American Fascism and the Battle over Culture - Social Theory, Moral Life, and the Renewal of Democratic Imagination - Christopher G. Robbins and Eric Ferris

Aug 7, 2026

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American Fascism and the Battle over Culture examines how fascist politics intensifies in contemporary America through a shift in relations between political fringes and institutions of power, locating fascist resurgence within a wider culture of pedagogy. Using an interpretive, theoretically synthetic method drawing on phenomenology, critical theory, moral philosophy, social theory, cultural analysis, and educational theory, it analyzes the cultural politics of moral insensitivity. Guided by Elias Canetti’s Crowds and Power, it explores crowd, death, and menace via four frameworks—education as identity battleground, manipulation and social menace, production of social and political death, and “anti-woke” weaponization—offering a critique of threats to pluralistic democracy.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages334

Reading Time14 h 2 min

AccessFree to download

Contents

Acknowledgments: Recognition of Dependencies

1 Introduction: Setting the Stage

2 A Crusade and the Crowd of the Dead: Understanding the Logic of the U.S. Right’s Attacks on Public Education

3 Under – and Outside of – the Specter of Menace: Crowds and Power in an Era of Mass Violence

4 The Dead, Their Hauntings, and Writing Ghost Stories

5 Keeping the Inner World Awake, for Our Sake: Maxine Greene, Zygmunt Bauman, and Wide-Awakeness in Somnambulant Times

6 Crowd

[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) “Ferris and Robbins offer an original and compelling account of how the culture of fascism operates as a pedagogical regime. In doing so, they illuminate the urgent need to make education central to politics itself.” Henry A. Giroux, McMaster University, Canada. [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) AMERICAN FASCISM AND THE BATTLE OVER CULTURE This book examines the intensification of fascist politics in contemporary America via an analysis of the fundamental shift in relationships between political fringes and institutions of power, situating the rise of contemporary fascist politics within a broader culture of pedagogy. Employing an interpretive and theoretically synthetic approach, it brings together phenomenology, critical theory, moral philosophy, social theory, cultural analysis, and educational theory to interrogate the cultural politics of moral insensitivity. Informed by Elias Canetti’s seminal work Crowdsand Power, the authors explore how crowds, death, and menace have become central to American political culture, offering an essayist approach to understanding fascist crowd politics through four key analytical frameworks: Education as a battleground for defining American identity, crowd manipulation and social menace, the manufacturing of social and political death, and the weaponization of “anti-woke” rhetoric. Engaging with theorists including Judith Butler, Michel Foucault, Achille Mbembe, and Zygmunt Bauman, each chapter provides a standalone analysis while contributing to a comprehensive and sophisticated critique of Americanstyle fascism’s threat to pluralistic democracy. An original, theoretically rigorous, and urgently needed contribution to understanding how fascism functions as a cultural and pedagogical project, it will hold strong appeal for scholars and upper-level students of sociology, political theory, and educational studies, with interest in morality, culture, right-wing extremism, and fascism. Christopher G. Robbins (Ph.D.) is Professor of Social Foundations, Coordinator of the Ph.D. in Educational Studies, and the founding organizer of The Workshop for Community + Collaboration at Eastern Michigan University, U.S.A. His work can be found in The Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, Social Justice: A Journal of Crime, Conflict & World Order, Thesis Eleven, and other venues. Eric Ferris (Ph.D.) is a Secondary School Teacher in the United States of America. He is the author of The (Dis)Order of U.S. Schooling: Zygmunt Bauman and Education for an Ambivalent World (2023) . [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought Practice Theory and Process Philosophy Towards a Sociology of Becoming Stanley Blue The Politics of Commitment Towards a Better Future for Humanity Anthony M. Clohesy Intellectuals in the 21st Century Reconfiguring Ideologies and Global Struggles Against the Elitization of Knowledge Edited by NicolA. Barria-Asenjo Activism, Identity, and Social Theory in the 1960s The Dawn of Life Politics Shaun Best Public Intimacy The Dissolution of the Private in Liquid Society Carlo Bordoni American Fascism and the Battle over Culture Social Theory, Moral Life, and the Renewal of Democratic Imagination Christopher G. Robbins and Eric Ferris For a full list of titles in this series, please visit [www.routledge.com/series/RSSPT](www.routledge.com/series/RSSPT) [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) AMERICAN FASCISM AND THE BATTLE OVER CULTURE Social Theory, Moral Life, and the Renewal of Democratic Imagination Christopher G. Robbins and Eric Ferris [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) Designed cover image: © Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Bequest of Jay R. Wolf, Class of 1951 / The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. First published 2026 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RNand by

FAQs

How does the book explain the rise of contemporary fascist politics in America?

It links the rise to a fundamental shift between political fringes and institutions of power, situating contemporary fascist politics within a broader culture of pedagogy.

What analytical approach does the book use?

It employs an interpretive and theoretically synthetic approach combining phenomenology, critical theory, moral philosophy, social theory, cultural analysis, and educational theory.

Which themes and frameworks organize the book’s analysis of fascist crowd politics?

The discussion is structured around education as a battleground for identity, crowd manipulation and social menace, the manufacturing of social and political death, and the weaponization of “anti-woke” rhetoric.

Aug 7, 2026

Upload by Finn