Making Sense of the AltRight, George Hawley
Making Sense of the AltRight, George Hawley
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Making Sense of the Alt-Right

Author: George Hawley

Narrator: Eric Jason Martin

Unabridged: 5 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 02/20/2018


Synopsis

During the 2016 election, a new term entered the American political lexicon: the "alt-right," short for "alternative right." Despite the innocuous name, the alt-right is a white-nationalist movement. Yet it differs from earlier racist groups: it is youthful and tech-savvy, obsessed with provocation and trolling, amorphous, predominantly online, and mostly anonymous. And it was energized by Donald Trump's presidential campaign. In Making Sense of the Alt-Right, George Hawley provides an accessible introduction to the alt-right, giving vital perspective on the emergence of a group whose overt racism has confounded expectations for a more tolerant America.

Hawley explains the movement's origins, evolution, methods, and its core belief in white identity politics. The book explores how the alt-right differs from traditional white nationalism, libertarianism, and other online illiberal ideologies such as neoreaction, as well as from mainstream Republicans and even Donald Trump and Steve Bannon. The alt-right's use of offensive humor and its trolling-driven approach, based in animosity to so-called political correctness, can make it difficult to determine true motivations. Yet through exclusive interviews and a careful study of the alt-right's influential texts, Hawley is able to paint a full picture of a movement that not only disagrees with liberalism but fundamentally rejects most of the tenets of American conservatism. Hawley points to the alt-right's growing influence and makes a case for coming to a precise understanding of its beliefs without sensationalism or downplaying the movement's radicalism.

About George Hawley

George Hawley is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Alabama. He is the author of Voting and Migration Patterns in the U.S., White Voters in Twenty-First Century America, and Right-Wing Critics of American Conservatism.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Bill

I knew some things about the alt-right before I read this book: they were younger than the racists I was used to, more upscale, more tech savvy (than me and the old racists combined), dressed in suits (or at least in slacks and polos), liked to carry tiki torches, loved to troll people on the intern......more

Goodreads review by Paul

This author calls the alt-right some bad names. They are all white nationalist, racist and antisemitic. And they hate women too. But alt-righters say We just don’t care what you call us anymore WHO ARE THEY? WHAT DO THEY WANT? WHY DON’T THEY LEAVE ME ALONE? Your average alt-righter, I would probably sa......more

Goodreads review by Ryan

This is probably the best objective, non-partisan, and fair account of the rise of the "Alt-Right" in American politics. Regardless of your politics, this is worth understanding. I'm pretty familiar with the topic, and I learned a few things about the early origins of Alt Right which I didn't know b......more

Goodreads review by Joseph

A very useful and interesting book that argues for a narrow definition of the alt-right. Hawley is a historian of conservative ideas and intellectuals who is particularly good on the issue of how to understand different tribes and movements within conservatism. The alt-right, however, is fundamental......more