Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future
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From the bestselling author of How Fascism Works , a global call to action that tells us “why the past is a frontline in the struggle for a future free of fascism” (Jeff Sharlet, New York Times bestselling author) as it reveals the far right’s efforts to rewrite history and undo a century of progress on race, gender, sexuality, and class. In the United States, democracy is under attack by an authoritarian movement that has found fertile ground among the country’s conservative politicians and voters, but similar movements have found homes in the hearts and minds of people around the globe. To understand the shape, form, and stakes of this assault, we must go back to extract lessons from our past. In authoritarian countries, critical examination of those nations’ history and traditions is discouraged if not an outright danger to those who do it. And it is no accident that local and global institutions of education have become a battleground, where learning and efforts to upend a hierarchal status quo can be put to end by coercion and threats of violence. Democracies entrust schools and universities to preserve a common memory of positive change, generated by protests, social movements, and rebellions. The authoritarian right must erase this history, and, along with it, the very practice of critical inquiry that has so often been the engine of future progress. In Erasing History , Yale professor of philosophy Jason Stanley exposes the true danger of the authoritarian right’s attacks on education, identifies their key tactics and funders, and traces their intellectual roots. He illustrates how fears of a fascist future have metastasized, from hypothetical threat to present reality. And with his “urgent, piercing, and altogether brilliant” (Johnathan M. Metzl, author of What We’ve Become ) insight, he illustrates that hearts and minds are won in our schools and universities—places that democratic societies across the world are now ill-prepared to defend against the fascist assault currently underway. Review: Outstanding work 👏 - This is a must reading item. Thank you 😊 Review: Helpful in the fight against book and knowledge access - Read this right after reading his book HOW FASCISM WORKS (which I recommend.) This book is for you if you: - Want to understand why some people are trying to get on school boards in order to control the curriculum. Seriously, like, what’s the big deal? - Realize now as an adult that the history you learned in school was missing a lot of people and/or their voices. Why? How? And why would there be pushback on making sure it was more accurate and thorough now that we know better? - Have heard that the information you hear/see/read is different than that of other people on social media, news/media coverage, books you can access in public libraries. Why don’t we all have the same thing? - Keep hearing people use words like ‘fascism’ and ‘autocracy,’ but don’t really understand what that means. And is it really a thing that could happen here in the US? - Don’t understand why we don’t have national automatic voter registration once we turn 18 or become American citizens. Wouldn’t that save a lot of hassle? - May still think it’s not that big a deal that people who have been convicted of a crime can’t vote anymore. Isn’t it their own fault? - Are doing the work to fight against people, organizations that are trying to limit access to books and a full public education. Want some reference points, examples. It took me about 4.5 or 5 hours to listen to it, and it made so many connections happen in my brain about what’s going on and why as I took my walks, did my chores, and drove around, all in language I could understand. Definitely recommend.
| Best Sellers Rank | #112,426 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #20 in Fascism (Books) #70 in Discrimination & Racism #1,346 in History (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 829 Reviews |
D**S
Outstanding work 👏
This is a must reading item. Thank you 😊
K**.
Helpful in the fight against book and knowledge access
Read this right after reading his book HOW FASCISM WORKS (which I recommend.) This book is for you if you: - Want to understand why some people are trying to get on school boards in order to control the curriculum. Seriously, like, what’s the big deal? - Realize now as an adult that the history you learned in school was missing a lot of people and/or their voices. Why? How? And why would there be pushback on making sure it was more accurate and thorough now that we know better? - Have heard that the information you hear/see/read is different than that of other people on social media, news/media coverage, books you can access in public libraries. Why don’t we all have the same thing? - Keep hearing people use words like ‘fascism’ and ‘autocracy,’ but don’t really understand what that means. And is it really a thing that could happen here in the US? - Don’t understand why we don’t have national automatic voter registration once we turn 18 or become American citizens. Wouldn’t that save a lot of hassle? - May still think it’s not that big a deal that people who have been convicted of a crime can’t vote anymore. Isn’t it their own fault? - Are doing the work to fight against people, organizations that are trying to limit access to books and a full public education. Want some reference points, examples. It took me about 4.5 or 5 hours to listen to it, and it made so many connections happen in my brain about what’s going on and why as I took my walks, did my chores, and drove around, all in language I could understand. Definitely recommend.
S**D
Worth the read.
Excellent book for those wishing to gain a better perspective in our current United States.
B**L
Must read
Wow great book if your not afraid of truth.
J**F
I’ve Seen It Firsthand
I recently completed a four year term on a local school board. The efforts to censor books, demonize diversity, equity, and inclusion, and label anything that questions the mythic narrative of the United States as a nation without any sin were commonplace in the public comments we received at monthly meetings, in the public comments made social media, and in the emails board members received weekly . As I read Professor Stanley’s book, I found so much that was familiar to me. This book performs a great service in calling out the efforts to destroy public education, and to infuse indoctrination of a mythic narrative into whatever might take the place of public education. It’s very hard to come to grips with the notion that fascism is coming to the United States. Professor Stanley’s use of historical and current examples of how fascism attacks education systems to re-write narratives in support of it’s desired myths, helps to shine a spotlight on what is happening in the United States. And even then, it is still difficult to accept that it is really happening.
R**S
I hope every democratic American reads this book.
Every word unfortunately describes our republican overthrow of our Democratic America. Life will be very hard now to restore our Free America, but a lot of hope is held in this book. Our old America is dead and will not ever rise again, but we can make a better, free, and healthier America in the near future. And with a little good sense pick up where our Founding Fathers feared to go any further when it came to separation of church and state. There is much hope, but little time.
A**N
If you are a patriot and want to save our democracy you must read
Well written and easy read. Author respected, and highly credentialed. Logical and well sourced (backed up with evidence). People should be reading to understand how far right wing bias, distortions and agenda have been slowly poisoning peoples minds and destroying our previously shared history. By erasing our shared knowlege of history, empathy is being undermined and values that formed the foundation of our rights (honesty, integrity, equal rights, the value of every person, compassion for others, etc) are being destroyed.
R**T
A must for anyone who needs to form their own view.
I haven't read all of this tome, but I encourage you to pick it up and give it a read. The current bias this book is a beacon of hope and light. You may not agree with all of it; however, it is essential to read documents, books, and listen to those with opposing and alternative views to create a well-informed view of your own. It is eye-opening.
P**E
A book for our time
Stanley has hit the nail on the head with this seminal book. He discusses all the elements of facism and authoritianism and how they threaten our - often taken for granted - freedoms. Read the book. Wake up and fight back!
M**K
The monster is not dead
This book is not as good as How Fascism Works (by the same author), but you will not regret reading it. It offers a valuable refresher on what authoritarianism is and how dangerously close we are to its resurgence at a time when we have been led to believe that it was a thing of the past.
J**D
Doesn’t work
Bought it thinking I could erase history and bring Harambe back to life. Turns out it is just a dumb book. Actually a great read even though Harambe is still dead
O**R
A must for today as the world we know is fast being eroded.
Quick read, alarming topic but something we all need to be concerned about,
S**I
Una sencilla y terrible explicación de la deriva de nuestras llamadas democracias liberales hacia
Me ha gustado mucho la acertada explicación de la progresiva perdida actual de capacidad crítica de nuestras sociedades llamadas democraticas .
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