American Fascism
Heather Paxson, with Christopher Nelson and Brad Weiss
The Society for Cultural Anthropology
2021

From the Introduction: "If the January 6th attack on the Capitol represents a return of fascism, when was it here before? Where has it been? Can we speak of fascism when we are describing an uprising driven by white supremacists, Confederate apologists, economic populists, Christian nationalists, and political demagogues? Is fascism an appropriate category to understand this moment...? If we find fascism in the streets and in the media, should we also be looking elsewhere?

The essays that we have assembled here are the first, urgent answers to these questions for 2021. They represent ethnographic perspectives on the lead up to and moment of insurrection; the character of fascism from other vantages worldwide; and emergent forms of American fascism. Each, in its own way, takes up Levi’s concern with a past many thought would never return. And yet, they are also provocations for the future, for the anthropological work that lies ahead."

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