Erasing History

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.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Dion Graham thoughtfully performs this companion to HOW FASCISM WORKS, unpacking how authoritarians erase history by omission, frame it in terms that suit them, and effectively divide citizens into “us and them.” His warm baritone sets the listener at ease so they can process the many ways our society is being programmed to accept autocracy through such actions as instituting book bans, eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, and cutting funding for education. He passionately delivers a history of colonialism, nationalism, exceptionalism, supremacism, and fascism with examples that parallel what’s going on today and then shares how anti-education, classical education, and revising history dehumanize others. Graham channels hope and encouragement as he expresses the importance of reclaiming history with compassion and closes with a call to action to fight fascism."

A Fascist Plan

Very informative read. Right now, the right-wing political party is trying to erase the history of America they do not like.

Excellent and compelling

Excellent book that explains how America came to be so divisive. Everyone who is worried about the future of democracy in America should read it.

History is needed to inform the present.

Totalitarian governments try to whitewash history so that their side is justified in what they have done or that it
never happened . Understanding the reality of the past allows us to make informed decisions about the future.

Informed my prejudices.

Surprised me that I have unacknowledged prejudices for being a liberal, educated, thoughtful, mature woman. Very timely placement of current US politics in historical context. Important wake-up call for Americans on creeping fascism in our leadership.

Concise, straight forward and on point. Great book.

Well supported arguments, giving great historical and contemporary references. He got every major current event of mass murder done in the name of fighting "white replacement", Glad we're not all sleep because someone said its bad to be woke.