Fascism on Trial

Fascism on Trial interrogates rising fascism in America. It spotlights the major facets of fascism that increasingly characterise contemporary US politics, in relation to political authoritarianism, the rise of anti-intellectualism, the mainstreaming of conspiracy theories, the glorification of political street violence and state violence, rising white supremacy, and the militarisation of US political discourse.

Alongside this, Giroux and DiMaggio show how the assault on critical education and pedagogy is central to the fascist programme. They stress the importance of reprioritising education as a public good to combat fascist politics and ideology and draw links between fascism and the banning of books in schools, whitewashing history, and punishing policies aimed at Black, Brown, and transgender youth.

They challenge the commonly embraced notion that Trumpism is primarily a function of economic insecurity within his support base, documenting how support for the former president primarily centred on reactionary socio-cultural values and white supremacy. They also show how white supremacist values are central to the Trump base defending the January 6th insurrection, despite academics, journalists, and political officials in both major parties ignoring the threat of rising white nationalism.