How Fascism Works cover art

How Fascism Works

The Politics of Us and Them

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

$8.99/mo after trial ends. Cancel anytime
Try for $0.00
More purchase options

How Fascism Works

By: Jason Stanley
Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews
Try for $0.00

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $16.30

Buy Now for $16.30

Summary

 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 Social justice Crime Socialism Interwar Period Refugee Liberalism War Imperialism Capitalism Latin America American Politics
All stars
Most relevant
loved it. excellent. must read. hugely relevant. well written. intelligent and plain English. thanks heaps

perfect

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very basic representation of Facism providing examples for the authors arguments however I believe that the author only skims the surface and de-emphasises the role that society has on it's newer generations something that is talked about in "coddling of the American mind" I think the truth starts there and ends towards this book

Good book but

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Vitally important listening, now more than ever. Eerily accurate markers for our current political climate.

Must listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Listening to this in 2025… it hits very close to home. Knowing it was written in 2018 and so many of the things discussed have definitely come to pass in those intervening seven years, it can the subject matter quite daunting but it is presented in a clear and level headed manner.

Now is definitely the time to listen to this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
For the lack of a better description and opinion I enjoyed this learned some new things, but I was disappointed to not hear that the Author didn't put in his evaluation in his writing that the First Nations people were just as much just as bad been discriminated, they had to deal with facisism and racism they were the first so I would love to see an updated book with them included as well and with what's going on in America now with Donald Trump as President again!!

What about the Natives

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.