The world has changed since the 1930s, but human nature has not. What can we learn when comparing far-right populism in the United States to far-right populism elsewhere? How can we better understand the underlying ideas and ideologies that seem to transcend time and place? How can we best address them? How can we communicate what we have learned about these issues to those outside of academia? These are the central questions in the three-part conversation of Fascist Legacies. The first part of the book examines the rise of authoritarianism in Europe, the United States, and Latin America; the second part analyzes aspects of the far right and discusses the best strategies for teaching about fascism; and the third part focuses on the relationship between white nationalism, individual Christian churches in the United States, and antisemitism in the past and present. By discussing different aspects of the current global rise of right-wing populism, Fascist Legacies helps readers better understand what is happening in our societies.
Ari Kohen is a professor of political science, Myer and Dorothy Kripke Chair of Judaic Studies, and director of the Norman and Bernice Harris Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Gerald J. Steinacher is the James A. Rawley Professor of History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Kohen and Steinacher are the coeditors of Antisemitism on the Rise: The 1930s and Today (Nebraska, 2021) and Unlikely Heroes: The Place of Holocaust Rescuers in Research and Teaching (Nebraska, 2019).
Preface Introduction 1. Right Wing Populism and the Rise of Authoritarianism in Europe and the U.S. - Zack Beauchamp 2. What Does Fascism Look like in the 21st Century? - Matt McManus 3. Fascism and Firearms - Amanda Gailey 4. Antifeminism: Overlooked Ideology and Indicator for Authoritarianism - Rebekka Blum and Alia Wielens 5. Ctrl V Fascism: Memes, Manifestos, and Far-Right Violence - Casey Ryan Kelly and William J. Sipe 6. The Nebraska Nazi: Native Fascism in Interwar America - Melissa A. Amateis 7. Mobilizing Passions: How White Christian Nationalism Advances American Fascism - Samuel L. Perry 8. How to Teach About the Nazi Past?: A Perspective from Austria - Philipp Mittnik Appendix: The Rise of Antisemitism Today: Statistics and Practical Guidelines from the Anti-defamation League - Trent Spoolstra List of Contributors Index
"A timely and essential contribution to the field. The editors have done an excellent job in bringing together a series of chapters that show the different aspects of fascism and how it might be interpreted. . . . A succinct and accessible guide to the relevant debates."-Bob Moore, emeritus professor of modern history at the University of Sheffield "With nuanced scholarship, Fascist Legacies contributes to the intense and ever-changing debate over what is or is not fascism in the twenty-first century. The diversity of contributors, from historians to political scientists and activists, is unique. . . . It is transnational, if not global, in perspective and includes so many methodologies: history, political science, sociology, literature, education."-Brian E. Crim, author of Our Germans: Project Paperclip and the National Security State
