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

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“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 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

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Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This book gives a good survey of the political and psychological tactics of fascist states in early 20th century Europe but notes that key elements of fascism have a much broader scope. Fascism from the Right is by far the most visible threat in the US and globally today, but this review will examine aspects of fascism emerging on the Left, especially in ideologies such as Critical Race Theory (CRT). CRT has recently become the driving doctrine behind many controversies, such as “cancel culture” and certain kinds of diversity training and affirmative action.I was led to CRT by my shock at witnessing a witch-hunt type cancellation (see “The Coddling of the American Mind” by Lukianoff and Haidt), rooted in racial anxiety and white guilt, but expressed through hysteria and slander. Reading books like Robin DiAngelo’s “White Fragility” I immediately saw how CRT promoted an identity politics of egregiously unethical behavior, claiming to be anti-racist but suspiciously racist in itself, striking me even as fascist in some sense. I picked out this book to get a better grasp on that sense.Stanley’s very first point is that fascism is about “Targeting of ideological enemies, without restraint” (xiii), a pretty accurate description of cancel culture. These actions, often on social media these days, rarely target real racists or white supremacists, who are usually too distant, but jump on close-by liberals (see the book on “Victimhood Culture” by Campbell and Manning). Sometimes the fuse is just an inadvertent “politically incorrect” wording, but other times it’s more principled – open objection to the dogmatism and bigotry of CRT, to the means, not the worthy ends of racial justice and equity. This was the case when the Rev. Todd Eklof passed out copies of his new book “The Gadfly Papers” at the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly in Spokane in 2019, quoting from the Lukianoff and Haidt book and critiquing the DiAngelo book. This blew up into a witch-hunt almost overnight, baffling those of us who decided to actually read the book.A second key point of fascism is “Loyalty to a leader or ethnic identity” (xix) and that fascism “dehumanizes segments of the population” (xxix). In the case of CRT there is no dominant leader but it is all about ethnicity, with loyalty to “people of color”. The presumed dominant group of “white people is to be denigrated, if not fully dehumanized, conspicuously omitting enormous differences in class. That is, whites may be accused of ambiguous notions of racism and white supremacy, intimidated or humiliated in diversity training, subjected to “canceling”, etc. This is what makes CRT a kind of inverted racial fascism, in contrast to Hitler’s extolling of Aryans while vilifying Jews.A third key point of fascism is “Conflicts in principle with expertise, science, truth” (xx). This comes from the nihilism of French postmodern philosophy which has guided the development of the doctrines of Critical Theory. Postmodernism is explicitly opposed to the “liberal philosophy” of the Enlightenment, which is the foundation for the modern law, ethics, and science of Western Civilization. Thus when science does not support dogmas such as “all whites are racist”, the science is denigrated as a product of “white supremacy culture”. False and misleading reasoning, classically referred to as sophistry or casuistry, is normal in CRT because the key to knowledge is viewed as the “lived experience” of oppression of marginalized peoples, not evidence and logic as developed in rigorous scholarship. Robin DiAngelo’s book on “White Fragility” has been heavily critiqued for these reasons, one of the few popular books whose best-liked Amazon reviews are all one star.A fourth key point is that “Fascism in power seeks to make rhetoric into reality” (xxi). Before this last decade, CRT was primarily an academic endeavor, but now it has gone mainstream in a ruthless, power seeking way. Even though it is a highly controversial ideology, almost a theology, in direct violation of key principles of American democracy, followers in the universities are now teaching it like revealed truth and spreading it in stealthy ways. For example, CRT has now taken over the hierarchy of Eklof’s denomination, without any democratic dialogue, causing escalating damage in the form of congregational splits and conflicts, inflaming the cultural wars instead of developing practical policy.A fifth key point of fascism is “Using crisis as an anti-democratic opportunity” (xxi). In this case, the crisis is the election of Trump, which has raised racial anxiety to a very high level and along with it white guilt. That is, CRT feeds off white guilt and so is now in full bloom.A sixth point is that “Fascist politics does not necessarily lead to a fascist state, but it is dangerous nonetheless” (xxviii). Under Trump, traditional fascism from the Right has been a full blown threat, yet the checks and balances have held, at least so far, though they’ve taken quite a beating. So it’s not likely that the inverted racial fascism of CRT will take over the state, and the backlash is now building, but significant damage has been done, especially in the universities and the media.A summary point of Stanley’s book is that “Fascist politics includes many distinct strategies: a mythic past, propaganda, anti-intellectualism, unreality, hierarchy, victimhood, law and order, sexual anxiety, appeals to the heartland, and dismantling of public welfare and unity” (xxix). In fact these are the subsequent chapters of the book. Many, though not all, of these strategies apply to CRT.As to the “mythic past” chapter, CRT postulates the purity of a non-European world of relatively harmonious multicultural diversity, ignoring the endemic warfare and often slavery, even slaughter, among non-European cultures throughout human history. Fascism views the present as weakened by “universal values such as equality” (p 4). CRT agrees because different identity groups are assumed to be in oppressor/victimhood relationships, with “equality” as a principle only serving to strengthen the oppressor, instead of as the basis for justice, as in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Thus in CRT, people of color are assigned superior rights and moral stature, setting up a wider competition of identity for the benefits of victimhood status.This is the basis for a key power play of CRT, where certain elite “woke” individuals of color are regarded as “authentic voices”, like oracles, whose perceived sentiments of harm guide their “white allies”. This guidance must be followed even in the absence of objective evidence or reason, overriding legal due process and traditional ethics. Often this results in conflicts, divisions, and cancellations, rejecting well-known methods of conflict resolution, presuming rather than verifying power imbalance and prejudice. The Eklof incident serves as a prime example.CRT justifies such attitudes and actions by assuming no progress on racial issues since the Civil Rights era, suppressing evidence to the contrary. So in the context of US history, the mythic past and present are both regarded as evil or degenerate, unlike traditional fascism where the past is pure. Yet it is like traditional fascism in that the present is falsely accused, blaming racism for oppression instead of escalating economic inequality, which has hit the white working class much harder than their black brothers and sisters. The 1619 project is a good recent example of historical revisionism to create a mythology of racial original sin.This chapter also comments that “ the central tenets of a fascist ideology are authoritarianism, hierarchy, purity, struggle” (p 5). This is a perfect match for CRT, in its rejection of democratic process, assumption of rigid racial hierarchy, purity of the “woke”, and demands for purity over reconciliation. Later, purity is rephrased as “fascist politics rejects pluralism and tolerance” (p 151).Chapter 2 on Propaganda notes that “We find the enemies of liberal democracy employing propaganda, pushing freedom of speech to its limits and ultimately using it to subvert others’ speech” (p 32). Acolytes of CRT openly promote anti-white language, taking wordings such as racist and white supremacist that apply to only a few in 2020, and weaponizing these wordings to accuse whites generally by “redefining” the words in dubious ways to broaden their scope. But when someone pushes back, perhaps by describing these weaponized accusations as racist in themselves, they’ll be attacked with these very words.Stanley says that “Hitler, in Mein Kampf”…described his “realization that life is a battle for power between groups in which reason and objectivity have no role” (p 35). Of course, CRT is all about identity politics, not going as far as Hitler, but still in the same vein of power intentionally subverting due process in the pursuit of an abstract goal based on a mythological conception of history.Chapter 3 on Anti-Intellectualism puts this in another way: “When education, expertise, and linguistic distinctions are undermined, there remains only power and tribal identity” (p 36). Chapter 4 on Unreality continues this line of thought: “Regular and repeated obvious lying is part of the process by which fascist politics destroys the information space” (p 57). In this case, CRT claims that we are, even in 2020, a “racist nation” living under the yoke of a “white supremacy culture”, when this is ludicrous according to the standard meanings of those words.Chapter 5 on Hierarchy continues: “Equality, according to the fascist, is the Trojan horse of liberalism” (p 88), referring to liberal philosophy. This is a position embraced by CRT, in its cynicism, but rejected by MLK. “Empires in decline are particularly susceptible to fascist politics because of this sense of loss (of hierarchal status)” (p 90). For the US this is more of a relative decline, due the rise of China, resurgence of Russia, etc., but internally this has hit hard as the “shrinking middle class”, as the rich only get richer, giving rise to fascist politics on both ends of the political spectrum. This is noted later by Stanley: “fascist politics is most effective under conditions of stark economic inequality” (p 172).Strangely, Stanley looks only at Right wing fascism, not the Left versions found in Stalinism and Maoism, and the final chapters are less relevant to CRT. That is, the face of fascism has changed in certain particulars after a century of social and economic changes. Nationalism continues, though not as strongly, and more on the Right than the Left. Fear of racial cross-breeding is disappearing, following the dramatic increase in integration. The supposed decadence of urban life, versus rural, is also disappearing, following the vast increase in urbanization. But as we’ve indicated above, critical features of fascism appear in extremes across the political spectrum.

⭐This book contains some interesting history and identifies common patterns in the rise of fascism. The author describes an underlining mechanism fascists use to gain control of a nation. The primary means is the creation of a glorified and inaccurate past that the fascists believe the nation must strive to regain. This goal is supported by a notion of “us” who support the fascists versus a “them” who oppose the fascists seeking to corrupt and destroy the nation. In fascism the “us” and “them” are created along racial, ethnic or religious lines.Stanley points out some interesting patterns such as fascist insistence on traditional families and viewing folks living in rural settings as good and pure while viewing those who live in cities as tending to be corrupt. Stanley argues that the reasons for these beliefs are fundamental. The traditional family has a strong leader, the father, and fascists want to mirror this for the nation with a strong leader at its head. Similarly favoring rural over urban dwellers is fundamental as rural dwellers are cast as having values closer to those in the nation’s glorious past while city dwellers have new corrupt values.All this is good. Another strength of the book is Stanley’s recounting of his grandmother’s experience in Nazi Germany where she stayed until the last minute, helped hundreds escape and was incredulous that there was not more alarm regarding what was going on and where it was heading.Despite all the good, the book contains about an equal amount of problems. The main problem is that the author has a strong political bias which makes itself quite apparent. The examples of fascist tactics he gives always involve those on the right. However, for everything he describes there is a mirror phenomena on the left. For example, it is true that the many on the right tend to glorify and distort US history. The counter is that those on the left also distort history. The most recent notorious example of this is the 1619 Project’s claim that a major motivation for the American revolution was to protect the right to own slaves.More generally, for every instance of the right creating an “us” versus “them” there is an example of the left doing the same. For instance, while it is true that many on the right tend to romanticize rural life many on the left are seething with contempt for those “clinging to guns and religion”. The author seems to grossly exaggerate the number on those on the right who want to eliminate teaching the worst parts of American history such as slavery. Are there really any who want to do this? More than 1 in 1000? Beyond this there is also the counter that there are those on the left would like to teach only the worst parts.Another problem with the book is that it often presents “sinister implication” arrived at through Reductio ad Hitlerum. If someone today is doing something that fascists have done somewhere at some point then they must be budding fascists, right? For instance if fascists criticized intellectuals and then went on to have them removed and closed down their institutions it must mean anyone who criticizes intellectuals now (e.g. Thomas Sowell) must want them removed and their institutions closed down, right? It is just not possible to criticize them but think there is an alternative to removal and shutting the institutions down, right? In many cases Stanley does not explicitly say that he thinks X leads to Y but he just leaves the sinister implication dangling out there.The other big problem with the book is that it often sidesteps the question of “yes, but are they right?” by claiming that fascists have attacked X in the past and implying anyone that today attacks X must also be a fascist. For instance, since Nazis attacked Marxism in the past anyone today attacking Marxism or a derivative of it, or anything on the left like post-modernism must also be a fascist, right? If that reasoning were correct then the left has a blank check to come up with any absurd idea at all and be immune from criticism from the right just by saying “well fascists attacked leftists in the past, so if you attack us now the only possibility is that you are a fascist!”A particularly alarming part of this book is where Stanley claims that not all ideas can be tolerated under the notion that the best idea will emerge in the marketplace of ideas. Stanley’s notion is that just as there are market failures in the economy, so to are there failures in the market place of ideas. Stanley claims that since we would not insist that universities allow flat earthers to present their point of view some ideas in university should be immune from contrary points of view. Again under the “imply but don’t say” approach gender studies seems to be one example of what he has in mind. But is criticizing gender studies, built on its post modern foundations, really with as little merit as arguing that the earth is flat? If Stanley is convinced of this how many of his fellow academic intellectuals are?One final, worrying part of the book is Stanley’s claim that labor unions are the surest means to reduce inequality in society and eliminate division along lines such as race. He tries to establish this through a “correlation is causation” argument. The real history of labor unions in the United States is that they were very racist and often corrupt. Stanley apparently knows about this but does not seriously discuss how the actual history might invalidate his thesis. More realistically, it seems that labor unions merely reflect the level of racism present or absent in society without doing much to change it. The lack of intellectual rigor he presents here, when he clearly knows better, makes me question exactly what other parts of the book are subject to the same problem.

⭐A very good read, not overly “academic” but well written, informative…and alarming. Read it before the midterm election and act/vote accordingly.

⭐This book is a good introduction to how political scholars define fascism. The book does not dive deep into specific forms of the ideology (Nazism, Italian Fascism, etc…) so if you’re looking for that you may want to consider a more specialized book. However, if you’re looking to learn more about what fascism is this book is a great start.

⭐Kind of scary when you start comparing the historical examples to what’s happening today.

⭐If I could, I would add this to required reading in high school.

⭐Very quick read and should be consumed over and over. I participated for 12+/- yrs w/a local Libertarian debate group. In the end I could no longer stand to be near them. I only wish I had been armed w/some of the insights from this book to use against them. If we don’t understand how the far R ideology is tearing us down and dividing all Americans we will lose this country. It needs to be an inclusive society for us to exist into the future. Please read this book!

⭐I thought I might agree with pretty much everything in this book and I did. The tactics currently being employed by a resurgent far right in the capitalist world certainly do reveal many parallels with the 1930s. It’s not identical but it is similar and we should be worried. It’s a warning from History.However, to avoid having to accuse myself of living in an echo-chamber, I read only those reviews that awarded the book less than 3 out of 5. The most frequently recurring criticism was that it was unbalanced. I’ve some sympathy with that point of view. On the other hand, if you were writing a critical account of Hitler’s actions, would you feel obliged to devote a substantial amount of space to describing how kind and thoughtful he could be to his secretaries, in order to achieve ‘balance’? Probably not.A beautifully well written and crystal clear analysis of the tactics used then and now by people who want us to be at each other’s throats. A polemic certainly but do please read.

⭐This book sets out to underline sweeping fascism across the globe. Plenty of blaming of the right and underplaying of genuine fears and concerns of many. Fails to see contradictions and lacks data. Jason Stanley lets his political ideologies ruin what could have been a good informative read

⭐The author leaves you under no illusion he isn’t very fond of Donald Trump. I found it hard to get past the first few chapters and lost interest.Not a Trump fan, but fascism is a way more complex historical subject than 21st century American politics.

⭐This book is a very readable overview of how fascism works with examples drawn from modern politics and not just the obvious references to Nazism. It is eerie just how much of what is happening in the world today is described to a tee in this book. Fascism is rampant and we all need to be able to identify, label, and reject fascist techniques and ideas.A must read for anyone interested in politics.

⭐It’s no wonder people put their head in the sand when it comes to admitting the encroaching fascism in modern times. This book spells it out in such a simple way that one can only be saddened when faced with such obvious truths about the human race.

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