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Eyes Right!: Challenging the Right Wing Backlash
The urgent essays in Eyes Right! show how to counter right-wing corporate, religious and political agendas, and defend democracy and diversity. With chapters covering attacks on immigrants, gay men and lesbians, people of color, environmentalists, artists, and educators, this anthology shows how disparate groups are linked by the over-arching anti-democratic objectives of the right-wing offensive.
- GenresPoliticsNonfiction
397 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1995
3 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Chip Berlet
8 books14 followersAmerican investigative journalist and photojournalist activist specializing in the study of right-wing movements in the United States, particularly the religious right, white supremacists, homophobic groups, and paramilitary organizations.
He also studies the spread of conspiracy theories in the media and on the Internet, and political cults on both the right and left of the political spectrum.
He also studies the spread of conspiracy theories in the media and on the Internet, and political cults on both the right and left of the political spectrum.
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July 14, 2009
Eyes Right is a collection of various essays published back in 1995, which were more or less meant to warn the reader about the then-flare up of extremist Right Wing political activity, which has stripped away the moderate wing of the Republican Party, the consequences of which we're currently living through in the post-Bush era.
The essays cover a huge range of subjects but is largely concerned with the extreme Right's antipathy of the pluralistic, secular, and democratic society that we all live in and their ultimate goal of replacing it with a specific branch of Christianity with a narrowly defined morality, enforced by an autocratic government that not only has the ability but the right to enforce strict codes of behavior and will roll back progressive laws and hard earned civil rights, reframing them as "unconstitutional." One argument made repeatedly is that the well worn call for "family values" is really a way of saying white male-dominated western European culture is superior to all others; with white supremacists like Pat Buchanan and David Duke believing non-whites and non-Christians are inherently inferior and unwelcome, and religious bigots like Pat Robertson having no problem with non-whites, just so as long as they adopt the correct religion and culture.
The essays cover the whole gamut of American politics of the mid-90s, much of which is still sadly relevant today. Even in the climate of the time, it's astounding to see the Right's success in framing backwards cultural ideas, such as White supremacy, the Patriot movement, Wise Use, homophobia, Christian Reconstructionism, Christian Identity, sexism, racism, xenophobia, Holocaust denial, among many others, in populist terms, which has lead many an American to vote against his or her own best interests.
The last portion of the book discusses how to organize an effective response to the Right Wing backlash. It's too bad that no one was listening back in 1995.
Overall I have to say that while the book is informative, it probably helps to have a working knowledge of the subject matter. It may be a little overwhelming for political newbies but it is essential reading for anyone interested in modern politics.
The essays cover a huge range of subjects but is largely concerned with the extreme Right's antipathy of the pluralistic, secular, and democratic society that we all live in and their ultimate goal of replacing it with a specific branch of Christianity with a narrowly defined morality, enforced by an autocratic government that not only has the ability but the right to enforce strict codes of behavior and will roll back progressive laws and hard earned civil rights, reframing them as "unconstitutional." One argument made repeatedly is that the well worn call for "family values" is really a way of saying white male-dominated western European culture is superior to all others; with white supremacists like Pat Buchanan and David Duke believing non-whites and non-Christians are inherently inferior and unwelcome, and religious bigots like Pat Robertson having no problem with non-whites, just so as long as they adopt the correct religion and culture.
The essays cover the whole gamut of American politics of the mid-90s, much of which is still sadly relevant today. Even in the climate of the time, it's astounding to see the Right's success in framing backwards cultural ideas, such as White supremacy, the Patriot movement, Wise Use, homophobia, Christian Reconstructionism, Christian Identity, sexism, racism, xenophobia, Holocaust denial, among many others, in populist terms, which has lead many an American to vote against his or her own best interests.
The last portion of the book discusses how to organize an effective response to the Right Wing backlash. It's too bad that no one was listening back in 1995.
Overall I have to say that while the book is informative, it probably helps to have a working knowledge of the subject matter. It may be a little overwhelming for political newbies but it is essential reading for anyone interested in modern politics.
Displaying 1 of 1 review