American Resistance: From the Women's March to the Blue Wave

by Dana R Fisher

Since Donald Trump’s first day in office, a large and energetic grassroots “Resistance” has taken to the streets to protest his administration’s plans for the United States. Millions marched in pussy hats on the day after the inauguration; outraged citizens flocked to airports to declare that America must be open to immigrants; masses of demonstrators circled the White House to demand action on climate change; and that was only the beginning. Who are the millions of people marching against the Trump administration, how are they connected to the Blue Wave that washed over the U.S. Congress in 2018―and what does it all mean for the future of American democracy?

American Resistance traces activists from the streets back to the communities and congressional districts around the country where they live, work, and vote. Using innovative survey data and interviews with key players, Dana R. Fisher analyzes how Resistance groups have channeled outrage into activism, using distributed organizing to make activism possible by anyone from anywhere, whenever and wherever it is needed most. Beginning with the first Women’s March and following the movement through the 2018 midterms, Fisher demonstrates how the energy and enthusiasm of the Resistance paid off in a wave of Democratic victories. She reveals how the Left rebounded from the devastating 2016 election, the lessons for turning grassroots passion into electoral gains, and what comes next. American Resistance explains the organizing that is revitalizing democracy to counter Trump’s presidency.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History

216 pages, Hardcover

Published November 5, 2019

Reviews

[Jenna Spinelle]

This book provides interesting insight into the motivations of the anti-Trump Resistance movement, and a look at how gathering in the streets translates to long-term political action. I talked with Dana Fisher about the book and what she describes as the "connective tissue of democracy: https://www.democracyworkspodcast.com...

[Petty Lisbon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent introductory book that detailed the road to the 2018 midterm elections and movements like the Women's March. I think it covered topics like grassroots activism vs top down activism or how different tactics were used by Democrats pretty well. I think the survey parts were tedious but interesting.

[Heather Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

American Resistance is a interesting book that is well researched. Well written and informative. A good book for a gift .

[Nathaniel Pearlman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful if you are interested in the characteristics of the attendees of the big protest marches since Trump's election.

[Brandon Pytel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I initially saw Fisher at several talks and got her book through work. The American Resistance, as defined by Dana Fisher, is “people working individually and through organizations to challenge the Trump Administration and its policies.” It’s primarily a response to three things — an out-of-touch democratic party, Trump and dark money — and Fisher tracks the movement’s growth through several mass physical demonstrations from 2017 (the inauguration) to the 2018 mid-term elections.

Through surveying D.C. crowds at these demonstrations, Fisher seeks to answer several questions: how we got here, how these movements are organized, what motivates these people in the streets. Its overall theme seems to be that of an unlikely group of people working together to create the movement and challenge Trump’s policies.

Though a quick and easy read (without the index, it’s 135 pages), the book seemed so narrowly focused it was hard to break out of the not even two-year analysis to step back and look at the movement. It felt as if this book would serve better written in several years, as part of a larger anti-Trump movement, it’s signature events being the 2020 presidential election, the response amid the coronavirus, the global climate strikes and the youth climate movement (which really took off after the IPCC 1.5 degree report, coming out in October 2018, only a month before the timeline Fisher put on this book).

Overall, the book feels very inside baseball: good for someone narrowly interested in the niche of how resistance movements in Washington, D.C., organize each other (and how people survey), but flawed in that it doesn’t have much to say about the movement overall and, because of its timing, is lacking an interesting historical perspective. American politics may have grown a bit more progressive, and the voice of activists and people that take to the street may have grown louder, but to cut off the American Resistance at the November 2018 mid-terms feels like ending a story before we’ve even gotten to a climax.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an academic study written up with additional background. Of some interest but not essential.

[Micah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the flowering of political organizing post 2016, focusing mainly on the people marching--what motivates them, how engaged they are in local work, and how their politics may be shifting in response to events. See my review in The New Republic (Jan 2020 issue).