Chain of Ideas

Chain of Ideas offers a revelatory account of the racist conspiracy theory that now pervades global politics. From the National Book Award winner and number-one-bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi sheds light on this pervasive issue.

Throughout the world, authoritarian movements are radically reshaping our politics and our lives. At the heart of them all lies the 'great replacement theory', which insists that peoples of colour, migrants, and minorities are being deliberately empowered to displace white majorities.

In Chain of Ideas, Ibram X. Kendi reveals how this conspiracy theory has mutated from the extremist fringe into a global ideology, embraced by leaders as varied as Marine Le Pen, Viktor Orban, Narendra Modi, Jair Bolsonaro, Nigel Farage, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Donald Trump. He traces its historic roots in slavery, segregation, colonialism, and Nazism, and demonstrates how these age-old prejudices have been dressed in new language for a digital age.

This is not just a book about extremists on the margins. From Anders Breivik's massacre to the chants of the Charlottesville marchers, from Brexit slogans to the Christchurch shooting, Kendi shows how these ideas have crossed borders, inspired terror, and are now reshaping parties of government. Chain of Ideas is a penetrating history of how reactionary ideas have been repackaged as common sense, and how they shape the globe today.