To Fight Against This Age: On Fascism and Humanism - Hardcover

Rob Riemen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393635864 ISBN 13: 9780393635867

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2018

Synopsis

"...whether you prefer "Trumpocracy," "dying democracy," "tribalism," or "fascism" to describe the disease, these books leave no doubt that treatment is needed, now." The Atlantic

"As long ago as 2010, the Dutch writer Rob Riemen argued that we should call movements that feed on fear, promote xenophobia and denigrate democratic institutions by an older name: 'fascist'. In his newest book, 'To Fight Against This Age', he argues that anything else is false: "The term populist is only one more way to cultivate the denial that the ghost of fascism is haunting our societies again". The Irish Independent

"We are sleepwalking into catastrophe; Riemen wants to wake us up and he does with passion, wisdom, and eloquence." Simon Schama

Thomas Mann and Albert Camus understood something many political scientists still find difficult to fathom. Deprived of any coherent theory, fascism is characterised by its politics of resentment, stirring up of anger and fear, xenophobia, need for scapegoats, and by its hatred of the life of the mind. Combining history and philosophy, Rob Riemen eloquently explores the global return of fascism, disguised in the false promises of freedom and greatness.

Riemen's response to the spiritual crisis of our age is a moving story about the universal meaning of European humanism, with its values of truth, justice, beauty and love for life as the origin of a democratic civilisation. To Fight Against This Age is for those who want to understand and change the world in which they live.

About this title

About the Author

Rob Riemen is the author of Nobility of Spirit: A Forgotten Ideal (2008), which has been translated into eighteen languages. A writer and cultural philosopher, he is the founder of the Nexus Institute, an international center devoted to intellectual reflection and to inspiring Western cultural and philosophical debate. He lives in the Netherlands.

From the Back Cover

Thomas Mann and Albert Camus understood something many political scientists still find difficult to fathom. Deprived of any coherent theory, fascism is characterised by its politics of resentment, stirring up of anger and fear, xenophobia, need for scapegoats, and by its hatred of the life of the mind. Combining history and philosophy, Rob Riemen eloquently explores the global return of fascism, disguised in the false promises of freedom and greatness.

Riemen's response to the spiritual crisis of our age is a moving story about the universal meaning of European humanism, with its values of truth, justice, beauty and love for life as the origin of a democratic civilisation. To Fight Against This Age is for those who want to understand and change the world in which they live.

Edition details

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393635864
• ISBN 13: 9780393635867
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176