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How Fascism Works
- The Politics of Us and Them
- Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
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How Fascism Works
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Summary
“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
Critic reviews
“Jason Stanley reveals how the liberties of the people wither when voters embrace politicians who promote the divisive politics of us versus them while denigrating cooperation, compromise, and respect for others. How Fascism Works builds on philosopher Stanley’s insightful How Propaganda Works to explain in concise and easily understood terms how people get tricked into reversing the expanding rights that made America great.” (David Cay Johnston, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of It’s Even Worse Than You Think and The Making of Donald Trump)
“An endless question about history - does it repeat itself? The Allies triumphed over fascism nearly seventy-five years ago. But is it on the rise again? The national populism of Trump and Bannon; Brexit; Orban and the rise of the Hungarian right; the Italian five-star movement; Erdoğan - Jason Stanley has in this extraordinary book tried to answer these questions. For those in denial or in doubt, Stanley’s book provides overwhelming evidence that fascism is alive, well, and on the rise. It’s a clarion call to wake up, pay attention, and do something. No one has any doubt that fascism works; the question remains: How do we stop it? Stanley tells us that fascism is not a plan on how to govern but a plan on how to seize control. This is an important and essential book.” (Errol Morris, filmmaker and author of The Ashtray)
“There are moments in which the fate of humanity itself hangs in the balance, and such times always bring with them the resurrection of ugly myths. And yet, as Jason Stanley, one of this nation’s most important philosophers, makes clear, when such myths are deconstructed and their history is laid bare, we remember the extraordinary ties that in fact bind us together. And in the fire of that powerful recollection, modern-day fascism - the current myth-dependent moment of intolerance, xenophobia, and fearmongering in which we find ourselves - can be rendered to ash.” (Heather Ann Thompson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Blood in the Water)
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What listeners say about How Fascism Works
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Julian I
- 15-11-23
Excellent summary of core features of fascism
Easy and accessible about the core trends of fascism, with pointers to both history and contemporary politics. Great as an introductory overview of what fascism is, and why it appeals and grows among the population. A warning for us today.
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- D Wade
- 23-01-24
It’s all right before our eyes
It really helps to be able to view the world with your eyes open and not just to be swayed who is the most charismatic. So informative I listened twice.
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- ROSS JENKIN
- 15-08-19
listened to twice
informative and useful, easy chapters dealing each with separate elements of fascist politics.
using modern and historical examples.
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- Amy
- 16-06-22
Amazing
Something that you can't unhear, the insidiousness of the language in media and everywhere. it's so hidden but now that bit more visible, which has to be a win when this stuff can't hide in plain sight. Brilliant work 👍🏻
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-09-19
Read this to have insight into modern politics
Regardless of your political leanings, this is a must read to appreciate the manners in which Fascism manipulates your perception of history, reality, and the future.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 03-06-20
The best resource to understand the subject.
I would urge anyone who identify as center-right or moderate to try this book seeing how I was in one of those categories a few years ago. Loved it from start to finish. The book is short , easy to understand and an insightful autopsy of the rotting corpse of fascism that still threatens people under the guise of moderate conservative talking points.
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- Phil Mc Mahon
- 30-08-22
The title is appropriate.
This book achieves what it sets out to do; to explain how fascism works, and it does it well.
The author backs up the arguments with solid, demonstrable historical and contemporary examples, however I think some of the examples referencing Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, in particular require a more holistic understanding of Hungary the the psyche of the Hungarian people. This does not mean those examples are irrelevant or necessarily wrong though. Remember, not many people from outside of Hungary can speak Hungarian and this often contributes to a one dimensional view of Hungary being presented by non-Hungarian authors and journalists.
I thought parts of the last couple of chapters lost their way at times and I couldn’t decide if the text or the narrator was the reason for that. Overall though, it’s very, very good and will definitely open up any reader’s mind to the complexity behind how fascist movements can and do grow in popularity.
As with any subject, it’s also worth reading something with an opposing or alternative view too.
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- phphoto
- 04-07-19
Read them now.
We'll worth a read/listen. It has a lot to say about politics in the modern era which allowed for a deeper understanding of subject matter.
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- Artemis
- 01-11-21
Exceptional, a must read!
This book really is superb. It covers much of the known regimes of fascist politics across the world. I would have liked to have the UK examined, as much of British history, and politics in the recent decade, is littered with elements of fascist politics, perhaps that will be a future book in its own right? this book is a good starting point to move to deeper study of how fascism works.
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- Mr. Simon Brewis
- 15-02-24
A Tremendous & accessible book about abusive political power.
This is one of the best-written, most accessible, & well-researched, books about abusive political power that I have ever read/listened to.
If everyone listened to this book, I suspect the societies we all live in would be improved for the better.
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