A series of essays with a little history, a little analysis but not much substance, this book was a superficial read. It offers rhetorical digs at people who are easy to despise, and that’s fine. But I was hoping for something that would offer more understanding of why several national leaders seem to be moving in a fascist direction, and that’s not what this book provides.
It was interesting to see how much each of the strongmen profiled bases their image on lies, especially about their own history. They all seem to be narcistic opportunists, just like Trump, although all except Trump have been able to use unvarnished violence to support their claim to power. (Trump does make use of police violence, but it existed in the USA before him and it’s papered over with legal justifications.) Does that mean that Trump is not as bad as some of the others, or perhaps that the institutions of the USA have been better able to resist a power grab (so far, at least)?
The introduction by Vijay Prashad does offer a thread of analysis, along the lines that 20th century fascism suppressed a rising working class to protect capitalism, but the current working class is weak. In 21st century circumstances, capitalism has created anger among the growing underclass of the poor and unemployed, so a new form of fascism has grown up to protect modern finance capitalism. However, none of the essays take up this point, or give any evidence to support it.
What I do take away is that in some countries, the institutions of democratic power have not been sufficient to prevent authoritarian autocracy from coming to power. This may be because neo-liberal finance capital had undermined the strength of anti-capitalist powers, whether that means the working class, feminism, anti-racism, or traditional communal values. But the essays in this book don’t tell us much about that. ( )