How Fascism Works
The Politics of Us and Them
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How Fascism Works
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Narrated by:
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MacLeod Andrews
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Written by:
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Jason Stanley
About this listen
“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
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What the critics say
“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)
What listeners say about How Fascism Works
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- AE
- 2023-07-07
A timely "must read"
Binged this in a day. I couldn't stop. Highly recommend. These themes are presenting themselves in many countries under many guises.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ericson
- 2019-10-18
Very interesting
A very good listen, found it pretty interesting to see comparison of what is happening in the USA.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2022-04-17
Terrifying -
I wish everyone would read and contemplate Jason Stanley's message. We are witnessing a fascist resurgence ,along with the hate, vile, bigotry and general backwardness that it brings. Stanley does an amazing job of illuminating parallels in history with fascist movements today. This drift towards fascist ideology is a festering sore that is keeping the world from solving problems that are within our grasp like poverty, hunger, and climate change. But instead, we have this vile distraction to contend with.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2021-04-02
Very interesting
The author presents very interesting opinion on how fascism can develop in society. I very much appreciated reading this book.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Dane Richter
- 2024-06-13
A Stretch
I've been studying fascism, but this isn't it. it's just an anti Trump piece. It seems like the author is just taking liberal arguments against Trump and trying to link them to fascism. I'm a little more centered in my views and I just don't see this as a viable example of fascism today
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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- Ronan Lynch
- 2022-07-10
Absolutely Terrible
As someone who has studied fascism for over 6 years, this book is a spit in the face of academic integrity. At no point in the entire book does Stanley even identify any of the internal ideological mechanisms of fascism. He merely vaguely gestures at distasteful acts of conservative populism and tries to relate that to the historical phenomena of fascism. Going so far as to at one point in the book try to relate, although not directly, fascism to capitalist economics which is absolutely absurd for anyone with even a elementary understanding of the ideology. The book is very well written and well performed but understand going in that it is nothing more than a liberal opinion piece.
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1 person found this helpful