Trumping Democracy: From Reagan to the Alt-Right

283 Pages·2020·4.723 MB·English

by  Chip Berlet

“For over four decades, Chip Berlet has tirelessly exposed the reactionary forces
that threaten our democratic foundations. With this book he assembles prescient
contributions from a diverse array of scholar-activists committed to confronting
anti-democratic threats both within and outside of political parties. The authors lay
bare the roots of current political challenges; and offer progressive paths forward.
Anyone seeking astute analysis of the forces that drive right-wing populism in the
21st century should look no further than this volume.”
Professor David Cunningham, Author of Klansville, USA: The Rise and
Fall of the Civil Rights-Era Ku Klux Klan
“This book will help you to understand how authentic movements harmonize
individual freedom and aspirations with community ones. Communities raise up
authentic leaders rather than leaders raising themselves up above their communities
because of their empire credentials. Movements for liberation start with a common
vision that the collective agrees to struggle and risk together to achieve.”
Ruby Sales, Civil Rights and Human Rights Activist, founder,
Spirit House Project
“We can build a world based on friendship or fear. The authors in this volume
document what happens when political strategists choose to mobilize our fears and
unilateralismthatareelementsofde-civilization.”
ProfessorMohammadJafarMahallati,PresidentialScholarinIslamicStudiesand
Chair in Middle East and North African Studies at Oberlin College
“Ifyouwanttoknowaboutright-wingpopulismyoushouldreadChipBerlet.”
Professor Noam Chomsky, Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Linguistics department, University of Arizona in Tucson. Author of Global Discontents:
Conversations on the Rising Threats to Democracy
“Chip Berlet continues to courageously and brilliantly expose the dangers of white
supremacy and Christian nationalism. This book is a fascinating and indispensable
roadmapoftheUSpoliticalright…arrivingjustintime!”
Penny Rosenwasser, PhD. Founding Board Member: Jewish Voice for Peace.
Author of Hope into practice: Jewish women choosing justice despite our fears
“For scholars seeking a better understand events which led to the Trump Presidency,
thisisamustread.Forinterestedreaders,shockedbytheriseoftheAmericanright,this
isthehistoryyouneed.ForAmericanswhogenuinelydesireforourcountrytoliveup
toidealsofourConstitution-ideasofjusticeandequality—thisiswhereyoustart.”
ProfessorAngeliaWilson,UniversityofManchester,England;ChairofthePolitical
Studies Association of the United Kingdom. Author of The Politics of Intersectionality:
Politics, Policy, and Power

TRUMPING DEMOCRACY
Since 2014, over 80 people have been killed in the United States of America by
Right-wing terrorists. In 2016 Donald Trump was elected President of the United
States and received substantial support from White nationalists.
This book explains the increase in violent White nationalism and Trump’s
ascendancy in the context of the backlash against the presidency of Barack Obama.
ItdemonstrateshowthereisadynamicrelationshipbetweentheRepublicanParty,
various Right-wing populist movements, and the Right. Far Right social move-
ments, political campaigns and the online presence of the so-called ‘Alt-Right’ are
all discussed. The book argues that unfair hierarchies of race, gender, and class are
not aberrational tremors in America, but the fracturing bedrock of a nation in
which being White, male, Christian, or straight no longer ensures a stable floor for
power, status, or privilege.
This is vital reading for students, researchers, and activists interested in American
politics and the dangers of Right-wing movements and political parties.
John Foster “Chip” Berlet is an American investigative journalist, research ana-
lyst, photojournalist, scholar, and activist specializing in the study of Right-wing
movements in the United States.
ROUTLEDGE STUDIES IN FASCISM AND THE FAR RIGHT
Series editors: Nigel Copsey, Teesside University, and Graham Macklin, Center
for Research on Extremism (C-REX), University of Oslo.
Thisnewbookseriesfocusesuponfascist,farrightandright-wingpoliticsprimarily
within a historical context but also drawing on insights from other disciplinary
perspectives. Its scope also includes radical-right populism, cultural manifestations
of the far right and points of convergence and exchange with the mainstream and
traditional right.
Titles include:
The Far Right and the Environment
Politics, Discourse and Communication
Edited by Bernhard Forchtner
Vigilantism against Migrant and Minorities
Edited by Tore Bjørgo and Miroslav Mareš
Trumping Democracy
From Reagan to the Alt-Right
Edited by Chip Berlet
A.K. Chesterton and the Evolution of Britain’s Extreme Right, 1933-1973
Luke LeCras
Cumulative Extremism
A Comparative Historical Analysis
Alexander J. Carter
CasaPound Italia
Contemporary extreme-right politics
Caterina Froio, Pietro Castelli Gattinara, Giorgia Bulli and Matteo Albanese
The International Alt-Right
Fascism for the 21st Century?
Patrik Hermansson, David Lawrence, Joe Mulhall and Simon Murdoch
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.com/
Routledge-Studies-in-Fascism-and-the-Far-Right/book-series/FFR
TRUMPING
DEMOCRACY
From Reagan to the Alt-Right
Edited by Chip Berlet
Firstpublished2020
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TypesetinBembo
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
For Jean V. Hardisty, PhD
1945–2015
Scholar, activist, visionary
Jean V. Hardisty was a gentle yet fierce academic
who anticipated many of the political, economic,
and cultural shifts the country has endured
over the past several decades. Jean’s activism
included national leadership roles in struggles for
the rights of LGBTQ peoples, racial justice initiatives,
civil liberties, and basic human rights for everyone.
Jean V. Hardisty’s home page
https://jeanhardisty.com/booksandessays.html
Jean V. Hardisty’s research page at the Wellesley
College Centers for Women
https://www.wcwonline.org/153-jean-v-hardisty
Tributes to Jean V. Hardisty
https://www.politicalresearch.org/a-tribute-
to-jean-v-hardisty/

CONTENTS
Foreword xii
Preface xiv
Contributors xviii
How this book is arranged xxv
Definitions, explanations, resources, and acknowledgments xxvi
INTERLUDE A
What is democracy? 1
Chip Berlet
Introduction: The roots of reaction 3
Chip Berlet
1 Theocracy and White supremacy: Behind the Culture War to
restore traditional values 24
Chip Berlet and Margaret Quigley
2 Swastikas in cyberspace: Ultra-Right White supremacy and
antisemitism online 49
Chip Berlet and Carol Mason
3 The European New Right and US politics 54
Margaret Quigley
4 Militia nation 61
Chip Berlet and Matthew N. Lyons