“How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them” by Jason Stanley

@ASoulAFire @JaniceOCG @jasonintrator & @penguinrandom published #HowFascismWorks to guide us through the divisive politics we see in the country today.  We don’t see in @HandmaidsOnHulu much on what citizens were doing before Gilead came to be, but in our case, reading is fundamental.  Join “If America Fails?:  The Coming Tyranny,” Thursdays at 8 pm ET, beginning January, 2022.

I don’t know how many people alive today have witnessed the onset of fascism – but for those of us who have not seen it, it can certainly be very unsettling.  It helps to recognize the signs and to begin thinking through ways in which we might respond to certain tactics, actions and events.  Jason Stanley’s How Fascism Works:  The Politics of Us and Them, is just such a guide.  Take comfort.  — LMO

“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

“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

“A vital read . . . The book provides a fascinating breakdown of the fascist ideology, nimbly interweaving examples from Germany, Italy and Hungary, from Rwanda and Myanmar to Serbia and, yes, the US. As he proceeds through his framework of the broadest features of his subject, Stanley includes smaller observations that may for some readers land bracingly close to home.”—The Guardian

“No single book is as relevant to the present moment.” — Claudia Rankine, author of Citizen

“NEW 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.”

“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.”

“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 fascism: 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.

“Only by recognizing fascists politics, he argues, may we resist its most harmful effects and return to democratic ideals.”

“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.”  — Publisher

READ | “How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them” | Jason Stanley | Penguin Random House | 5/26/2020