Routledge
Far-Right Newspeak and the Future of Liberal Democracy
Key Metrics
- A James McAdams
- Routledge
- Hardcover
- 9781032566771
- -
- -
- Political Science > History & Theory - General
- English
Secure TransactionBook Description
This book is the first systematic, multi-country exploration of far-right newspeak.
The contributors analyze the ways in which contemporary far-right politicians, intellectuals, and pundits use and abuse traditional liberal concepts and ideas to justify positions that threaten democratic institutions and liberal principles. They explore cases of both far-right and right-wing thought in eastern and western Europe, the United States, and Canada. Subjects include well-known figures, such as Marine Le Pen, Tucker Carlson, Peter Thiel, Nick Griffin, Thierry Baudet, Jordan Peterson, Russell Brand, and Viktor Orbán, and lesser-known names, such as the Czech politician Tomio Okamura and the internet personality Raw Egg Nationalist. The contributors examine these figures' claims about hot-button issues, including immigration, Islam, race, Covid-19 policies, feminism, monetary policy, and free speech. The book demonstrates that mainstream politicians and intellectuals are at risk of losing control over the definitions of the very concepts, including equal rights, racial and ethnic diversity, and political tolerance, that undergird their vision of liberal democracy.
It will be of interest to scholars, journalists, policy makers, political scientists, historians, political theorists, sociologists, and general audiences concerned about the sophisticated efforts of far-right and right-wing politicians and pundits to undermine the foundations of liberal democracy.
Author Bio
A. James McAdams is the William M. Scholl Professor of International Affairs. For 16 years, he was Director of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies. He has also served as chair of the Political Science department. McAdams has written widely on European affairs, especially on central Europe, as well as global communism. His books include East Germany and Detente; Germany Divided; Judging the Past in Unified Germany; and The Crisis of Modern Times.
His book, Vanguard of the Revolution: The Global Idea of the Communist Party (Princeton University Press, 2017 and 2019), examines the political history of the party from the 1840s to the present. Covering a panoply of communist parties from Germany to Russia, China, Poland, North Korea, Cuba, and many others, the book is the first comprehensive international history of the communist party. Vanguard of the Revolution was named one of the Best Books of 2018 by Foreign Affairs. He has recently published two collections: 1968: Cultural Revolutions in Europe and Latin America (with Anthony Monta) and Contemporary Far-Right Thinkers and the Future of Liberal Democracy (with Alejandro Castrillon).
McAdams is the recipient of honorary doctorates from the Catholic University of Ukraine and the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, as well as the Gold Medal of the Catholic University of Slovakia.
McAdams has taught courses at every level of the curriculum. These include undergraduate seminars on "Privacy and the Internet," "Ten Images of Hell in the Twentieth Century,” and “Truth, Politics and Democracy”; lecture courses on Comparative Politics and the history of Communism; and a graduate seminar on "Philosophy and Dictatorship." He has won teaching awards across the university, including the Sheedy Award of the College of Arts and Letters, the Madden Award of the First-year of Studies, the Kaneb Award, the Kellogg Institute Mentorship Award, and the Joyce Teaching Award (twice).
Source: University of Notre Dame Department of Political Science
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