিজেরাই হয় দুর্নীতির এক নম্বর পৃষ্ঠপোষক। জেসন স্ট্যানলি এই মনে করিয়ে দিয়েছেন এভাবে -

" Masking corruption under the guise of anticorruption is a hallmark strategy in fascist propaganda."

দলীয় গণমাধ্যম, দলদাস বুদ্ধিজীবীদের ব্যাপক আনাগোনা দেখা যায় ফ্যাসিবাদে। এরা অত্যন্ত তৎপরতার সঙ্গে তাদের দলের নেতাকে মহামহিম হিসেবে জনতার সামনে উপস্থাপন করে। ফ্যাসিবাদী দলগুলোর নেতাদের আকৃতি-প্রকৃতি নিয়ে লেখক বড় প্রাসঙ্গিক আলোচনা করেছেন। যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের ট্রাম্প, হাঙ্গেরি, পোল্যান্ড, তুরস্ক, রাশিয়া প্রভৃতি দেশে ফ্যাসিবাদপন্থী নেতাদের মহত্তম হিসেবে জনতার কাছে তুলে ধরতে কীভাবে গণমাধ্যম ও দলীয় বুদ্ধিজীবীমহল ভূমিকা রেখেছে তা নিয়ে লেখকের বয়ান ভালো লাগবে।

উদারতা, মানবতা, বাকস্বাধীনতার বুলি আওড়িয়ে ক্ষমতা যাওয়া ফ্যাসিবাদীরা প্রথমেই পরিকল্পিতভাবে ধ্বংসের সিদ্ধান্ত নেয় সেইসব প্রতিষ্ঠানকে যারা তাদের ক্ষমতার অপব্যবহার নিয়ে প্রশ্ন তুলবে। এরা ঘৃণা ছড়ায় ভিন্নমতের বুদ্ধিজীবীদের বিরুদ্ধে, দলপন্থী শিক্ষাব্যবস্থা তৈরি হয় এদের প্রধান উদ্দেশ্য। লেখকের ভাষায়,

"Fascist politics seeks to undermine public discourse by attacking and devaluing education, expertise, and language. Intelligent debate is impossible without an education with access to different perspectives, a respect for expertise when one’s own knowledge gives out, and a rich enough language to precisely describe reality. When education, expertise, and linguistic distinctions are undermined, there remains only power and tribal identity."

ফ্যাসিজম নিয়ে পড়াশোনার চমৎকার একটি ম্যাটারিয়াল হতে পারে জেসন স্ট্যানলির "How Fascism Works: Politics Of Us and Them". এই বইয়ের বড় সীমাবদ্ধতা হলো স্ট্যানলির প্রেক্ষাপট নিয়ে গড়বড়। মূলত ট্রাম্পল্যান্ড নিয়ে লেখা হলেও ইউরোপের উগ্র জাতীয়তাবাদ, ধর্মান্ধতা, বর্ণবাদের বাড়াবাড়ি নিয়ে আলোচনা ঠিক জমেনি। অর্থাৎ একসাথে এতগুলো বিষয় নিয়ে এগুতে চেয়েছেন যে কোনো একক বিষয়ে ফোকাস দিতে পারেননি। তাই খানিকটা খাপছাড়া লাগছিল। আর লেখার গতিও শ্লথ।

[Carrie Leib · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Pratap Mehta wrote: The targeting of enemies—minorities, liberals, secularists, leftists, urban naxals, intellectuals, assorted protestors—is not driven by a calculus of ordinary politics….When you legitimize yourself entirely by inventing enemies, the truth ceases to matter, normal restraints of civilization and decency cease to matter, the checks and balances of normal politics cease to matter.”

[Ryan Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely essential reading at this moment in time, especially. It’s not the most academic or thorough book about fascism but it’s readable, organized, and well-argues. I can’t recommend it highly enough. Follow this with The Anatomy of Fascism, by Robert Paxton.

[Conor Ahern · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great, thoroughly digestible primer on how and why fascism takes root.

Read it, pray for the dead, and fight like hell for the living!