Samir Gandesha
I am Professor of Modern European Thought and Culture and Director of the Institute for the Humanities at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. I am author of numerous refereed articles in top-tier journals, chapters in edited volumes, and encyclopedia entries. I am also co-editor with Lars Rensmann of Arendt and Adorno: Political and Philosophical Investigations (Stanford, 2012) and co-editor (with Johan Hartle) of Spell of Capital: Reification and Spectacle (University of Amsterdam Press, 2017) and Aesthetic Marx (Bloomsbury Press, 2017), also with Johan Hartle.
More recently, I have edited Spectres of Fascism: Historical, Theoretical and International Perspectives (Pluto, 2020), and co-edited (with Peyman Vahabzadeh) Crossing Borders: Essays in Honour of Ian H. Angus, Beyond Phenomenology and Critique (Arbeiter Ring, 2020).
I write regularly for popular audiences in publications such as openDemocracy, Art Papers, Canadian Dimension, Espace Art Actuel, Truthout, the Vancouver Sun, the Globe and Mail, and the Los Angeles Review of Books.
In the Spring of 2017, I was the Liu Boming Visiting Scholar in Philosophy at the University of Nanjing and Visiting Lecturer at Suzhou University of Science and Technology in the People's Republic of China. In January 2019, I was Visiting Fellow at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Karlsruhe and, in February of the same year, Visiting Lecturer at Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas - FFLCH-USP (Universidade de São Paulo).
I have delivered some 100 lectures and presentations at universities and public venues around the world.
More recently, I have edited Spectres of Fascism: Historical, Theoretical and International Perspectives (Pluto, 2020), and co-edited (with Peyman Vahabzadeh) Crossing Borders: Essays in Honour of Ian H. Angus, Beyond Phenomenology and Critique (Arbeiter Ring, 2020).
I write regularly for popular audiences in publications such as openDemocracy, Art Papers, Canadian Dimension, Espace Art Actuel, Truthout, the Vancouver Sun, the Globe and Mail, and the Los Angeles Review of Books.
In the Spring of 2017, I was the Liu Boming Visiting Scholar in Philosophy at the University of Nanjing and Visiting Lecturer at Suzhou University of Science and Technology in the People's Republic of China. In January 2019, I was Visiting Fellow at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Karlsruhe and, in February of the same year, Visiting Lecturer at Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas - FFLCH-USP (Universidade de São Paulo).
I have delivered some 100 lectures and presentations at universities and public venues around the world.
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Books by Samir Gandesha
From the tragic denouement of the Egyptian Revolution to the consolidation of the so-called Gujarat Model in India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the consolidation of the power of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to the recent election of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, fascist ideology, aesthetics and fascist personalities appear across the globe.
Spectres of Fascism makes a significant contribution to the unfolding discussion on whether what we are witnessing today is best understood as a return to classic twentieth-century ‘fascism,’ or some species of what has been called ‘post-fascism.’ Applying a uniquely global perspective, it combines analyses of historical contexts, theoretical approaches and contemporary geopolitics.
After President Trump’s election, BREXIT and the widespread rise of far-Right political parties, much public discussion has intensely focused on populism and authoritarianism. In the middle of the twentieth century, members of the early Frankfurt School prolifically studied and theorized fascism and anti-Semitism in Germany and the United States. In this volume, leading European and American scholars apply insights from the early Frankfurt School to present-day authoritarian populism, including the Trump phenomenon and related developments across the globe. Chapters are arranged into three sections exploring different aspects of the topic: theories, historical foundations, and manifestations via social media. Contributions examine the vital political, psychological and anthropological theories of early Frankfurt School thinkers, and how their insights could be applied now amidst the insecurities and confusions of twenty-first century life. The many theorists considered include Adorno, Fromm, Löwenthal and Marcuse, alongside analysis of Austrian Facebook pages and Trump’s tweets and operatic media drama. This book is a major contribution towards deeper understanding of populism’s resurgence in the age of digital capitalism.
CONTENTS
Preface
Douglas Kellner
Introduction: The Frankfurt School and Authoritarian Populism – A Historical Outline
Jeremiah Morelock
Part 1: THEORIES OF AUTHORITARIANISM
1. Frankfurt School Critical Theory and the Persistence of Authoritarian Populism in the United States
John Abromeit
2. The Persistence of the Authoritarian Appeal: On Critical Theory as a Framework for Studying Populist Actors in European Democracies
Lars Rensmann
3. Understanding Right and Left Populism
Samir Gandesha
4. Donald Trump as Authoritarian Populist: A Frommian Analysis
Douglas Kellner
PART 2: FOUNDATIONS OF AUTHORITARIANISM
5. From Modernity to Bigotry
Stephen Eric Bronner
6. Opposing Authoritarian Populism: The Challenge and Necessity of a New World System
Charles Reitz
7. Public Sphere and World-System: Theorizing Populism at the Margins
Jeremiah Morelock and Felipe Ziotti Narita
Part 3: DIGITAL AUTHORITARIANISM
8. Racism, Nationalism and Right-Wing Extremism Online: The Austrian Presidential Election 2016 on Facebook
Christian Fuchs
9. Authoritarianism, Discourse and Social Media: Trump as the ‘American Agitator’
Panayota Gounari
10. Phantasmagoria and the Trump Opera
Forrest Muelrath
Papers by Samir Gandesha
From the tragic denouement of the Egyptian Revolution to the consolidation of the so-called Gujarat Model in India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the consolidation of the power of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to the recent election of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, fascist ideology, aesthetics and fascist personalities appear across the globe.
Spectres of Fascism makes a significant contribution to the unfolding discussion on whether what we are witnessing today is best understood as a return to classic twentieth-century ‘fascism,’ or some species of what has been called ‘post-fascism.’ Applying a uniquely global perspective, it combines analyses of historical contexts, theoretical approaches and contemporary geopolitics.
After President Trump’s election, BREXIT and the widespread rise of far-Right political parties, much public discussion has intensely focused on populism and authoritarianism. In the middle of the twentieth century, members of the early Frankfurt School prolifically studied and theorized fascism and anti-Semitism in Germany and the United States. In this volume, leading European and American scholars apply insights from the early Frankfurt School to present-day authoritarian populism, including the Trump phenomenon and related developments across the globe. Chapters are arranged into three sections exploring different aspects of the topic: theories, historical foundations, and manifestations via social media. Contributions examine the vital political, psychological and anthropological theories of early Frankfurt School thinkers, and how their insights could be applied now amidst the insecurities and confusions of twenty-first century life. The many theorists considered include Adorno, Fromm, Löwenthal and Marcuse, alongside analysis of Austrian Facebook pages and Trump’s tweets and operatic media drama. This book is a major contribution towards deeper understanding of populism’s resurgence in the age of digital capitalism.
CONTENTS
Preface
Douglas Kellner
Introduction: The Frankfurt School and Authoritarian Populism – A Historical Outline
Jeremiah Morelock
Part 1: THEORIES OF AUTHORITARIANISM
1. Frankfurt School Critical Theory and the Persistence of Authoritarian Populism in the United States
John Abromeit
2. The Persistence of the Authoritarian Appeal: On Critical Theory as a Framework for Studying Populist Actors in European Democracies
Lars Rensmann
3. Understanding Right and Left Populism
Samir Gandesha
4. Donald Trump as Authoritarian Populist: A Frommian Analysis
Douglas Kellner
PART 2: FOUNDATIONS OF AUTHORITARIANISM
5. From Modernity to Bigotry
Stephen Eric Bronner
6. Opposing Authoritarian Populism: The Challenge and Necessity of a New World System
Charles Reitz
7. Public Sphere and World-System: Theorizing Populism at the Margins
Jeremiah Morelock and Felipe Ziotti Narita
Part 3: DIGITAL AUTHORITARIANISM
8. Racism, Nationalism and Right-Wing Extremism Online: The Austrian Presidential Election 2016 on Facebook
Christian Fuchs
9. Authoritarianism, Discourse and Social Media: Trump as the ‘American Agitator’
Panayota Gounari
10. Phantasmagoria and the Trump Opera
Forrest Muelrath