How to Be a Fascist
A Manual
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- 79,00 kr
Publisher Description
How fascist are you? A sharp, provocative conversation-starter about the authoritarian in us all
The first and only guide to turning your 21st century democracy into a fascist paradise
Democracy is difficult, flawed and unstable. It involves barely distinguishable political parties taking part in lengthy, overcomplicated and expensive decision-making processes. Trying to engage so many people with political issues seems to lead only to complexity and disagreement. So why bother? Doesn't fascism guarantee a more effective and efficient management of the state?
In this short, bitingly ironic mixture of On Tyranny and The Psychopath Test, Italian political activist Michela Murgia explores the logic that is attracting increasing numbers of voters to right-wing populism. Far from its origins in the 20th century, fascism is once again on the rise in an age of increased connectivity and globalism. Murgia shows how many of the elements of our society that we might think would combat closed-mindedness and xenophobia actually fan the flames. Closing with a "fascistometer" to measure the reader's own authoritarian inclinations, How to be a Fascist is a refreshingly direct, polemical book that asks us to confront the fascisim in our governments, in our societies, and in our own political leanings.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Italian novelist and political activist Murgia (Accabadora) exposes the insidious nature of authoritarianism in this tongue-in-cheek guide to remaking a democratic society into a fascist one. Probing how commonplace political rhetoric mainstreams fascist thinking, Murgia adopts the persona of a fascist indoctrinator to contrast the "speed of action" attainable by all-powerful heads of state with the bureaucratic inefficiency of elected leaders. She tells readers to lay the foundation for authoritarianism by "insist that all organs of democratic negotiation are useless red-tape dead ends where nothing ever happens," and discusses the need to blame marginalized groups for social ills. Aspiring fascists can rate their commitment to the cause by selecting "common sense" statements from a long list of political tropes ("there is a reason that Western culture has shaped the world"; "if the state can't protect me, I'll have to do it myself"). Only in the concluding "Disclaimer" does Murgia break character to identify the book's true purpose revealing how complicit nearly everyone is in "the legitimization of fascism as a method." The book's arch tone will turn off many progressives who agree with Murgia, but she succeeds in making the scale of the problem clear. Readers will gain new insight into why illiberalism is on the rise.
