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Proud Boys and the White Ethnostate: How the Alt-Right Is Warping the American Imagination
What is the alt-right? What do they believe, and how did they take center stage in the American social and political consciousness?Historian Alexandra Minna Stern excavates the alt-right memes that have erupted online and digs to the root of the far right’s their deep-seated fear of an oncoming “white genocide” that can only be remedied through aggressive action to reclaim white power. The alt-right has expanded significantly throughout America’s cultural, political, and digital racist, sexist, and homophobic beliefs that were previously unspeakable have become commonplace, normalized, and accepted—endangering American democracy and society as a whole. When asked to address the Proud Boys and growing far right violence, President Trump directed the group to “stand back and stand by;” and just two weeks before President Joe Biden’s inauguration, a white supremacist mob breached the US Capitol—earning praise from the Proud Boys leader amongst threats of future violence. In order to dismantle the destructive movement that has invaded our public consciousness and threatens American democracy, we must first understand the core beliefs that drive the alt-right.Through careful analysis, Stern brings awareness to the underlying concepts that guide the alt-right and its overlapping forms of racism, xenophobia, and transphobia. She explains the key ideas of “red-pilling,” strategic trolling, gender essentialism, and the alt-right’s ultimate a future where minorities have been “cleansed” from the body politic and a white ethnostate is established in the United States. By unearthing the hidden mechanisms that power white nationalism, Stern reveals just how pervasive the far right truly is.
192 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 16, 2019
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2252 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
July 1, 2020
A compelling descriptive overview of the ideology of the dissident right in the United States and some extent in Europe. I might write something more substantive later about the far-right reaction to COVID-19 but suffice to say this book had some information that was new to me. It touches on the major themes of their thought: anti-liberal temporality, racial determinism, gender roles and political strategy. This movement is something different from the stereotypical skinheads and robed figures of the 20th century and should not be underestimated intellectually. Despite this they remain mired in superstition and forms of self-delusion.
The alt-right conception of time is cyclical. This places it in opposition to linear Whiggish narratives that they believe have culminated in the racial dethronement of white men from their former perch. They are generally non-Christian. The spiritual beliefs they have tried to use to fill the void left by Christianity are strange: a mishmash of occultism and bits and pieces taken from "Eastern" ideologies like Hinduism and Islamic Sufism. How ironic that Rene Guenon is an influence on some Western Muslims and some of those who would like to expel them from the West! They are interested in cultural change as a vehicle for eventually attaining political power, a concept known as metapolitics. This strategy of using long-term cultural transformation to effect downstream political change reminds me of the gradualist "civilizational" strategy of the pre-2011 Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, a mass movement that eschewed violence and sought to use cultural change to peacefully (more or less) remove liberalism from society. The ideas of the French-Greek Hindu convert and acolyte of Hitler Savitri Devi is also a major influence.
The Achilles Heel of the alt-right appears to be their views on the position of women. Few women are interested in sacrificing the unprecedented freedoms offered by liberalism in order to become "tradwives" consigned to supporting roles at best for men. Concepts of flexible gender and sexuality are also a dire threat to their political project, which may partly explain why they are an area of intense focus for the modern left. Much of their energy seems to be spent on trying to reclaim and promote lost notions of masculinity. The efforts seem strained and not particularly compelling. One has to sincerely live values of austerity, sacrifice and growth before promoting them to others.
Most of the research for this book seems to have been done by consuming alt-right content online, although there is a small, novel surprise at the end. A book that takes the study of this subject to the next level should have direct access to the protagonists, including interviews and profiles. This is an excellent overview however. It is straightforwardly analytical rather than a polemic. The author succeeds in covering the subject dispassionately, without inadvertently acclaiming it.
The alt-right conception of time is cyclical. This places it in opposition to linear Whiggish narratives that they believe have culminated in the racial dethronement of white men from their former perch. They are generally non-Christian. The spiritual beliefs they have tried to use to fill the void left by Christianity are strange: a mishmash of occultism and bits and pieces taken from "Eastern" ideologies like Hinduism and Islamic Sufism. How ironic that Rene Guenon is an influence on some Western Muslims and some of those who would like to expel them from the West! They are interested in cultural change as a vehicle for eventually attaining political power, a concept known as metapolitics. This strategy of using long-term cultural transformation to effect downstream political change reminds me of the gradualist "civilizational" strategy of the pre-2011 Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, a mass movement that eschewed violence and sought to use cultural change to peacefully (more or less) remove liberalism from society. The ideas of the French-Greek Hindu convert and acolyte of Hitler Savitri Devi is also a major influence.
The Achilles Heel of the alt-right appears to be their views on the position of women. Few women are interested in sacrificing the unprecedented freedoms offered by liberalism in order to become "tradwives" consigned to supporting roles at best for men. Concepts of flexible gender and sexuality are also a dire threat to their political project, which may partly explain why they are an area of intense focus for the modern left. Much of their energy seems to be spent on trying to reclaim and promote lost notions of masculinity. The efforts seem strained and not particularly compelling. One has to sincerely live values of austerity, sacrifice and growth before promoting them to others.
Most of the research for this book seems to have been done by consuming alt-right content online, although there is a small, novel surprise at the end. A book that takes the study of this subject to the next level should have direct access to the protagonists, including interviews and profiles. This is an excellent overview however. It is straightforwardly analytical rather than a polemic. The author succeeds in covering the subject dispassionately, without inadvertently acclaiming it.
June 14, 2020
Well-written, clear, and informative, this is a good book and a fine introduction to the subject for those who have not been following the news, but there's nothing especially new or deep here and I can't give it more than three stars.
Stern organizes her material well, she is scrupulous about citing, and she's clearly thought a lot about everything she discusses, so why is this so unexceptional, so like almost everything else I've read about white nationalism and the alt right online and in print? Only at the very end of the book does she venture deeper, asking some real questions and making connections between racism, xenophobia, gender identity, and fascism. I wasn't expecting Klaus Theweleit, but come on-some of this is so obvious. Why not discuss it in more depth?
If Stern decides to write a deeper book, one examining the questions and issues she raises in her final chapter, I'll definitely read it, but this is beginner stuff-not bad for what it is but not likely to get us any farther than we already are.
Stern organizes her material well, she is scrupulous about citing, and she's clearly thought a lot about everything she discusses, so why is this so unexceptional, so like almost everything else I've read about white nationalism and the alt right online and in print? Only at the very end of the book does she venture deeper, asking some real questions and making connections between racism, xenophobia, gender identity, and fascism. I wasn't expecting Klaus Theweleit, but come on-some of this is so obvious. Why not discuss it in more depth?
If Stern decides to write a deeper book, one examining the questions and issues she raises in her final chapter, I'll definitely read it, but this is beginner stuff-not bad for what it is but not likely to get us any farther than we already are.
May 14, 2021
I already knew a lot about online white supremacist communities before starting this, but I quickly discovered that I still had a lot to learn. I am now more able to identify coded language and draw connections between white supremacy and specific religious beliefs, policy positions, and gender politics. It was interesting to learn about the origin of the term "Alt-Right" because I don't think enough people acknowledge how and why white supremacists felt the need to popularize a new term. I am also watching HBO's Q-Anon documentary. Although this book doesn't focus just on online communities, it is an excellent preface to the Q-Anon movement. The subject matter is heavy, but the information was presented in an accessible way.
December 21, 2022
The Publisher Says: A critical analysis of the intellectual productions of the alt-right—necessary reading for all who seek to counter its appeal and expansion.
The "alt-right" has sadly become a household term. From a loose movement that lurked in the shadows in the early 2000s, it has achieved a level of visibility that has allowed it to expand significantly through America's cultural, political, and digital landscapes. But the alt-right is also mercurial and shape-shifting, encompassing a range of believers and ideas that overlap with white nationalism, white supremacy, and neo-Nazism. It provides a big and porous tent to those who subscribe to varying forms of race and gender-based exclusion.
In Proud Boys and the White Ethno-State, historian Alexandra Stern begins with the premise that alt-right literature, most of which exists online, should be taken seriously as a form of intellectual production that has distinct lineages, assumptions, and objectives. Applying the tools of historical analysis, cultural studies, and other interdisciplinary approaches, she explores its conceptual frameworks, language, and narratives. In doing so, she is able to probe the deeper meanings and underlying constructs, concepts, and frameworks that guide the alt-right and animate its overlapping forms of racism, xenophobia, sexism, and other social hostilities.
Like George Lakoff's Don't Think of an Elephant, Proud Boys and the White Ethno-State is a key tool for combating today's white supremacist ideologies.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: What?! A four-star Burgoine review?! That...that's not what you do, Sirrah.
Let's say I've learned my lesson. Political stuff is very much not what most people I know want to read. Y'all should read it because...never mind. No one's going to eat their spinach because I said to.
What I *will* say to the two or three whose noses are as yet unwrinkled and eyes still open is that the author delves deep into the cesspit of this reprehensible "ideology"'s apologetics. She does so without coming across as minatory or dismissive, as I do. She clearly shows what the "reasoning" is behind this claptrap and, being an academic, points out where it's deficient in its grasp.
What makes that so very valuable is that we, the unconvinced but still engaged, don't have to experience the awfulness of a people trying to talk themselves into believing they are Superior. I can barely type that sentence without wanting to laugh while barfing.
Anyway. The point of me reviewing it is to say you definitely would learn a LOT about the January 6th events if you read this; you would understand a lot more clearly why the movement is moving peristaltically through the Body Politic of the US; and your grasp of what is at stake in 2024 will impel you to action in place of apathy.
Learn what you don't know that you don't know. Through 12/31, it's 30% off at Beacon's website! Use code SPARKJOY30.
The "alt-right" has sadly become a household term. From a loose movement that lurked in the shadows in the early 2000s, it has achieved a level of visibility that has allowed it to expand significantly through America's cultural, political, and digital landscapes. But the alt-right is also mercurial and shape-shifting, encompassing a range of believers and ideas that overlap with white nationalism, white supremacy, and neo-Nazism. It provides a big and porous tent to those who subscribe to varying forms of race and gender-based exclusion.
In Proud Boys and the White Ethno-State, historian Alexandra Stern begins with the premise that alt-right literature, most of which exists online, should be taken seriously as a form of intellectual production that has distinct lineages, assumptions, and objectives. Applying the tools of historical analysis, cultural studies, and other interdisciplinary approaches, she explores its conceptual frameworks, language, and narratives. In doing so, she is able to probe the deeper meanings and underlying constructs, concepts, and frameworks that guide the alt-right and animate its overlapping forms of racism, xenophobia, sexism, and other social hostilities.
Like George Lakoff's Don't Think of an Elephant, Proud Boys and the White Ethno-State is a key tool for combating today's white supremacist ideologies.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: What?! A four-star Burgoine review?! That...that's not what you do, Sirrah.
Let's say I've learned my lesson. Political stuff is very much not what most people I know want to read. Y'all should read it because...never mind. No one's going to eat their spinach because I said to.
What I *will* say to the two or three whose noses are as yet unwrinkled and eyes still open is that the author delves deep into the cesspit of this reprehensible "ideology"'s apologetics. She does so without coming across as minatory or dismissive, as I do. She clearly shows what the "reasoning" is behind this claptrap and, being an academic, points out where it's deficient in its grasp.
What makes that so very valuable is that we, the unconvinced but still engaged, don't have to experience the awfulness of a people trying to talk themselves into believing they are Superior. I can barely type that sentence without wanting to laugh while barfing.
Anyway. The point of me reviewing it is to say you definitely would learn a LOT about the January 6th events if you read this; you would understand a lot more clearly why the movement is moving peristaltically through the Body Politic of the US; and your grasp of what is at stake in 2024 will impel you to action in place of apathy.
Learn what you don't know that you don't know. Through 12/31, it's 30% off at Beacon's website! Use code SPARKJOY30.
Want to read
June 19, 2019At this point I can only make a comment. Here it is.
When I came across this book on Eidelweiss today I thought it looked relevant to our politics in 2019 and downloaded it. Adding it to my to-be-read queue, I see only a single one-star review. Comparing my books with the reviewer's books, I get the feeling I'll probably like it a lot, since my tastes are diametrically opposed to theirs when it comes to political books.
When I came across this book on Eidelweiss today I thought it looked relevant to our politics in 2019 and downloaded it. Adding it to my to-be-read queue, I see only a single one-star review. Comparing my books with the reviewer's books, I get the feeling I'll probably like it a lot, since my tastes are diametrically opposed to theirs when it comes to political books.
January 21, 2021
3.5 stars
After the Capitol Riot (or Coup, or whatever we end up calling it) on January 6th, 2021 I knew I had to read more about the alt-right. I knew bits and pieces about the movement but didn't have grasp of their ideology beyond anti-woman, pro-whiteness.
Stern deconstructs the ideas of the alt-right, looks back at the white nationalist movements that begot the movement, and examines how it endangers society and democracy going forward. Each chapter covers a different topic such as gathering followers via "red pilling", the alt-right's complicated relationship with time, what a white ethnostate would look like, and the role women play in a stanchly anti-feminist movement. The text tends academic with a raft of endnotes but is clear and engaging throughout.
If you're looking for an introduction to the alt-light and alt-right this book is a great place to start. Stern concentrates on the ideas more than the people, making much of the information (sadly) relevant to current events. It's a solid foundation that will serve me well as I go on to read more.
After the Capitol Riot (or Coup, or whatever we end up calling it) on January 6th, 2021 I knew I had to read more about the alt-right. I knew bits and pieces about the movement but didn't have grasp of their ideology beyond anti-woman, pro-whiteness.
Stern deconstructs the ideas of the alt-right, looks back at the white nationalist movements that begot the movement, and examines how it endangers society and democracy going forward. Each chapter covers a different topic such as gathering followers via "red pilling", the alt-right's complicated relationship with time, what a white ethnostate would look like, and the role women play in a stanchly anti-feminist movement. The text tends academic with a raft of endnotes but is clear and engaging throughout.
If you're looking for an introduction to the alt-light and alt-right this book is a great place to start. Stern concentrates on the ideas more than the people, making much of the information (sadly) relevant to current events. It's a solid foundation that will serve me well as I go on to read more.
January 28, 2021
The right wing extremists groups like the Proud Boys have been in the news in the last few years, coming to prominence with the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol. As the author explains, these groups look for philosophical justifications for their beliefs which are essentially a modernized version of centuries old racism and white supremacy; fear of whites becoming a minority group by 2050 is what drives their actions. Their solutions: eliminating non white immigration, creating ethno-states, regrouping blacks and browns in separate states to ensure that main states are 90% white, individuals having at least three white grand-parents. Women are limited to a role of useful partners essential to the reproduction of the white race. This is a modern fascist organization which is becoming more mainstream, they are the raw version of extreme right wing political organizations. An estimate of 11 millions members and supporters is suggested by some researchers ; how will the US society deal with them? Will they become integrated within political organizations or will they be excluded as the political discourse has become more brutal and partisan in the last twenty years.?
March 30, 2021
A bit dry, but it is academic. It provides a lot of detail on a whole lot of people and groups I had never heard of. Be prepared.
September 3, 2020
A perfect example of the kind of book I wish more academics should write. It's short, well-written and makes it's points succinctly and without fuss, she wears her academic training lightly but uses her research and synthesis skills efficiently like a lawyer and offers up a really good portrait of the world of the Alt-Right. I've read David Neiwerts book Alt America and Angela Nagles Kill All Normies book as well as the excellent book on Bannon by Joshua Green Devils Bargain so was familiar with some of the terrain but the author provides the history of the intellectual framework of the Alt-Right in a way I'd not heard before. She explains where all this stuff has come from, why Steve Bannon is always banging on about Julius Evola and shows how the white nationalists, Alt-Righters and wannabe Fascists see themselves and how they understand their movement. It was alarming to discover that most of the names that are important in the movement are unknown to the general public and how they diespise people like D Duke and R Spencer for bringing them into disrepute.
I was really impressed how even handed and neutral the tome of the book was and it's all the more powerful for it, I would like to reread it. A sign of a good book is shen you have to keep noting down the names of other works and authors cited for further investigation.
A timely and worrying. The depths of hostility or indifference to liberal democracy and it's norms and institutions that has been exposed by the the election, and continued popularity of, Trump among the general public is truly alarming, it's the most depressing thing about his rise.
My only quibble would be the categorising of skepticism of the extremes of gender activism being ascibed to a right-wing ideological POV. The bizarre historical moment we are living through in which natalwomen are being booted off lesbian dating apps for refusing to engage with "lesbian" guys with beards is ludicrous and and has nothing to do with right wing ideology and a lot more to do with simple common sense and biological reality.
I was really impressed how even handed and neutral the tome of the book was and it's all the more powerful for it, I would like to reread it. A sign of a good book is shen you have to keep noting down the names of other works and authors cited for further investigation.
A timely and worrying. The depths of hostility or indifference to liberal democracy and it's norms and institutions that has been exposed by the the election, and continued popularity of, Trump among the general public is truly alarming, it's the most depressing thing about his rise.
My only quibble would be the categorising of skepticism of the extremes of gender activism being ascibed to a right-wing ideological POV. The bizarre historical moment we are living through in which natalwomen are being booted off lesbian dating apps for refusing to engage with "lesbian" guys with beards is ludicrous and and has nothing to do with right wing ideology and a lot more to do with simple common sense and biological reality.
October 6, 2019
This is the higher-level, academic treatment of the Alt Right I’ve been waiting for. Brand new and timely, it is well researched and very well written. There isn’t as much of a conversation about confronting these louts, but with the level of analysis and writing style it still deserves five stars.
The long and short of it is that while the majority of Alt Righters aren’t Nazis, they derive their ideas from fascism and just work to package it better. In short it’s all about race, anti-Semitism, women in the kitchen, white genocide and babies, and ethnostates. Unlike other books that predict that the Alt Right will decline, this one isn’t that positive and feels that there are enough youth eating up this garbage that these ideas will be with us for a long time to come.
One final comment: this book should have not been called Proud Boys. There’s not much on them and the amount there is you realize they aren’t so much racist as just people who embrace settler culture for the European diaspora. Although that’s not great and rather racist to a degree, it’s a far cry from more mainstream Alt Right folks calling for either the coercive deportation of every non-white in North America or their outright extermination. Proud Boys aren’t at that level yet.
The long and short of it is that while the majority of Alt Righters aren’t Nazis, they derive their ideas from fascism and just work to package it better. In short it’s all about race, anti-Semitism, women in the kitchen, white genocide and babies, and ethnostates. Unlike other books that predict that the Alt Right will decline, this one isn’t that positive and feels that there are enough youth eating up this garbage that these ideas will be with us for a long time to come.
One final comment: this book should have not been called Proud Boys. There’s not much on them and the amount there is you realize they aren’t so much racist as just people who embrace settler culture for the European diaspora. Although that’s not great and rather racist to a degree, it’s a far cry from more mainstream Alt Right folks calling for either the coercive deportation of every non-white in North America or their outright extermination. Proud Boys aren’t at that level yet.
December 17, 2020
This is by far the best book on the alt-right that I know. Rather than give you a blow-by-blow account of all the shocking statements and violent rallies, Stern organizes the major ideas and themes—white supremacy points repackaged in creative and vibrant ways. Stern has dug through internet posts, the shady publishing houses, the “comments sections” of articles, and other obscure. Stern maps the diversity of opinion, the different intellectual camps, and the cross-pollination from traditionally left-wing sources and issues (critical theory, environmentalism, etc.) Alt-right theory is like the “Legion of Doom” version of the academic left, complete with its hermeneutic strategies, theories of origins, and utopian schemes. The chapter on the conception of time is mind-blowing: the alt-right engages in what some call “archeo-futurism” (cf. Afro-futurism), repurposing archaic conceptions of gender and race. All of this is communicated in ways that are compelling to alienated white people.
September 11, 2019
holy shit
March 11, 2021
This is an informative but it is rather one sided book, selective in examples and sometimes misleading. While there is no denying that the alt right is filled with disgusting ideology Stern often lumps different people together that really don't belong together. A good example of this is Jordan Peterson who has criticized the alt right for flirting with Nazism. And his stand on different issues touched upon in this book is often way more nuanced than presented here.
Still the book has a lot of great info and it is well written.
One rather shocking mistake in the book is when Stern says that Neo/Anderson had to chose between red and blue pill at the end of The Matrix.
Page 16: "Toward the end of the movie, Morpheus holds out his hand and offers Neo, the (anti)her, the choice between the red pill and the blue pill..."
This happens early in the film not at the end. If Stern gets something so simple wrong, is the rest of the book just as badly researched and edited?
Still the book has a lot of great info and it is well written.
One rather shocking mistake in the book is when Stern says that Neo/Anderson had to chose between red and blue pill at the end of The Matrix.
Page 16: "Toward the end of the movie, Morpheus holds out his hand and offers Neo, the (anti)her, the choice between the red pill and the blue pill..."
This happens early in the film not at the end. If Stern gets something so simple wrong, is the rest of the book just as badly researched and edited?
October 8, 2021
This is a fascinating book about a deeply disturbing topic. As I read, far too often I thought, "oh, I've heard THAT before." For folks who think that white nationalism is something gone in the 50s with the old Klan, this book is a rude awakening. There's so much to this story, particularly in the past five or so years, that is frightening and relevant.
It's hard to summarize a book like this. The methodology is both innovative and intriguing as the author dived into internet communities of alt-right and white nationalist groups. The author examined the wording, terminology, perspectives, and arguments of these groups. The reader gets the notion from the start that this book could be much, much longer considering the depth of anger and hatred that eminates from the forums of these organizations.
As for the value of the book, I am not certain I would recommend it for any specific courses. Perhaps sociology courses on race might benefit from a book like this, although even that would be a bit too specific. I would recommend it for folks who want to understand their friends and family members who seem to start saying "uncharacteristic" racist things. If you have people in your life who seem to have only started talking about white pride, white purity, or harping on diversity initiatives in the past half decade, this book will help explain why.
In that regard, I don't necessarily recommend it for all readers.
It's hard to summarize a book like this. The methodology is both innovative and intriguing as the author dived into internet communities of alt-right and white nationalist groups. The author examined the wording, terminology, perspectives, and arguments of these groups. The reader gets the notion from the start that this book could be much, much longer considering the depth of anger and hatred that eminates from the forums of these organizations.
As for the value of the book, I am not certain I would recommend it for any specific courses. Perhaps sociology courses on race might benefit from a book like this, although even that would be a bit too specific. I would recommend it for folks who want to understand their friends and family members who seem to start saying "uncharacteristic" racist things. If you have people in your life who seem to have only started talking about white pride, white purity, or harping on diversity initiatives in the past half decade, this book will help explain why.
In that regard, I don't necessarily recommend it for all readers.
February 17, 2021
Stern provides a vivid snapshot of the current state of the alt-right in the United States - which is shocking and vile to its core. I was hoping for a more advanced conclusion that would address how to stop the flow of young minds into the alt-right camp in the first place, rather than the more obvious one given of (of course) fighting the alt-right at every turn.
February 20, 2024
A political philosophy book that successfully unpacks the ideology behind the modern alt-right and its intellectual forebears, the book is dense but worthwhile if you are interested in seriously researching the modern American far right-wing. I learned a lot even if I didn’t understand all of it lol
September 21, 2019
I wanted this to be longer. Stern does a great job of being almost purely informational when dissecting and explaining the actions, history and rhetoric of the Alt Right. As in depth as it is, sadly the story is not over yet and Stern May have to update this every few years.
July 10, 2021
Very descriptive and full of sources, but I would have liked a little more strategy around refutation to go with the academic analysis.
May 20, 2024
AN EXAMINATION OF THE IDEAS PROPOUNDED BY THE PROUD BOYS, AND OTHERS
Author Alexandra Minna Stern wrote in the Introduction to this 2019 book, “Like many Americans, I was disconcerted by the alt-right’s breakthrough into politics, media, and culture… I recognized its catchphrases, such as ‘white genocide,’ and its recycling of stereotypes about people of color, crime rates, and IQ scores… Was the alt-right simply old wine in new bottles…Was it something novel, with the potential to reshape politics and discourse, abetted by a sympathetic Republican presidential administration, an upsurge in national populism, and a context of shimmering ‘white rage’?... To answer these questions, I began to spend hours and hours online… In order to mine the intellectual bedrock of the alt-right, I set out to read and analyze its quasischolarly work …I knew that … I also needed to get under … the alt-right memes and tropes that had erupted online…. This unwieldy collection of sources---most born digital--- constitutes the archive for this book.” (Pg. 3-4)
She continues, “My aim… is to deconstruct the prevailing set of alt-right ideas, to trace their genealogies, flesh out their meanings, and explore how they endanger equality, diversity, and inclusion in twenty-first century America… This book seeks to expose the underlying logic and implications of white nationalism and its master plan of a racially exclusive patriarchal world… I also explore how these ideas are … spun, as they travel… around the digital playground of the internet, enabling the alt-right to mimic and appropriate mainstream popular culture to white nationalist ends." (Pg. 8-9)
She observes, “Since Charlottesville, the alt-right’s internet presence has been tested… the Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube accounts of Jared Taylor… Richard Spencer, Vox Day, Millennial Woes… have been temporarily or permanently suspended… Facebook uploads have been removed, reported, and/or flagged as offensive. Most notably, [Alex Jones’] InfoWars was deplatformed, with blanket removals of video content on YouTube, and absented from Facebook and Spotify… Many on the alt-right are reduced to asking for handwritten checks sent to PO boxes or a growing roster of cryptocurrencies. Yet this wave of deplatforming has been inconsistent, and for the purposes of shutting down the alt-right, too little too late… As long as they can maintain online footholds, the alt-right will continue to propound its metapolitical messages, hoping to … transform American society from outside in.” (Pg. 31-32)
She notes, “Time… is of the essence for alt-righters. Fueling their anxiousness …. Is the ticking of the demographic clock… the rapidly approaching mid-twenty-first-century, when, according to the narrowest interpretation of US Census projections, America will become an ethnoracial plurality… In [one] study… 2031 is pinpointed as the dreaded Rubicon when whites will lose their hold on America as a political majority.” (Pg. 34-35)
She states, “Trump’s ‘MAGA’ slogan---‘Make America Great Again’---thus holds particular resonance for the alt-right. ‘Again’ summons and invents the memory of an idealized past and encourages nostalgia for an earlier era in America, certainly before 1965, or before the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, or better yet as far back as the 1790 Naturalization Act, when only ‘free white persons’ of ‘good character’ qualified for citizenship… repeating this mantra worked to Trump’s favor in unleashing populism into a reactionary, angry emotion, wrapped up in calls for the restoration of whiteness and manhood.” (Pg. 46)
She explains, “the future homelands of the alt-right… are homogeneous territories with vigilant borders and populations that never dip below 90 percent white. They are reincarnations of America’s apartheid past and waking dreams of purity, community, and belonging. No star burns brighter for white nationalists then the ethnostate… [It] is the hallowed destination that beckons on the horizon… it also is a bellwether of the alt-right’s treacherous effacement of the line between civic nationalism and racial nationalism. The ethnostate is a wedge idea that alt-righters hope to make thinkable and plausible. The ethnostate’s foremost mission is to protect and fortify whiteness…” (Pg. 51)
She clarifies, “core criteria for inclusion are 1) having at least three white grandparents and no black grandparents; 2) not having a black spouse… Only people who meet these requirements … can proceed through the portal and claim full citizenship… this group will constitute the vetted 90 percent of verified whites. This does leave wiggle room for ethnostaters with, for example, an Asian or Larina/o grandparent… The remaining 10 percent will be judged on a case-by-case basis, and only the ‘pick of the non-white litter’ will pass through the door. The non-white spouses of white ethnostaters would be required to undergo such scrutiny. In many cases, these superlative outliers would bring skills, knowledge, and wealth to the white ethnostate… But the individuals in this group, by virtue of sanding outside the perimeter of whiteness, would only qualify for partial or minimal citizenship, meaning they could not hold leadership positions or bear firearms, and would pay higher taxes.” (Pg. 67)
She recounts, “The Proud Boys bemoan that men are falling behind, becoming depressed and marginalized, and have nostalgia for a time when ‘girls were girls and men were men.’ The main culprits of this desolation are feminism and leftism, which, according to the Proud Boys, spur women to assume ill-fitting male roles based on the specious logic of gender equity. The cure for this malaise is the full restitution of the male/female ‘biological binary.’ To fulfill their half to the binary, Proud Boys man up through bonding rituals—hanging out and drinking beer---and undergoing a three-phase initiation… The Proud Boys is a staunchly antifeminist group… it is also unabashedly pro-Western. Its members describe themselves as ‘Western chauvinists’ who ‘refuse to apologize for creating the modern world.’… The Proud Boys walk a fine line---professing to be anti-SJW (social justice warrior) ‘without being alt-right.’ As one Proud Boy put it, ‘We’re like the alt-right without the racism.’” (Pg. 71-72)
She adds, “Hypermasculinity is idealized by the alt-right, and its popularity can help to explain the alt-right’s equivocal relationship to homosexuality, which, being male-centric, focuses almost entirely on gay men, not on lesbians. Some alt-righters countenance if not celebrate make homosexuality as the pinnacle of the twenty-first century Männerbund… This glorification of male bonding… provides clues to why, in some formulations, bay people would be admitted to the white ethnostate, although without the option of same-sex marriage, since unions in the homogeneous homeland exist for the purposes of creation. Yet many other alt-righters wear unchecked homophobia on their sleeves, as witnessed by gazillions of bytes of rampant online gay-bashing.” (Pg. 85)
She observes, “There is no denying that the frenzy of snarky re-tweeting and meme-ing dished out by alt-righters and fellow travelers in 2015 and 2016 helped pave the way for Trump’s ascension to the White House… Because the alt-right is marginal and ‘stalks the great taboos,’ it sticks principally to the internet, where anonymity and plausible deniability are built-in features.” (Pg. 95)
She points out, “Yet some of the most high-profile men in the alt-right are dismayed by the manosphere’s hostility, worried that it has become rife with young men who have been … turned into angry nihilists who might become homicidal or suicidal incels… There is a realpolitik subset of alt-right men who realize that if white nationalism wants to sustain a viable patriarchy, and build up their people, they need to change their tune about women and turn the tide of the ‘Great Replacement,’ there will be no White Republic, ethnostate, or supermajority.” (Pg. 97) She adds, “One response to looming ‘white extinction anxiety’ is to produce white babies---many more white babies---principally of Northern and Western European ancestry… This tamed path of husband and father is far afield from the erotic conquests and hook-ups prioritized in the manosphere.” (Pg. 99)
She notes, “Today the alt-right is a movement with one foot planted in recalcitrant white supremacy and neo-Nazism, and the other foot walking in step with ethnonationalism, identitarianism, and ‘white identity politics.’ Although the former is far from defunct… many of the new disciples of white nationalism consider it a relic… Gone are the days in insular organizations … holed up in compounds in remote regions of the West with big caches of guns and ammunition, waiting for raids or rapture… The alt-right is more international, suited-up, and image conscious than its predecessors. It strives to fine-tune its… techniques for winning over ‘normies’ and infiltrating mainstream institutions.” (Pg. 113)
She summarizes, “If the alt-right is consistently anything, it is a white fraternity in which men perform for other men, and the expectation is that women will stay on the margins, serve as helpmates, or, if they are vocal, remain on script online endorsing traditionalism and patriarchal arrangements.” (Pg. 115) She concludes, “My hope is that by dismantling and disassembling alt-right ideas, and scrutinizing their flawed logics and bigoted assumptions, we will be better able to defuse and short-circuit them.” (Pg. 130)
This book will be of keen interest to those studying the Proud Boys, and other far/Alt-Right organizations.
Author Alexandra Minna Stern wrote in the Introduction to this 2019 book, “Like many Americans, I was disconcerted by the alt-right’s breakthrough into politics, media, and culture… I recognized its catchphrases, such as ‘white genocide,’ and its recycling of stereotypes about people of color, crime rates, and IQ scores… Was the alt-right simply old wine in new bottles…Was it something novel, with the potential to reshape politics and discourse, abetted by a sympathetic Republican presidential administration, an upsurge in national populism, and a context of shimmering ‘white rage’?... To answer these questions, I began to spend hours and hours online… In order to mine the intellectual bedrock of the alt-right, I set out to read and analyze its quasischolarly work …I knew that … I also needed to get under … the alt-right memes and tropes that had erupted online…. This unwieldy collection of sources---most born digital--- constitutes the archive for this book.” (Pg. 3-4)
She continues, “My aim… is to deconstruct the prevailing set of alt-right ideas, to trace their genealogies, flesh out their meanings, and explore how they endanger equality, diversity, and inclusion in twenty-first century America… This book seeks to expose the underlying logic and implications of white nationalism and its master plan of a racially exclusive patriarchal world… I also explore how these ideas are … spun, as they travel… around the digital playground of the internet, enabling the alt-right to mimic and appropriate mainstream popular culture to white nationalist ends." (Pg. 8-9)
She observes, “Since Charlottesville, the alt-right’s internet presence has been tested… the Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube accounts of Jared Taylor… Richard Spencer, Vox Day, Millennial Woes… have been temporarily or permanently suspended… Facebook uploads have been removed, reported, and/or flagged as offensive. Most notably, [Alex Jones’] InfoWars was deplatformed, with blanket removals of video content on YouTube, and absented from Facebook and Spotify… Many on the alt-right are reduced to asking for handwritten checks sent to PO boxes or a growing roster of cryptocurrencies. Yet this wave of deplatforming has been inconsistent, and for the purposes of shutting down the alt-right, too little too late… As long as they can maintain online footholds, the alt-right will continue to propound its metapolitical messages, hoping to … transform American society from outside in.” (Pg. 31-32)
She notes, “Time… is of the essence for alt-righters. Fueling their anxiousness …. Is the ticking of the demographic clock… the rapidly approaching mid-twenty-first-century, when, according to the narrowest interpretation of US Census projections, America will become an ethnoracial plurality… In [one] study… 2031 is pinpointed as the dreaded Rubicon when whites will lose their hold on America as a political majority.” (Pg. 34-35)
She states, “Trump’s ‘MAGA’ slogan---‘Make America Great Again’---thus holds particular resonance for the alt-right. ‘Again’ summons and invents the memory of an idealized past and encourages nostalgia for an earlier era in America, certainly before 1965, or before the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, or better yet as far back as the 1790 Naturalization Act, when only ‘free white persons’ of ‘good character’ qualified for citizenship… repeating this mantra worked to Trump’s favor in unleashing populism into a reactionary, angry emotion, wrapped up in calls for the restoration of whiteness and manhood.” (Pg. 46)
She explains, “the future homelands of the alt-right… are homogeneous territories with vigilant borders and populations that never dip below 90 percent white. They are reincarnations of America’s apartheid past and waking dreams of purity, community, and belonging. No star burns brighter for white nationalists then the ethnostate… [It] is the hallowed destination that beckons on the horizon… it also is a bellwether of the alt-right’s treacherous effacement of the line between civic nationalism and racial nationalism. The ethnostate is a wedge idea that alt-righters hope to make thinkable and plausible. The ethnostate’s foremost mission is to protect and fortify whiteness…” (Pg. 51)
She clarifies, “core criteria for inclusion are 1) having at least three white grandparents and no black grandparents; 2) not having a black spouse… Only people who meet these requirements … can proceed through the portal and claim full citizenship… this group will constitute the vetted 90 percent of verified whites. This does leave wiggle room for ethnostaters with, for example, an Asian or Larina/o grandparent… The remaining 10 percent will be judged on a case-by-case basis, and only the ‘pick of the non-white litter’ will pass through the door. The non-white spouses of white ethnostaters would be required to undergo such scrutiny. In many cases, these superlative outliers would bring skills, knowledge, and wealth to the white ethnostate… But the individuals in this group, by virtue of sanding outside the perimeter of whiteness, would only qualify for partial or minimal citizenship, meaning they could not hold leadership positions or bear firearms, and would pay higher taxes.” (Pg. 67)
She recounts, “The Proud Boys bemoan that men are falling behind, becoming depressed and marginalized, and have nostalgia for a time when ‘girls were girls and men were men.’ The main culprits of this desolation are feminism and leftism, which, according to the Proud Boys, spur women to assume ill-fitting male roles based on the specious logic of gender equity. The cure for this malaise is the full restitution of the male/female ‘biological binary.’ To fulfill their half to the binary, Proud Boys man up through bonding rituals—hanging out and drinking beer---and undergoing a three-phase initiation… The Proud Boys is a staunchly antifeminist group… it is also unabashedly pro-Western. Its members describe themselves as ‘Western chauvinists’ who ‘refuse to apologize for creating the modern world.’… The Proud Boys walk a fine line---professing to be anti-SJW (social justice warrior) ‘without being alt-right.’ As one Proud Boy put it, ‘We’re like the alt-right without the racism.’” (Pg. 71-72)
She adds, “Hypermasculinity is idealized by the alt-right, and its popularity can help to explain the alt-right’s equivocal relationship to homosexuality, which, being male-centric, focuses almost entirely on gay men, not on lesbians. Some alt-righters countenance if not celebrate make homosexuality as the pinnacle of the twenty-first century Männerbund… This glorification of male bonding… provides clues to why, in some formulations, bay people would be admitted to the white ethnostate, although without the option of same-sex marriage, since unions in the homogeneous homeland exist for the purposes of creation. Yet many other alt-righters wear unchecked homophobia on their sleeves, as witnessed by gazillions of bytes of rampant online gay-bashing.” (Pg. 85)
She observes, “There is no denying that the frenzy of snarky re-tweeting and meme-ing dished out by alt-righters and fellow travelers in 2015 and 2016 helped pave the way for Trump’s ascension to the White House… Because the alt-right is marginal and ‘stalks the great taboos,’ it sticks principally to the internet, where anonymity and plausible deniability are built-in features.” (Pg. 95)
She points out, “Yet some of the most high-profile men in the alt-right are dismayed by the manosphere’s hostility, worried that it has become rife with young men who have been … turned into angry nihilists who might become homicidal or suicidal incels… There is a realpolitik subset of alt-right men who realize that if white nationalism wants to sustain a viable patriarchy, and build up their people, they need to change their tune about women and turn the tide of the ‘Great Replacement,’ there will be no White Republic, ethnostate, or supermajority.” (Pg. 97) She adds, “One response to looming ‘white extinction anxiety’ is to produce white babies---many more white babies---principally of Northern and Western European ancestry… This tamed path of husband and father is far afield from the erotic conquests and hook-ups prioritized in the manosphere.” (Pg. 99)
She notes, “Today the alt-right is a movement with one foot planted in recalcitrant white supremacy and neo-Nazism, and the other foot walking in step with ethnonationalism, identitarianism, and ‘white identity politics.’ Although the former is far from defunct… many of the new disciples of white nationalism consider it a relic… Gone are the days in insular organizations … holed up in compounds in remote regions of the West with big caches of guns and ammunition, waiting for raids or rapture… The alt-right is more international, suited-up, and image conscious than its predecessors. It strives to fine-tune its… techniques for winning over ‘normies’ and infiltrating mainstream institutions.” (Pg. 113)
She summarizes, “If the alt-right is consistently anything, it is a white fraternity in which men perform for other men, and the expectation is that women will stay on the margins, serve as helpmates, or, if they are vocal, remain on script online endorsing traditionalism and patriarchal arrangements.” (Pg. 115) She concludes, “My hope is that by dismantling and disassembling alt-right ideas, and scrutinizing their flawed logics and bigoted assumptions, we will be better able to defuse and short-circuit them.” (Pg. 130)
This book will be of keen interest to those studying the Proud Boys, and other far/Alt-Right organizations.
November 28, 2019
I got this with a few other books from the library and started with it because it was the shortest and I figured it would be a quick read. I was very wrong. This is one of the densest little books I've worked through this year. There's about 70 citations per chapter. The research is deep and thorough
I have no complaints about the content or research or how the topic was approached. Minna Stern lays out what she's going to do and not do and follows through impeccably. The only reason I'm not rating it higher is because it's a really hard read; absolutely not beginner level, with often convoluted sentences and very academic language. I had to reread a lot and was depending on some of my previous reading (particularly Superior) to fill in context. Minna Stern drops you in the deep end and I certainly had to thrash around a bit.
I also, though she says at the beginning that this book doesn't contain profiles of any of the people mentioned as she's examining the trends, not the individuals, would have liked more focus on the disappearance of Bre Faucheux in the chapter of that name. As a whole I found it disappointingly unexplained how women move to the virulently misogynistic alt-right (I recommend Dworkin's Right-Wing Women for a more general exploration of why women buy into misogyny) but the alt-right is so beyond the average level of sexism and women make up such a small part of it, I would have liked a bit more information on HOW women end up joining.
I have no complaints about the content or research or how the topic was approached. Minna Stern lays out what she's going to do and not do and follows through impeccably. The only reason I'm not rating it higher is because it's a really hard read; absolutely not beginner level, with often convoluted sentences and very academic language. I had to reread a lot and was depending on some of my previous reading (particularly Superior) to fill in context. Minna Stern drops you in the deep end and I certainly had to thrash around a bit.
I also, though she says at the beginning that this book doesn't contain profiles of any of the people mentioned as she's examining the trends, not the individuals, would have liked more focus on the disappearance of Bre Faucheux in the chapter of that name. As a whole I found it disappointingly unexplained how women move to the virulently misogynistic alt-right (I recommend Dworkin's Right-Wing Women for a more general exploration of why women buy into misogyny) but the alt-right is so beyond the average level of sexism and women make up such a small part of it, I would have liked a bit more information on HOW women end up joining.
November 11, 2022
A really incisive if disturbing rumination on the current state of White nationalism in contemporary America. Most interesting was how Stern explains the ideological roots of current movements in mythical terms that have been around for much longer. The author goes into some heady uncomfortable territory, looking at outwardly racist novels from, say, 1970s conservative Ethno-nationalist French writers, eugenics, and more. The concept of metapolitics, here the idea that cultural values play directly into political actions, is used as a framework for elucidating the "we vs. them" hegemony to which White nationalists aspire.
A very thought-provoking monograph, concise enough to be digested by non-specialist readers, yet thorough enough to cover a lot of ground.
A very thought-provoking monograph, concise enough to be digested by non-specialist readers, yet thorough enough to cover a lot of ground.
Read
October 24, 2020Read via audiobook so cannot comment on the referencing/sources but this gave an interesting and evocative look into the presence of alt-right sentiment in the US
July 18, 2021
Me doy por vencido y dejo el libro al 44%.
Posiblemente para algunos "darle mala calificación" sea que estoy a favor del racismo o algo así, pero es que me vendieron el libro como una profundización sobre la "agenda" mediática de "blanquear" movimientos como el feminismo o el colectivo LGBT+, como una novela que mostraría por qué está de moda decir que "está bien" ser mujer o ser gay siempre y cuando tengas dinero, seas bonito y güero, de cuáles y por qué las corporaciones o posturas políticas comienzan a apoyar algunas ideologías o algo así, algo que valiera la pena... pero el libro en sí es darle importancia a los comentarios en Twitter, YouTube o 4chan y blogs, de blogueros racistas siendo racistas.
Vaya, que para donde vivo siento que esto es leer la opinión sobre la opinión de gente diciendo "chairo" ó "fifí" en un "debate" (o sea, comentarios de Twitter), de opinar sobre la nueva estupidez que dijo algún actor o actriz buscando un poquito de publicidad a través de Internet, o el decir que hay "bots" en una cuenta de Facebook. En verdad, dejen de darle importancia a este tipo de contenido y gente. En verdad. Por favor.
Además, durante casi la mitad del libro el único término que se maneja a profundidad es alt-right. Es lo único que se medio salva. Fuera de eso tenemos la cita de alguien medio teto diciendo que Harry Potter promueve rituales arcaicos nórdicos y la supremacia, o que la música metal es una prolongación nórdica de supremacía europea de gente que sabe reconocerte antes que a los demás.... no, en verdad, claro que son estupideces. Pero ni siquiera es la opinión de la autora, ni de algún movimiento político, ni de alguna figura de poder, sino solo el comentario en un blog de alguien racista...
Y otra cosa es que la autora mezcla aseveraciones como las anteriores con otras (un poquito más "científicas") como decir que cuando una cultura racial se abre a otras con el tiempo perderá su autonomía... pues sí... obvio. Entiendo que en el libro se use para mostrar como gente racista se vale de estudios para darle peso a sus creencias... pero es que eso hacemos todos... y es que eso no se puede poner a la par de las opiniones de alguien sin identificar en un blog con algunos cientos de visitas.
En algún momento la autora menciona que en el campus donde trabaja un grupo extremo racista colocó carteles racistas "demostrando" que las personas blanco-étnicas son más inteligentes que los "afroamericanos" y que éstos suelen ser más susceptibles a volverse criminales. Lo sabemos, es horrible este modo de pensar, pero justo ya lo sabemos. En mi país pasa, en muchos (sino es que todos) pasa. En cualquier cultura hay facciones que ven por sí mismas, intentan ostentar poder, intentan destruir a otras y muchas veces van muy lejos. Eso lo sabemos. Pero mínimo habría sido mejor leer qué se hizo al respecto en ese campus, qué acciones legales se pueden llevar a cabo, qué se ha hecho y a futuro qué se podría hacer.
Simplemente el libro no aportó nada sustancial. Y, digo, para decir "el racismo existe" mínimo hay novelas que llevan la idea a una obra que al menos disfrutas leer, y que entrega el mensaje de forma más atractiva. Incluso que a veces hasta ofrece soluciones.
Posiblemente para algunos "darle mala calificación" sea que estoy a favor del racismo o algo así, pero es que me vendieron el libro como una profundización sobre la "agenda" mediática de "blanquear" movimientos como el feminismo o el colectivo LGBT+, como una novela que mostraría por qué está de moda decir que "está bien" ser mujer o ser gay siempre y cuando tengas dinero, seas bonito y güero, de cuáles y por qué las corporaciones o posturas políticas comienzan a apoyar algunas ideologías o algo así, algo que valiera la pena... pero el libro en sí es darle importancia a los comentarios en Twitter, YouTube o 4chan y blogs, de blogueros racistas siendo racistas.
Vaya, que para donde vivo siento que esto es leer la opinión sobre la opinión de gente diciendo "chairo" ó "fifí" en un "debate" (o sea, comentarios de Twitter), de opinar sobre la nueva estupidez que dijo algún actor o actriz buscando un poquito de publicidad a través de Internet, o el decir que hay "bots" en una cuenta de Facebook. En verdad, dejen de darle importancia a este tipo de contenido y gente. En verdad. Por favor.
Además, durante casi la mitad del libro el único término que se maneja a profundidad es alt-right. Es lo único que se medio salva. Fuera de eso tenemos la cita de alguien medio teto diciendo que Harry Potter promueve rituales arcaicos nórdicos y la supremacia, o que la música metal es una prolongación nórdica de supremacía europea de gente que sabe reconocerte antes que a los demás.... no, en verdad, claro que son estupideces. Pero ni siquiera es la opinión de la autora, ni de algún movimiento político, ni de alguna figura de poder, sino solo el comentario en un blog de alguien racista...
Y otra cosa es que la autora mezcla aseveraciones como las anteriores con otras (un poquito más "científicas") como decir que cuando una cultura racial se abre a otras con el tiempo perderá su autonomía... pues sí... obvio. Entiendo que en el libro se use para mostrar como gente racista se vale de estudios para darle peso a sus creencias... pero es que eso hacemos todos... y es que eso no se puede poner a la par de las opiniones de alguien sin identificar en un blog con algunos cientos de visitas.
En algún momento la autora menciona que en el campus donde trabaja un grupo extremo racista colocó carteles racistas "demostrando" que las personas blanco-étnicas son más inteligentes que los "afroamericanos" y que éstos suelen ser más susceptibles a volverse criminales. Lo sabemos, es horrible este modo de pensar, pero justo ya lo sabemos. En mi país pasa, en muchos (sino es que todos) pasa. En cualquier cultura hay facciones que ven por sí mismas, intentan ostentar poder, intentan destruir a otras y muchas veces van muy lejos. Eso lo sabemos. Pero mínimo habría sido mejor leer qué se hizo al respecto en ese campus, qué acciones legales se pueden llevar a cabo, qué se ha hecho y a futuro qué se podría hacer.
Simplemente el libro no aportó nada sustancial. Y, digo, para decir "el racismo existe" mínimo hay novelas que llevan la idea a una obra que al menos disfrutas leer, y que entrega el mensaje de forma más atractiva. Incluso que a veces hasta ofrece soluciones.
November 23, 2023
Well. OK. But now I need a shower.
An obviously well-written, well-researched treatise on the alarming rise of hate groups in the modern era, I kept wondering if knowing the difference between factions of hate is really the point. Of course it is right to draw clear maps of such phenomena and define carefully the landscape, but at what point do we simply call crazy and delusional out for being just that? Knowing the difference between the eponymous Proud Boys and Neo-Nazis doesn’t hurt, but at some point we have to start lumping rather than splitting, and then begin the process of dealing with those we have unfortunately if accurately lumped under the heading of crazy and delusional. Ultimately this all involves questions of freedom of speech, of assembly, of the right to bear arms. Do we, as a free people, need to curtail the rights of citizens to transgress too far over certain lines? (Of course we do. We do it all the time. But by how much and in what direction do we curtail? And who does the curtailing?) Germany postwar bans the use of Nazi symbols under certain circumstances. Even more of a reach is Germany’s ban on publicly denying the Holocaust. And yes, the fact that Germany now represents the sanity to which we need to strive should give us all pause.
In a final tacked on chapter — Decoding and Derailing White Nationalist Discourse — Stern seems to be pointing to what she believes is solution, but it is so underwhelming in the face of the absolute horror that she has laid out up to that point as to be laughable:
And later she suggests we
Worrying how these people became radicalized or differentiating between flavors of disgusting isn’t going to solve the problem. At what point, for instance, do we say that the lives of schoolchildren — and indeed the lives of all future potential victims of mass shootings — are more important than any real or imagined right to own a gun? Likewise, freedom of speech has never been an absolute right. The real work moving forward will be for those smart enough to tease the path between absolute freedom and the rights of citizens to lead lives free from violence, persecution, hatred, discrimination, and alienation.
We cannot counteract their arguments for they argue in a vacuum, an echo chamber, a black hole from which light neither escapes nor into which it penetrates. You can only argue someone to truth when they are listening. Personally I think the time for discussion has come to an end. These people represent an imminent existential threat. It’s time to pass laws. It’s time to make arrests. We must sever the hydra at the neck in order to stop the radicalization of further individuals.
An obviously well-written, well-researched treatise on the alarming rise of hate groups in the modern era, I kept wondering if knowing the difference between factions of hate is really the point. Of course it is right to draw clear maps of such phenomena and define carefully the landscape, but at what point do we simply call crazy and delusional out for being just that? Knowing the difference between the eponymous Proud Boys and Neo-Nazis doesn’t hurt, but at some point we have to start lumping rather than splitting, and then begin the process of dealing with those we have unfortunately if accurately lumped under the heading of crazy and delusional. Ultimately this all involves questions of freedom of speech, of assembly, of the right to bear arms. Do we, as a free people, need to curtail the rights of citizens to transgress too far over certain lines? (Of course we do. We do it all the time. But by how much and in what direction do we curtail? And who does the curtailing?) Germany postwar bans the use of Nazi symbols under certain circumstances. Even more of a reach is Germany’s ban on publicly denying the Holocaust. And yes, the fact that Germany now represents the sanity to which we need to strive should give us all pause.
In a final tacked on chapter — Decoding and Derailing White Nationalist Discourse — Stern seems to be pointing to what she believes is solution, but it is so underwhelming in the face of the absolute horror that she has laid out up to that point as to be laughable:
My hope is that by dismantling and disassembling alt-right ideas, and scrutinizing their flawed logics and bigoted assumptions, we will be better able to defuse and short-circuit them.
And later she suggests we
interrogate and disassemble [the alt-right’s] metaphors and language, and remain mindful of the perfidious implications of concepts such as the ethnostate and white genocide.
Worrying how these people became radicalized or differentiating between flavors of disgusting isn’t going to solve the problem. At what point, for instance, do we say that the lives of schoolchildren — and indeed the lives of all future potential victims of mass shootings — are more important than any real or imagined right to own a gun? Likewise, freedom of speech has never been an absolute right. The real work moving forward will be for those smart enough to tease the path between absolute freedom and the rights of citizens to lead lives free from violence, persecution, hatred, discrimination, and alienation.
We cannot counteract their arguments for they argue in a vacuum, an echo chamber, a black hole from which light neither escapes nor into which it penetrates. You can only argue someone to truth when they are listening. Personally I think the time for discussion has come to an end. These people represent an imminent existential threat. It’s time to pass laws. It’s time to make arrests. We must sever the hydra at the neck in order to stop the radicalization of further individuals.
October 6, 2020
Proud Boys and the White Ethnostate: How the Alt-Right is Warping the American Imagination
We are living in an age where all of us need to know about all the actors who are working at influencing culture and politics in the United States. We need to know who the liberals are and what they think, and we need to know who the conservatives are and what they think. We also need to know where those ideas come from. This book, Proud Boys and the White Ethnostate: How the Alt-Right is Warping the American Imagination, tells an integral portion of the story embedded in American culture (which emulsified because of Barrack Obama’s election, and which became a more than possible danger with the reactionary election of Donald Trump.)
But this history is a longer history than those twelve years. The roots of the “white backlash” go back to 1965 and the Voting Rights Act.
As a prelude to reading this book, I read many book reviews, and it seems like those who value it, actually read it; while most of those who gave it a low rating were only here to make any probable reader less likely to want to read it. The one “review” criticizes where in the time line of a movie a “red pill/blue pill” dialog reference occurred in the movie. Frankly, who cares? It was in the movie and the analogy was integral to an explanation the writer was trying to make.
More reviews go on to criticize other organizations like the SPLC. Another moment of: who cares?
I found this book, Proud Boys, to be very eye-opening. And, as Alexandra Minna Stern exposes some practical ways for Alt-Right sympathizers to have conversations with unwitting people. They have become savvy enough to know that they have more influence on people when they don’t use symbols and quotations from the Nazi era. They know to avoid arguing about some historical event like the Holocaust, because most people have fixed feelings about Holocaust deniers.
History is important, and the Alt-Right have found ways to make the progress of linear history seem like a falsification of our understanding of history. They prefer to present history in a cyclical fashion, because it makes it easier for them to recycle old ideas of racial superiority and inferiority.
It would be careless for the average American to write these people off as a “fringe element.” They are sophisticated in their methods. And, they are tenacious in their application. Some of them are well educated academics.
Stern brings all of this into perfect focus. You should ignore the (obvious) army of trolls who have given this book a single star rating. Read it for yourself.
We are living in an age where all of us need to know about all the actors who are working at influencing culture and politics in the United States. We need to know who the liberals are and what they think, and we need to know who the conservatives are and what they think. We also need to know where those ideas come from. This book, Proud Boys and the White Ethnostate: How the Alt-Right is Warping the American Imagination, tells an integral portion of the story embedded in American culture (which emulsified because of Barrack Obama’s election, and which became a more than possible danger with the reactionary election of Donald Trump.)
But this history is a longer history than those twelve years. The roots of the “white backlash” go back to 1965 and the Voting Rights Act.
As a prelude to reading this book, I read many book reviews, and it seems like those who value it, actually read it; while most of those who gave it a low rating were only here to make any probable reader less likely to want to read it. The one “review” criticizes where in the time line of a movie a “red pill/blue pill” dialog reference occurred in the movie. Frankly, who cares? It was in the movie and the analogy was integral to an explanation the writer was trying to make.
More reviews go on to criticize other organizations like the SPLC. Another moment of: who cares?
I found this book, Proud Boys, to be very eye-opening. And, as Alexandra Minna Stern exposes some practical ways for Alt-Right sympathizers to have conversations with unwitting people. They have become savvy enough to know that they have more influence on people when they don’t use symbols and quotations from the Nazi era. They know to avoid arguing about some historical event like the Holocaust, because most people have fixed feelings about Holocaust deniers.
History is important, and the Alt-Right have found ways to make the progress of linear history seem like a falsification of our understanding of history. They prefer to present history in a cyclical fashion, because it makes it easier for them to recycle old ideas of racial superiority and inferiority.
It would be careless for the average American to write these people off as a “fringe element.” They are sophisticated in their methods. And, they are tenacious in their application. Some of them are well educated academics.
Stern brings all of this into perfect focus. You should ignore the (obvious) army of trolls who have given this book a single star rating. Read it for yourself.
March 10, 2024
In the intricate tapestry of modern discourse, Alexandra Stern's review of the Proud Boys and the White Ethnostate emerges as a beacon of insight and introspection. With her discerning eye and thoughtful analysis, Stern navigates the turbulent waters of identity politics and ideological divides, shedding light on the complexities that underlie these contentious topics.
Stern's exploration begins with the enigmatic allure of the Proud Boys, a group whose rhetoric of brotherhood and cultural preservation resonates with some while provoking alarm in others. Through her lens, the Proud Boys are not simply agents of division, but manifestations of deeper societal anxieties—seeking solace in a world that seems increasingly fragmented and uncertain.
As the narrative unfolds, Stern confronts the specter of the White Ethnostate—a concept steeped in nostalgia and fraught with peril. With a keen understanding of historical precedent, she dissects the ethical and moral implications of advocating for cultural preservation at the expense of inclusivity. Through her probing inquiry, she challenges us to confront the uncomfortable truths that lie at the heart of our collective experience.
Yet, Stern's review is more than a critique—it is a call to action, a summons to rise above the polarizing rhetoric and engage in the messy work of forging a more just and equitable society. In her words, we find not only a roadmap for understanding, but a blueprint for empathy and solidarity.
In the end, Stern's review transcends the confines of ideology and identity, inviting us to embrace the complexities of our shared humanity. Through her insightful analysis, she reminds us that true progress lies not in the silencing of dissenting voices, but in the recognition of our common humanity and the pursuit of a more inclusive and compassionate future.
In the annals of contemporary discourse, Alexandra Stern's review stands as a testament to the power of empathy, understanding, and intellectual rigor. Through her words, we are reminded that the path forward is not always clear, but it is through honest dialogue and genuine engagement that we may hope to navigate the complexities of our time.
Stern's exploration begins with the enigmatic allure of the Proud Boys, a group whose rhetoric of brotherhood and cultural preservation resonates with some while provoking alarm in others. Through her lens, the Proud Boys are not simply agents of division, but manifestations of deeper societal anxieties—seeking solace in a world that seems increasingly fragmented and uncertain.
As the narrative unfolds, Stern confronts the specter of the White Ethnostate—a concept steeped in nostalgia and fraught with peril. With a keen understanding of historical precedent, she dissects the ethical and moral implications of advocating for cultural preservation at the expense of inclusivity. Through her probing inquiry, she challenges us to confront the uncomfortable truths that lie at the heart of our collective experience.
Yet, Stern's review is more than a critique—it is a call to action, a summons to rise above the polarizing rhetoric and engage in the messy work of forging a more just and equitable society. In her words, we find not only a roadmap for understanding, but a blueprint for empathy and solidarity.
In the end, Stern's review transcends the confines of ideology and identity, inviting us to embrace the complexities of our shared humanity. Through her insightful analysis, she reminds us that true progress lies not in the silencing of dissenting voices, but in the recognition of our common humanity and the pursuit of a more inclusive and compassionate future.
In the annals of contemporary discourse, Alexandra Stern's review stands as a testament to the power of empathy, understanding, and intellectual rigor. Through her words, we are reminded that the path forward is not always clear, but it is through honest dialogue and genuine engagement that we may hope to navigate the complexities of our time.
August 10, 2020
The author, Alexandra Minna Stern, says at the end of her Introduction: "This book seeks to offer a lens through which to detect and disassemble precedents of the alt-right that have gained traction in discourse and culture, and are anathema to the values of equality, justice, and democracy." She then proceeds, through 6 chapters, to give a snapshot of the alt-right movement as it has developed within at least the last 10 years in the U.S. & Europe. IMHO, her treatment throughout the book is respectful, pointing out the positive & negative features. The book is well also documented.
Again IMHO the alt-right is a word that is almost totally foreign to me. I can't imagine how alt-right, white nationalist people reach their conclusions. Some of their reasoning seems thoughtful; much of it seems wacky; & a whole lot of it, to me, is b... s..t!
That alt-right thinking has slowly grown & prospered especially over the past four years of the Idiot King of the White House's reign, is evidenced in fact. Whether it will grow much further or if it will survive is still an open question. I know that I will do everthing in my power, along with countless other citizens of this country, to defeat it ultimately.
Stern closes the book with this observation: "...In the current moment, the forces of regression are bracingly strong, and intensifying. According to Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, authors of "How Democracies Die", Trump, like authoritarian leaders past and present who came to power not through a coup d'état but legally, through the ballot box, is implementing policies and behaving in ways that severely undercut American democracy. He has rejected 'the democratic rules of the game,' denied 'the legitimacy of his opponents,' countenanced or promoted violence, and shown a 'willingness to curtail civil liberties of opponents, including the media.' In the current context, cherished principles of rights and liberal subjecthood, codified in the Constitution and in law, are under grave assault..."
Again IMHO the alt-right is a word that is almost totally foreign to me. I can't imagine how alt-right, white nationalist people reach their conclusions. Some of their reasoning seems thoughtful; much of it seems wacky; & a whole lot of it, to me, is b... s..t!
That alt-right thinking has slowly grown & prospered especially over the past four years of the Idiot King of the White House's reign, is evidenced in fact. Whether it will grow much further or if it will survive is still an open question. I know that I will do everthing in my power, along with countless other citizens of this country, to defeat it ultimately.
Stern closes the book with this observation: "...In the current moment, the forces of regression are bracingly strong, and intensifying. According to Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, authors of "How Democracies Die", Trump, like authoritarian leaders past and present who came to power not through a coup d'état but legally, through the ballot box, is implementing policies and behaving in ways that severely undercut American democracy. He has rejected 'the democratic rules of the game,' denied 'the legitimacy of his opponents,' countenanced or promoted violence, and shown a 'willingness to curtail civil liberties of opponents, including the media.' In the current context, cherished principles of rights and liberal subjecthood, codified in the Constitution and in law, are under grave assault..."
October 4, 2019
While this book is an unpleasant deep dive down the rabbit hole of alt-right and white nationalist thought and worldview, it is an important overview of the current state of this particular portion of our body politic, especially now, with an administration that is willing to give them a wink and a nod (at a minimum). As someone who values diversity and sees the increasing diversity of the nation as a source of its strength and energy, I find the idea that ethnic homogeneity is the ultimate desirable to be quite unfathomable. However, it clearly drives many people, and this book helps to both highlight this worldview, and explain the current strategies that these believers are employing in their efforts to impose their vision on the world. As they attempt to distance themselves from the violent images often associated with their positions in the past, white nationalist are now trying to insert themselves in to the everyday fabric of our national dialogue. They want their ideas to become familiar enough to seem reasonable, part of the ordinary fabric of life. Only after these ideas are normalized can they begin to work the machinery of politics to bring their vision to fulfillment. And therein lies the danger of the current moment, when certain media outlets and even the administration seem to be hinting at these ideas, and even outright talking about them from time to time. This helps normalize these extreme ideas, setting the stage for a re-emergence of a political movement aimed at ethnic separation. This is not inevitable, but vigilance is necessary to prevent it, and this book is helpful in informing those who believe in the value of diversity about the ideas, motivations, and efforts of those who believe differently.
October 16, 2024
This was a good read on the subject of an evolving world of white ethnic ambitions. I have to admit, metapolitical and metaphilosophical are vague ideas for me to fully grasp but that discussion is in the beginning of the book. Much of the movement I've 'known' about but in an incomplete
way. I came away with a much greater understanding of motive, vision, ambition and dream than I previously had. What is certainly a perpetual Achilles heel if any movement like this is the expectation and requirement that half of humanity (women) will be overwhelmed with desire to become subjugated and be placed below men. As a 56 year old white male, I find that notion almost comical if it weren't for the fact they were sincere in that belief. The ethnostate concept that has strict controls on interaction with other 'foreign' race elements is grossly misleading. Whites only and blacks only states can't tolerate new ideas and the idea the population might think differently. Being superior in power is the only real possibility, not separate but peaceful neighbors.
I have not been surprised at the one star evaluations. Considering the author, the people about whom she writes could never let such a publication go unchallenged. Not much in the way of discussing the particulars of what she says in those reviews. Instead of those groups commenting about the substance in the mirror she holds up, they often attack the mirror itself and the holder. If you want to get a picture of this political movement and its various parts, this isn't such a bad way to start. It's readable, a fast read after the intro. You can go from there to dig deeper. It's amazing how many people and groups don't want you to look too closely when they don't control the information.
way. I came away with a much greater understanding of motive, vision, ambition and dream than I previously had. What is certainly a perpetual Achilles heel if any movement like this is the expectation and requirement that half of humanity (women) will be overwhelmed with desire to become subjugated and be placed below men. As a 56 year old white male, I find that notion almost comical if it weren't for the fact they were sincere in that belief. The ethnostate concept that has strict controls on interaction with other 'foreign' race elements is grossly misleading. Whites only and blacks only states can't tolerate new ideas and the idea the population might think differently. Being superior in power is the only real possibility, not separate but peaceful neighbors.
I have not been surprised at the one star evaluations. Considering the author, the people about whom she writes could never let such a publication go unchallenged. Not much in the way of discussing the particulars of what she says in those reviews. Instead of those groups commenting about the substance in the mirror she holds up, they often attack the mirror itself and the holder. If you want to get a picture of this political movement and its various parts, this isn't such a bad way to start. It's readable, a fast read after the intro. You can go from there to dig deeper. It's amazing how many people and groups don't want you to look too closely when they don't control the information.
March 18, 2020
Though I was fairly aware of the issues discussed in this book from news media, I still found it to be very informative. In her opening chapters, Stern is able to draw a clear line between obscure twentieth-century continental philosophers and the "metapolitics" of today's alt-right. Subsequent sections include in-depth looks at such topics as the role of women in alt-right movements and the fixation of the alt-right and alt-light on condemning the trans and non binary communities. The book concludes with observations about the Trump administration and the current outlook of alt-right movements.
Still, I noticed several errors in my reading, not only typographical, but also factual, particularly when Stern discusses broader pop culture and etymology. I also would have liked more detail on some alt-right terms such as "black pills" and the "Overton window" that are only briefly defined. There are also some topics that Stern briefly addresses that I felt could have used more attention, such as what happens when an alt-righter finds out from an ancestry test that he is not "all white." Fortunately, Stern includes detailed citations of where her source articles can be found, making this book worth it for the bibliography alone.
Still, I noticed several errors in my reading, not only typographical, but also factual, particularly when Stern discusses broader pop culture and etymology. I also would have liked more detail on some alt-right terms such as "black pills" and the "Overton window" that are only briefly defined. There are also some topics that Stern briefly addresses that I felt could have used more attention, such as what happens when an alt-righter finds out from an ancestry test that he is not "all white." Fortunately, Stern includes detailed citations of where her source articles can be found, making this book worth it for the bibliography alone.
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