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THREAD 2020 Best Books on Far-Right, Racism & Anti-Fascism
Given resurgent threat from populist radical right, mainstreaming of far right by conservatives & continued threat of neo-Nazi terrorism, it was a bumper year for books in this area but what do we recommend?
âResearching the Far Right:
Theory, Method and Practiceâ
ed. by @sd_ashe @joel_busher @macklin_gd & @aaronzwinter seems the best place to start as this is essential title providing first serious methods text on researching far right https://www.routledge.com/Researching-the-Far-Right-Theory-Method-and-Practice/Ashe-Busher-Macklin-Winter/p/book/9781138219342
Theory, Method and Practiceâ
ed. by @sd_ashe @joel_busher @macklin_gd & @aaronzwinter seems the best place to start as this is essential title providing first serious methods text on researching far right https://www.routledge.com/Researching-the-Far-Right-Theory-Method-and-Practice/Ashe-Busher-Macklin-Winter/p/book/9781138219342
âFailed FĂŒhrers: A History of Britainâs Extreme Rightâ was a long awaited definitive history of the U.K. extreme right by @macklin_gd which clocked in with 500+ pages & 3000+ footnotes!! https://www.routledge.com/Failed-Fuhrers-A-History-of-Britains-Extreme-Right/Macklin/p/book/9780415627306
âLost Imperium: Far Right Visions of the British Empire, c.1920â1980â by @PaulStocker5 was another superb contribution to study of British fascism looking at extreme right imperialism in their attitudes towards Ireland, India, Palestine, Kenya & Rhodesia https://www.routledge.com/Lost-Imperium-Far-Right-Visions-of-the-British-Empire-c19201980/Stocker/p/book/9780367536923
Similarly @JoeMulhall_ terrific book âBritish Fascism After the Holocaust: From the Birth of Denial to the Notting Hill Riots 1939â1958â supplied new information on postwar U.K. fascism, particularly on British Holocaust denial https://www.routledge.com/British-Fascism-After-the-Holocaust-From-the-Birth-of-Denial-to-the-Notting/Mulhall/p/book/9781138624146
It was also great to see a new edition of @JulieVGottlieb classic text on women & interwar British fascism âFeminine Fascismâ which had been updated and has a new introductory chapter https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/feminine-fascism-9780755627325/
âInternational Alt-Right:
Fascism for the 21st Century?â
By @patrik_h David Lawrence, @JoeMulhall_ & Simon Murdoch is best book published on Alt Right which traces its complex origins & unpacks international links https://www.routledge.com/The-International-Alt-Right-Fascism-for-the-21st-Century/Hermansson-Lawrence-Mulhall-Murdoch/p/book/9781138363861
Fascism for the 21st Century?â
By @patrik_h David Lawrence, @JoeMulhall_ & Simon Murdoch is best book published on Alt Right which traces its complex origins & unpacks international links https://www.routledge.com/The-International-Alt-Right-Fascism-for-the-21st-Century/Hermansson-Lawrence-Mulhall-Murdoch/p/book/9781138363861
âFar-Right Revisionism and the End of History: Alt/Historiesâ ed. by @BurntCitrus was a really valuable edited collection with chapters looking at a broad range of international alt right, new right & white supremacist organisations https://www.routledge.com/Far-Right-Revisionism-and-the-End-of-History-AltHistories/Valencia-Garcia/p/book/9780367460082?gclid=EAIaIQobChMImJ3t7YPH7QIVKYBQBh3tvQRHEAAYASAAEgLZefD_BwE
âGlobal White Nationalism: From apartheid to Trumpâ was an extremely useful edited collection feat. chs. on white supremacy in Australia, transatlantic, Rhodesia & other post colonial settings. Important addition to lit on transnational far right https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526147059
âCulture Warlords My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacyâ by @chick_in_kiev is a superb journalistic account of contemporary far right in US & very smart on the variety of their online presence https://www.hachettebooks.com/titles/talia-lavin/culture-warlords/9780306846434/
âAmerican Zealots: Inside Right-Wing Domestic Terrorismâ by @APerliger was a very good overview of history of right-wing terrorism in the US including analysis of the range of ideological manifestations from militias to neo-Nazis https://cup.columbia.edu/book/american-zealots/9780231167116
âHate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Rightâ by @milleridriss
Only just started this but looks like essential analysis of US extreme right drawing on the authorâs expertise in analysing youth cultures, fashion, sport & online activism https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691203836/hate-in-the-homeland
Only just started this but looks like essential analysis of US extreme right drawing on the authorâs expertise in analysing youth cultures, fashion, sport & online activism https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691203836/hate-in-the-homeland
âOath Keepers: Patriotism and the Edge of Violence in a Right-Wing Antigovernment Groupâ By @sjacks26 is first full-length treatment of this important & influential part of the anti-government/militia scene http://cup.columbia.edu/book/oath-keepers/9780231193450
âRed Pill, Blue Pill: How to Counteract the Conspiracy Theories That Are Killing Usâ by @DavidNeiwert continued his run of essential books on US far right. As well as exposing danger of far-right conspiracism, author offers counter-narratives https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781633886278/Red-Pill-Blue-Pill-How-to-Counteract-the-Conspiracy-Theories-That-Are-Killing-Us
On European far right, CasaPound Italia: Contemporary Extreme-Right Politics By @CaterinaFroio @PietroCastelliG, Giorgia Bulli, Matteo Albanese is essential analysis of this leading Italian fascist social movement & would-be political party https://www.routledge.com/CasaPound-Italia-Contemporary-Extreme-Right-Politics/Froio-Gattinara-Bulli-Albanese/p/book/9780367435493
âReactionary Democracy: How Racism and the Populist Far Right Became Mainstreamâ by @aurelmondon & @aaronzwinter was another extremely valuable intervention which explained liberal complicity in normalisation of radical right in U.K., France & USA https://www.versobooks.com/books/3173-reactionary-democracy
On historic Nazism, @RichardEvans36 lived up to his reputation as arguably Britainâs greatest living chronicler of Nazi Germany with his superb âThe Hitler Conspiracies: The Third Reich and the Paranoid Imaginationâ https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/314/314851/the-hitler-conspiracies/9780241413463.html
Similarly @FXMC1957 strictly chronological approach to the Third Reich still managed to divulge new insights in 2nd volume of his invaluable study âThe Hitler Years, Volume 2: Disaster 1940-1945â https://headofzeus.com/books/9781789542790
Most important addition to historiography of Third Reich was extremely valuable volume by @ars_gravitatis âHitler Redux:
The Incredible History of Hitlerâs So-Called Table Talksâ which provided much-needed forensic analysis of this dubious source https://www.routledge.com/Hitler-Redux-The-Incredible-History-of-Hitlers-So-Called-Table-Talks/Nilsson/p/book/9780367353063
The Incredible History of Hitlerâs So-Called Table Talksâ which provided much-needed forensic analysis of this dubious source https://www.routledge.com/Hitler-Redux-The-Incredible-History-of-Hitlers-So-Called-Table-Talks/Nilsson/p/book/9780367353063
âA Brief History of Fascist Liesâ by @FinchelsteinF was another incredibly useful primer on relationship between fascism & falsehood which had inevitable contemporary parallels in our era of âpost-truthâ âfake newsâ https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520346710/a-brief-history-of-fascist-lies
âFascism: History and Theoryâ by @Livesrunning was a superb updating & rewriting of his previous book on theories of fascism which offered a clear analysis of Marxist theories of Fascism in interwar period https://www.plutobooks.com/9781786806512/fascism/
Great year for publications on anti-fascist history.
âNo Platform: A History of Anti-Fascism, Universities and the Limits of Free Speechâ by @evanishistory was a brilliant contextualisation of debates around No Platform which traced its evolving history https://www.routledge.com/No-Platform-A-History-of-Anti-Fascism-Universities-and-the-Limits-of-Free/Smith/p/book/9781138591684
âNo Platform: A History of Anti-Fascism, Universities and the Limits of Free Speechâ by @evanishistory was a brilliant contextualisation of debates around No Platform which traced its evolving history https://www.routledge.com/No-Platform-A-History-of-Anti-Fascism-Universities-and-the-Limits-of-Free/Smith/p/book/9781138591684
âPhilosophy of Antifascism: Punching Nazis and Fighting White Supremacyâ by @devinzshaw explored the philosophical & theoretical roots of militant anti-fascism drawing upon both existentialist & anti-colonial thought https://www.rowmaninternational.com/features/philosophy-of-antifascism-punching-nazis-and-fighting-white-supremacy
âAnti-Fascism in a Global Perspective: Transnational Networks, Exile Communities, & Radical Internationalismâ
ed. By @kasperbrasken Nigel Copsey, David Featherstone was 1st volume to really dig deep into connections between anti-imperialism & anti-fascism https://www.routledge.com/Anti-Fascism-in-a-Global-Perspective-Transnational-Networks-Exile-Communities/Brasken-Copsey-Featherstone/p/book/9781138352193
ed. By @kasperbrasken Nigel Copsey, David Featherstone was 1st volume to really dig deep into connections between anti-imperialism & anti-fascism https://www.routledge.com/Anti-Fascism-in-a-Global-Perspective-Transnational-Networks-Exile-Communities/Brasken-Copsey-Featherstone/p/book/9781138352193
âAmerican Antifa: The Tactics, Culture, and Practice of Militant Antifascismâ by @professor_stas was extremely valuable account of contemporary anti-fascism in US which drew on social movement theory & critical criminology to debunk stereotypes of Antifa https://www.routledge.com/American-Antifa-The-Tactics-Culture-and-Practice-of-Militant-Antifascism/Vysotsky/p/book/9780367210601
âThe US Antifascism Readerâ
ed. by Bill V. Mullen and Christopher Vials. This was a really useful collection from @VersoBooks of some of the most important work that had been published in US on anti-fascist history. Itâs a really good primer on the topic. https://www.versobooks.com/books/3089-the-us-antifascism-reader
ed. by Bill V. Mullen and Christopher Vials. This was a really useful collection from @VersoBooks of some of the most important work that had been published in US on anti-fascist history. Itâs a really good primer on the topic. https://www.versobooks.com/books/3089-the-us-antifascism-reader
âNo Fascist USA! The John Brown Anti-Klan Committee and Lessons for Today's Movementsâ by Hilary Moore, James Tracy. This is a really interesting historical account, drawing on activists own experience of fighting the Klan in 1970s & 1980s
http://www.citylights.com/book/?GCOI=87286100689170
http://www.citylights.com/book/?GCOI=87286100689170
Some important books on racism & anti-racism published in 2020 starting with âWhy Race Still Mattersâ by @alanalentin This is really smart & incredibly useful short - but steeped in scholarship - study of contemporary (& historical) racism https://politybooks.com/why-race-still-matters/
âIs Free Speech Racist?â By @GavanTitley This short book is a great analysis of the way that arguments around âfree speechâ have been weaponised by the far right & conservatives with a racist agenda https://politybooks.com/bookdetail/
âBordering Britain: Law, race and empireâ By @NadineElEnany This book offers a powerful critique of Britainâs immigration laws showing how colonial structures still operate & influence policy & politics https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526145420
