How Fascism Works cover art

How Fascism Works

The Politics of Us and Them

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for £5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

How Fascism Works

By: Jason Stanley
Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews
Try Standard free

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £9.72

Buy Now for £9.72

About this listen

 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “No single book is as relevant to the present moment.”—Claudia Rankine, author of Citizen

“With unsettling insight and disturbing clarity, How Fascism Works is an essential guidebook to our current national dilemma of democracy vs. authoritarianism.”—Jelani Cobb, New Yorker staff writer

A Yale philosopher identifies the ten pillars of fascist politics, and charts their horrifying rise and deep history.

As a scholar of philosophy and propaganda and the child of refugees of WWII Europe, Jason Stanley has long understood that democratic societies, including the United States, can be vulnerable to fascism. In How Fascism Works, he identifies ten pillars of fascist politics—an appeal to the mythic past, propaganda, anti-intellectualism, unreality, hierarchy, victimhood, law and order, sexual anxiety, favoring “the heartland,” and a dismantling of public goods and unions—that amount to an urgent diagnosis of the tactics right-wing politicians use to break down democracies and a critical lens on the current moment.

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 language and beliefs that separate people into an “us” and a “them.” 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. 20th Century Modern Political Science Politics & Government Social Sciences Crime Social justice Liberalism Socialism Capitalism Thought-Provoking Interwar Period Refugee War Imperialism American Politics
All stars
Most relevant
Another brilliantly written book that was difficult to read because of the state of the world right now. It is hard not to compare the points made in this book with the actions being taken currently by Trump and other Right leaning Western leaders. A very sad time. The predictions in the Epilogue were very well expressed and it’s incredibly sad that they already appear to be coming to fruition.

How Fascism Works

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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.

Excellent summary of core features of fascism

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
informative and useful, easy chapters dealing each with separate elements of fascist politics.
using modern and historical examples.

listened to twice

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I don't often write reviews but I felt the need to write one here to let potential buyers know that there are people who left bad reviews clearly without having read/listened to the book.

One says that the book claims only white people can be racist and fascist. In fact, the book does mention fascism in non-white nations, including Turkey and India. This information isn't hidden away, so anyone who had actually listened to/read the book wouldn't make this clearly false claim.

I didn't agree with everything in the book but I see no need to make up lies about it.

Reviewers who haven't read the book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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.

The best resource to understand the subject.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews