17-02-2018, 06:02 PM
(This post was last modified: 17-02-2018, 07:20 PM by Peter Lemkin.)
The Public in Peril - Trump and the Menace of American Authoritarianism
Routledge 2018
This is one of the first books to critique thoroughly the rise of Trumpism
and its potential impact, nationally and globally. One of the world's
leading social critics, Giroux offers new critiques of Trump and his
cabinet choices in the context of longer-term trends, including the rise
of right-wing populism, the threat of planetary peril, anti-intellectual
fervor, the war on youth, a narrowing political discourse, deepening
inequality and disposability, authoritarianism, the crisis of civic culture,
the rise of the mass incarceration state, and more. Giroux dissects the
diverse forces that led to Trump's rise and points to pathways for
resisting his authoritarian instincts. Offering a new language of hope
and possibility, Giroux's optimism is rooted especially in the resurgence
of progressive politics among youth. Giroux reclaims the centrality of
education to politics and boldly articulates a vision in which the radical
imagination merges with civic courage as part of a broad-based struggle
for a radical democracy. Deep inquiries into fast-changing and pressing
issues of our time make this book the essential Giroux' that citizens
and students must read, debate, and act upon.
Henry A. Giroux is currently the McMaster University Professor for
Scholarship in the Public Interest and the Paulo Freire Distinguished
Scholar in Critical Pedagogy. His most recent books include Dangerous
Thinking in the Age of the New Authoritarianism (2015), co- authored with
Brad Evans, Disposable Futures: The Seduction of Violence in the Age of
Spectacle (2015), and America at War with Itself (2017).
The Public in Peril
This is one of the first books to critique thoroughly the rise of Trumpism
and its potential impact, nationally and globally. One of the world's
leading social critics, Giroux offers new critiques of Trump and his
cabinet choices in the context of longer-term trends, including the rise
of right-wing populism, the threat of planetary peril, anti-intellectual
fervor, the war on youth, a narrowing political discourse, deepening
inequality and disposability, authoritarianism, the crisis of civic culture,
the rise of the mass incarceration state, and more. Giroux dissects the
diverse forces that led to Trump's rise and points to pathways for
resisting his authoritarian instincts. Offering a new language of hope
and possibility, Giroux's optimism is rooted especially in the resurgence
of progressive politics among youth. Giroux reclaims the centrality of
education to politics and boldly articulates a vision in which the radical
imagination merges with civic courage as part of a broad-based struggle
for a radical democracy. Deep inquiries into fast-changing and pressing
issues of our time make this book the essential Giroux' that citizens
and students must read, debate, and act upon.
Henry A. Giroux is currently the McMaster University Professor for
Scholarship in the Public Interest and the Paulo Freire Distinguished
Scholar in Critical Pedagogy. His most recent books include Dangerous
Thinking in the Age of the New Authoritarianism (2015), co- authored with
Brad Evans, Disposable Futures: The Seduction of Violence in the Age of
Spectacle (2015), and America at War with Itself (2017).
2 INTRODUCTION
It is hard to contemplate the new administration without
experiencing alarm bordering on despair: Alarm about the risks of
war, the fate of constitutional democracy, the devastation of a
century of social progress. Trump's populism was a total fraud.
Every single Trump appointment has come from the pool of
far-right conservatives, crackpots, and billionaire kleptocrats.
More alarming still is the man himselfhis vanity, impulsivity,
and willful ignorance, combined with an intuitive genius as a
demagogue. A petulant fifth-grader with nuclear weapons will
now control the awesome power of the U.S. government. One has
to nourish the hope that Trump can yet be contained. Above all,
that will take passionate and strategic engagement, not just to resist
but to win, to discredit him and get him out of office while this is
still a democracy. We can feel sick at heartwe would be fools
not tobut despair is not an option.1
Kuttner rightly mitigates such despair with a call for resistance. Yet,
such deep-seated anxiety is not unwarranted given the willingness of
contemporary politicians and pundits during the 2016 presidential battle
to use themes that echoed alarmingly fascist and totalitarian elements
of the past. According to Drucilla Cornell and Stephen D. Seely,
Trump's campaign mobilized a movement that was "unambiguously
fascist."2 They write:
We are not using the word "fascist" glibly here. Nor are we
referencing only the so-called "alt-right" contingent of his
supporters. No, Trump's entire movement is rooted in an ethnic,
racial, and linguistic nationalism that sanctions and glorifies
violence against designated enemies and outsiders, is animated by
a myth of decline and nostalgic renewal and centered on a masculine
cult of personality.3
Large segments of the American public have been written out of politics
over what they view as a failed state and the inability of the basic
machinery of government to serve their interests.4 As market mentalities
INTRODUCTION 3
and moralities tighten their grip on all aspects of society, democratic
institutions and public spheres are being downsized, if not altogether
disappearing. As these institutions vanishfrom public schools to
health-care centersthere is also a serious erosion of the discourses of
community, justice, equality, public values, and the common good.
This grim reality has been called a "failed sociality"a failure in the
power of the civic imagination, political will, and open democracy.5
As the consolidation of power by the corporate and financial elite
empties politics of any substance, the political realm merges elements
of Monty Python, Kafka, and Aldous Huxley. Mainstream politics is
now dominated by hard-right extremists who have brought to the center
of politics a shameful white supremacist ideology, poisonous xenophobic
ideas, and the blunt, malicious tenets and practices of Islamophobia.
On the other side of the political spectrum, the Democratic Party
operates in the service of the war machine, financial elite, and various
registers of the military-industrial-academic-surveillance complex. In the
current political climate, centrism and extremism increasingly become
indistinguishable. The older political establishment's calls for regime
change and war are now supplemented by the discourse of statesanctioned
torture, armed ignorance, and a deep hatred of democracy.
One consequence is that both parties have thrown, in different degrees,
immigrants, poor minorities of class and color, refugees, the working
class, and especially young people under the bus. Neoliberalism, with
its full-fledged assault on the welfare state and public goods, the
destruction of the manufacturing sector, and a dramatic shift in wealth
to the upper 1 percent, has destroyed the faith of millions in democracy,
which lost its power to contain the rich in a runaway form of casino
capitalism. With the erosion of the social contract and the increasing
power of the rich to control both the commanding institutions of society
and politics itself, democracy has lost any legitimacy as a counterweight
to protect the ever widening sphere of people considered vulnerable and
disposable. One consequence has been that the dangerous playbook to
neo-fascist appeals has gained more and more credence. In addition,
large portions of the American public have turned willingly to Trump's
brand of authoritarianism.
4 INTRODUCTION
Trump's election has produced widespread despair, fear, and anxiety
in the most vulnerable, largely confirmed by the fact that "over a
thousand hate crimes have been reported since Donald Trump won the
U.S. presidential election."6 Even more foreboding is the fact that not
only does Trump inherit the repressive policies and practices that
followed 9/11 such as a growing national security state, the National
Defense Authorization Act, a permanent war culture, the paramilitar -
ization of the police, widespread intrusive surveillance, and the illegality
of drone assassinations, but he has at his disposal the ability to wield a
massive degree of executive power. As Kuttner makes clear:
But one should not minimize the perils. Trump will wield a massive
amount of executive power. This is a man with a short fuse and a
long enemies list . . . he can use the power of the presidency to
conduct vast surveillance, threaten the commercial interests of the
free press, selectively prosecute, and further weaken the labor
movement while his allies in Congress change the ground rules of
federalism to undermine progressive policies of blue states and cities.
Trump will float above cadres of conservative professionals with
detailed playbooks. They will try to back-load the impact of un -
popular policies such as deep cuts in Social Security and Medicare.7
The future looks bleak, especially for youth as they are burdened with
debt, dead-end jobs, unemployment, and, if you are black and poor, the
increasing possibility of being either incarcerated or shot by the police.8
Trump has redefined government as the enemy of economic and social
justice and in doing so has created a number of cabinet positions that
will run what might be called ministries of repression and injustice. The
United States has become a war culture and immediate massive forms
of resistance and civil disobedience are essential if the planet and human
life is going to survive.9 Domestic terrorism defined as intentional and
criminal acts of violence by the state against civilian populations has
become the new norm in the United States.
The savagery of a war culture and its sundry forms of domestic
terrorism was on full display in the United States with the September 13, 2006 shooting of Tyre King, a 13-year old child who ran from police while holding a BB gun. Tyre was 5' tall and weighed less than 100 lbs and was in 8th grade.
....and another stunning 324 pages.....
Routledge 2018
This is one of the first books to critique thoroughly the rise of Trumpism
and its potential impact, nationally and globally. One of the world's
leading social critics, Giroux offers new critiques of Trump and his
cabinet choices in the context of longer-term trends, including the rise
of right-wing populism, the threat of planetary peril, anti-intellectual
fervor, the war on youth, a narrowing political discourse, deepening
inequality and disposability, authoritarianism, the crisis of civic culture,
the rise of the mass incarceration state, and more. Giroux dissects the
diverse forces that led to Trump's rise and points to pathways for
resisting his authoritarian instincts. Offering a new language of hope
and possibility, Giroux's optimism is rooted especially in the resurgence
of progressive politics among youth. Giroux reclaims the centrality of
education to politics and boldly articulates a vision in which the radical
imagination merges with civic courage as part of a broad-based struggle
for a radical democracy. Deep inquiries into fast-changing and pressing
issues of our time make this book the essential Giroux' that citizens
and students must read, debate, and act upon.
Henry A. Giroux is currently the McMaster University Professor for
Scholarship in the Public Interest and the Paulo Freire Distinguished
Scholar in Critical Pedagogy. His most recent books include Dangerous
Thinking in the Age of the New Authoritarianism (2015), co- authored with
Brad Evans, Disposable Futures: The Seduction of Violence in the Age of
Spectacle (2015), and America at War with Itself (2017).
The Public in Peril
This is one of the first books to critique thoroughly the rise of Trumpism
and its potential impact, nationally and globally. One of the world's
leading social critics, Giroux offers new critiques of Trump and his
cabinet choices in the context of longer-term trends, including the rise
of right-wing populism, the threat of planetary peril, anti-intellectual
fervor, the war on youth, a narrowing political discourse, deepening
inequality and disposability, authoritarianism, the crisis of civic culture,
the rise of the mass incarceration state, and more. Giroux dissects the
diverse forces that led to Trump's rise and points to pathways for
resisting his authoritarian instincts. Offering a new language of hope
and possibility, Giroux's optimism is rooted especially in the resurgence
of progressive politics among youth. Giroux reclaims the centrality of
education to politics and boldly articulates a vision in which the radical
imagination merges with civic courage as part of a broad-based struggle
for a radical democracy. Deep inquiries into fast-changing and pressing
issues of our time make this book the essential Giroux' that citizens
and students must read, debate, and act upon.
Henry A. Giroux is currently the McMaster University Professor for
Scholarship in the Public Interest and the Paulo Freire Distinguished
Scholar in Critical Pedagogy. His most recent books include Dangerous
Thinking in the Age of the New Authoritarianism (2015), co- authored with
Brad Evans, Disposable Futures: The Seduction of Violence in the Age of
Spectacle (2015), and America at War with Itself (2017).
2 INTRODUCTION
It is hard to contemplate the new administration without
experiencing alarm bordering on despair: Alarm about the risks of
war, the fate of constitutional democracy, the devastation of a
century of social progress. Trump's populism was a total fraud.
Every single Trump appointment has come from the pool of
far-right conservatives, crackpots, and billionaire kleptocrats.
More alarming still is the man himselfhis vanity, impulsivity,
and willful ignorance, combined with an intuitive genius as a
demagogue. A petulant fifth-grader with nuclear weapons will
now control the awesome power of the U.S. government. One has
to nourish the hope that Trump can yet be contained. Above all,
that will take passionate and strategic engagement, not just to resist
but to win, to discredit him and get him out of office while this is
still a democracy. We can feel sick at heartwe would be fools
not tobut despair is not an option.1
Kuttner rightly mitigates such despair with a call for resistance. Yet,
such deep-seated anxiety is not unwarranted given the willingness of
contemporary politicians and pundits during the 2016 presidential battle
to use themes that echoed alarmingly fascist and totalitarian elements
of the past. According to Drucilla Cornell and Stephen D. Seely,
Trump's campaign mobilized a movement that was "unambiguously
fascist."2 They write:
We are not using the word "fascist" glibly here. Nor are we
referencing only the so-called "alt-right" contingent of his
supporters. No, Trump's entire movement is rooted in an ethnic,
racial, and linguistic nationalism that sanctions and glorifies
violence against designated enemies and outsiders, is animated by
a myth of decline and nostalgic renewal and centered on a masculine
cult of personality.3
Large segments of the American public have been written out of politics
over what they view as a failed state and the inability of the basic
machinery of government to serve their interests.4 As market mentalities
INTRODUCTION 3
and moralities tighten their grip on all aspects of society, democratic
institutions and public spheres are being downsized, if not altogether
disappearing. As these institutions vanishfrom public schools to
health-care centersthere is also a serious erosion of the discourses of
community, justice, equality, public values, and the common good.
This grim reality has been called a "failed sociality"a failure in the
power of the civic imagination, political will, and open democracy.5
As the consolidation of power by the corporate and financial elite
empties politics of any substance, the political realm merges elements
of Monty Python, Kafka, and Aldous Huxley. Mainstream politics is
now dominated by hard-right extremists who have brought to the center
of politics a shameful white supremacist ideology, poisonous xenophobic
ideas, and the blunt, malicious tenets and practices of Islamophobia.
On the other side of the political spectrum, the Democratic Party
operates in the service of the war machine, financial elite, and various
registers of the military-industrial-academic-surveillance complex. In the
current political climate, centrism and extremism increasingly become
indistinguishable. The older political establishment's calls for regime
change and war are now supplemented by the discourse of statesanctioned
torture, armed ignorance, and a deep hatred of democracy.
One consequence is that both parties have thrown, in different degrees,
immigrants, poor minorities of class and color, refugees, the working
class, and especially young people under the bus. Neoliberalism, with
its full-fledged assault on the welfare state and public goods, the
destruction of the manufacturing sector, and a dramatic shift in wealth
to the upper 1 percent, has destroyed the faith of millions in democracy,
which lost its power to contain the rich in a runaway form of casino
capitalism. With the erosion of the social contract and the increasing
power of the rich to control both the commanding institutions of society
and politics itself, democracy has lost any legitimacy as a counterweight
to protect the ever widening sphere of people considered vulnerable and
disposable. One consequence has been that the dangerous playbook to
neo-fascist appeals has gained more and more credence. In addition,
large portions of the American public have turned willingly to Trump's
brand of authoritarianism.
4 INTRODUCTION
Trump's election has produced widespread despair, fear, and anxiety
in the most vulnerable, largely confirmed by the fact that "over a
thousand hate crimes have been reported since Donald Trump won the
U.S. presidential election."6 Even more foreboding is the fact that not
only does Trump inherit the repressive policies and practices that
followed 9/11 such as a growing national security state, the National
Defense Authorization Act, a permanent war culture, the paramilitar -
ization of the police, widespread intrusive surveillance, and the illegality
of drone assassinations, but he has at his disposal the ability to wield a
massive degree of executive power. As Kuttner makes clear:
But one should not minimize the perils. Trump will wield a massive
amount of executive power. This is a man with a short fuse and a
long enemies list . . . he can use the power of the presidency to
conduct vast surveillance, threaten the commercial interests of the
free press, selectively prosecute, and further weaken the labor
movement while his allies in Congress change the ground rules of
federalism to undermine progressive policies of blue states and cities.
Trump will float above cadres of conservative professionals with
detailed playbooks. They will try to back-load the impact of un -
popular policies such as deep cuts in Social Security and Medicare.7
The future looks bleak, especially for youth as they are burdened with
debt, dead-end jobs, unemployment, and, if you are black and poor, the
increasing possibility of being either incarcerated or shot by the police.8
Trump has redefined government as the enemy of economic and social
justice and in doing so has created a number of cabinet positions that
will run what might be called ministries of repression and injustice. The
United States has become a war culture and immediate massive forms
of resistance and civil disobedience are essential if the planet and human
life is going to survive.9 Domestic terrorism defined as intentional and
criminal acts of violence by the state against civilian populations has
become the new norm in the United States.
The savagery of a war culture and its sundry forms of domestic
terrorism was on full display in the United States with the September 13, 2006 shooting of Tyre King, a 13-year old child who ran from police while holding a BB gun. Tyre was 5' tall and weighed less than 100 lbs and was in 8th grade.
....and another stunning 324 pages.....
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass