Proud Boys and the White Ethnostate

April 15, 2019
A deep dive into the so-called "alt-right" in which the author "seeks to expose the underlying logic and implications of white nationalism and its master plan of a racially exclusive patriarchal world." As defined by Stern (History, Women's Studies, Obstetrics/Univ. of Michigan; Telling Genes: The Story of Genetic Counseling in America, 2012, etc.), the key element of the alt-right is white nationalism. Most of the individuals and organizations portrayed here branch out after that common denominator. Some emphasize peaceful but total separation of whites from people of color while others seek to bring violence against those seen as a threat to their hegemony. Almost every alt-right influencer is male, and they all exhibit varying degrees of misogyny. Other targets of their enmity include gay and transgender individuals and Jews. While alt-right devotees clearly do not dominate government or civic life in the United States, they are widespread and determined. Stern argues that her research--mostly stemming from copious online evidence posted publicly--has not led her to "trivialize nor sensationalize the alt-right" even when their platform "inhabits the gutters of political discourse." At intervals, the author, who leads the Sterilization and Social Justice Lab at Michigan, delves into the lengthy history of alt-right and similar movements, within both the U.S and Europe, and she also investigates the adulation of Donald Trump as an enabler of the movement. The alt-right standards for determining who qualifies as white--and who does not--can become complicated; Stern illuminates that element with impressive insights. An anomaly that not even the author can explain involves why alt-right subscribers fear annihilation so deeply when the U.S. remains controlled by a powerful white patriarchy. Stern's prose is frequently lively, though it sometimes lapses into academic jargon. An important study that extends the knowledge from other recent books that have demonstrated a stubbornly pervasive network of white nationalists.

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