Author(s): Jason Stanley

Modern Thought

As a scholar of philosophy and propaganda and the child of refugees of WWII Europe, Jason Stanley has a deep understanding that democratic societies, including the United States, can be vulnerable to fascism. In How Fascism Works, he focuses on fascist politics-the language and beliefs that separate people into an "us" and a "them." Stanley 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, making clear the immense dangers of what he identifies as the ten pillars of fascist politics. By uncovering disturbing patterns that are as prevalent today as ever, Stanley reveals that the stuff of politics-rhetoric and myth-can become policy and reality all too quickly. Only by recognizing them, he argues, can we begin to resist their most harmful effects and return to democratic ideals. Book jacket.