The alt-right movement in the United States has actively been endorsing the use of left theory to achieve its ends—and with varying degrees of success. Tracing occasions where figures on the alt-right reference left theory, this volume asks if the alt-right’s reference of left theory is just bad reading, or are there troubling ways that certain types of left theory encourage such interpretations? What if the connections between left theory and the alt-right lie in the shared disdain for certain types of institutions, structures of power, and the status quo? Are there lessons to be learned in what can often appear as an overlapping desire to deconstruct concepts like truth, justice, freedom, and democracy? Drawing on the longer history of right-wing readings of left theory, this volume seeks to unpack these recent developments and consider their impact on the future of theory.

The Politics of the Wretched argues for ressentiment's generative negativity, prompting a shift from ressentiment as a personal expression of frustration to ressentiment as a collective “No”. Inspired by Kant and Nietzsche's philosophy, Zalloua identifies two modes of deploying ressentiment – private and public use – by substituting ressentiment for reason. This reinterpretation argues for a public use of ressentiment, for the wretched to universalize their grievances, to see their antagonism as cutting across societies, and to turn personal trauma into a common cause. A public use of ressentiment rails against the ideology of identity and victimhood and insists on ressentiment's generative negativity, its own rationality, prompting a shift from ressentiment as a personal expression of frustration to ressentiment as a collective “No”. Reframing ressentiment as a tool to oppose the evils of capitalism, anti-Blackness, and neocolonialism, it both alarms the liberal gatekeepers of the status quo and promises to energize the anti-racist Left in its ongoing struggles for universal justice and emancipation.

What would you have to believe in order to dress up as a shaman, paint your face, and storm the U.S. Capitol? What could possibly lead somebody to claim that it upholds white supremacy to encourage hard work, self-reliance, rational thinking, punctuality, and politeness? Such behaviors would have been unimaginable only a few years ago. And yet here we are, witnessing millions of people across the political spectrum displaying these clear indications of an epistemically poisoned mind. Both red America and blue America are retreating into their own information bubbles, seceding from a common reality. Both consume far too much misinformation and disinformation, developing worldviews that can sometimes be unintelligible to others. This book explores these disturbing developments and what they mean for our society and implores us all to recover a shared sense of what is true.

Trump, the Alt-Right and Public Pedagogies of Hate and for Fascism: What Is To Be Done? uses public pedagogy as a theoretical lens through which to view discourses of hate and for fascism in the era of Trump and to promote an anti-fascist and pro-socialist public pedagogy. It makes the case for re-igniting a rhetoric that goes beyond the undermining of neoliberal capitalism and the promotion of social justice, and re-aligns the left against fascism and for a socialism of the twenty-first century. Beginning with an examination of the history of traditional fascism in the twentieth century, the book looks at the similarities and differences between the Trump regime and traditional Western post-war fascism. Cole goes on to consider the alt-right movement, the reasons for its rise, and the significance of the internet being harnessed as a tool with which to promote a fascistic public pedagogy. Finally, the book examines the resistance against these discourses and addresses the question of: what is to be done? This topical book will be of great interest to scholars, to postgraduate students and to researchers, as well as to advanced undergraduate students in the fields of education studies, pedagogy, and sociology, as well as readers in general who are are interested in the phenomenon of Trumpism.

Conspiracy Theories and Extremism in New Times outlines a cadre of alt-right groups, conspiracy theories, and other forms of stigmatized knowledge threatening our society. In an era dominated by the pervasive influence of social media, the scholarly gaze has often overlooked the ways far-right factions leverage these platforms to propagate anti-democratic ideologies. From the denial of the moon landing to the enigmatic labyrinth of QAnon, and a myriad of other alt-right groups in between, this anthology presents a compelling case for the continued relevancy of the Frankfurt School of Critical Social Theory. Uncover the intricate web connecting these ideologies to everyday life, and arm yourself with the critical insights needed to navigate the turbulent currents of our modern socio-political landscape.

This book is a vital guide to understanding the racist, misogynist, far-right movement that rose to prominence during Donald Trump’s successful election campaign. To some, the movement appears to have burst out of nowhere, but journalist Mike Wendling has been tracking the Alt-Right for years. He reveals the role of technological utopians, reactionary philosophers, the notorious 4chan bulletin boards, and a range of bloggers, vloggers and tweeters, and the extreme ideas they attempt to popularize. Analyzing what the Alt-Right stands for, based upon interviews with movement leaders and foot soldiers, Wendling provides evidence linking extremists with terror attacks and hate crimes. Ultimately the book argues that, despite its high profile support, the movement’s contradictory tendencies will lead to its downfall.

In practice, because conservatism traditionally relies on negative definition to imagine its exclusion from the American political system, American conservatism ends up defining both 'the people' and the market as forces with a mutual skepticism of an overweening political order. Johnson also tackles the suggestion that conservatives learned to practice identity politics from social progressives. From the beginning, conservatism was an identity politics. U.S. conservatism relied on a rhetoric of victimhood, whether critiquing the liberal Cold War consensus or fears about Barack Obama's electoral success. Finally, the manuscript makes an important contribution to conversations about populism. Just because conservatism invokes 'the people' does not make it a collective, public-facing enterprise. .

The alt-right has been the most important new far-right grouping to appear in decades. Written by researchers from the anti-racist advocacy group HOPE not hate, this book provides a thorough, ground-breaking, and accessible overview of this dangerous new phenomenon. It explains where the alt-right came from, its history so far, what it believes, how it organises and operates, and its future trajectory. The alt-right is a genuinely transnational movement and this book is unique in offering a truly international perspective, outlining the influence of European ideas and movements as well as the alt-right's development in, and attitude towards, countries as diverse as Japan, India, and Russia. It examines the ideological tributaries that coagulated to form the alt-right, such as white supremacy, the neo-reactionary blogosphere, the European New Right, the anti-feminist manosphere, the libertarian movement, and digital hate culture exemplified by offensive memes and trolling. The authors explore the alt-right's views on gender, sexuality and masculinity, antisemitism and the Holocaust, race and IQ, globalisation and culture as well as its use of violence. The alt-right is a thoroughly modern far-right movement that uses cutting edge technology and this book reveals how they use cryptocurrencies, encryption, hacking, "meme warfare", social media, and the dark web. This will be essential reading for scholars and activists alike with an interest in race relations, fascism, extremism, and social movements.

This is the first collection focusing on knowledge socialism, a particularly apt term used to describe a Chinese socialist mode of production and socialist approach to development and modernity based around the rise of peer production, new forms of collaboration and collective intelligence. Making the case for knowledge socialism, the book is intended for students, teacher, scholars and policy theorists in the field of knowledge economy.