(New) Fascism

"Lawtoo’s account is both incredibly enlightening and incredibly sobering as it forces us to face the mimetic beast in all of us, the old and new 'Man of the Crowds.'"
—From the foreword by Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen

"Calmly, carefully, and courageously, Nidesh Lawtoo examines the rise of a 'reloaded' fascism in the United States and Europe. His diagnosis—whose key figures include mimesis, myth, Girard, contagion, Bataille, Connolly, community, phantom egos, Dionysian identification, partage, Apollonian dream-states, and sacrifice—is both lucid and fascinating. The book is a testament to the power of reasoning to unmask and resist cruel forms of affective contagion, even as it opens the door to the project of composing generous and laudable admixtures of pathos and logos. A bracing and elegant book very much worth reading."
—Jane Bennett, Professor, Department of Political Science, Johns Hopkins University, and author of Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things
 

"A penetrating investigation of neofascist leaders’ power to trigger mimetic contagion among enthusiastic crowds, both in Europe and in the United States, Nidesh Lawtoo’s insightful book reframes fundamental concepts of our political tradition in light of current mass-mediated forms of communication and hypermimetic strategies of mythologization."
—Adriana Cavarero, Professor Emeritus, Political Philosophy, University of Verona, and author of Inclinations: A Critique of Rectitude