by Jason Stanley

Jason Stanley is a philosophy professor at Yale who is also son of European Jewish refugees. In How Fascism Works, Stanley identifies the defining characteristics of fascist regimes. He illustrates how those foundational ideas are implemented and enacted in regimes. Fascism goes after those institutions within democracy that may present a source of opposition. Thus the fascist demagogue will attack the university system, the press, even knowledge itself as they seek to establish their possession of state power.



In language that is approachable and does not require knowledge of a special vocabulary, Stanley points to situations in our current state that are fascist. Whether it is the division of the population by fanning hatred against immigrants, people of color, or gay people; or attacking the free press as the “enemy of the people,” fascism seeks to delegitimate any potential source of resistance by destabilizing it. It offers its own form of truth that to supplant facts; it propagates conspiracy theories that see insiders plotting against their country; it seeks to replace a loyalty to the government with a loyalty to the “nation,” an entity that it defines; it builds itself on the back of the patriarchal family in which men are both the breadwinners and the head of the household in order to prevent women having access to power. Fascism uses misogyny, homophobia, racism, and xenophobia to peel away unity, but more importantly, to emphasize that whiteness and masculinity are the sources of all legitimate power.



Jason Stanley has written an invaluable guide to understanding the ways that fascism spreads like cancer, and how much of that growth takes place in secrecy. By convincing its believers that fascism is the only true way for white men to maintain their hold on power, it seeks to both emphasize to white men how they are being emasculated in multicultural and feminist societies, while also providing them with the violent means for them to take their power back.