How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them

How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them

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

How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them

by Jason Stanley

Hardcover

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Overview

“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 Crime

NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS’ CHOICE • 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 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.

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

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780525511830
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Publication date: 09/04/2018
Pages: 240
Sales rank: 1,118,670
Product dimensions: 5.30(w) x 7.81(h) x 0.85(d)

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 Citizen author Claudia Rankine states: “No single book is as relevant to our 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 TimesThe Washington PostBoston ReviewThe Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Guardian.

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Excerpted from "How Fascism Works"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Jason Stanley.
Excerpted by permission of Random House Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Introduction xxv

1 The Mythic Past 3

2 Propaganda 24

3 Anti-intellectual 36

4 Unreality 57

5 Hierarchy 78

6 Victimhood 93

7 Law and Order 109

8 Sexual Anxiety 127

9 Sodom and Gomorrah 141

10 Arbeit Macht Frei 156

Epilogue 187

Acknowledgments 195

Notes 199

Index 209

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