Publisher Description

This book is written for contemporary students, translating difficult theoretical and empirical insights into language they can understand. It clearly demonstrates the application of theory to the analysis of contemporary digital media and politics. Suitable for both undergraduate and graduate courses and modules in media and communication studies, cultural studies, sociology, and political science. Clear two part structure with chapters first addressing 'Theories' of fascism, followed by 'Applications', which includes case studies on Trump's Twitter use and far-right digital media communication.

Author Biography

Christian Fuchs is a critical theorist of communication and society. He is co-editor of the journal tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique. He is author of many publications, including the books Digital Capitalism (2022), Foundations of Critical Theory (2022), Communicating COVID-19: Everyday Life, Digital Capitalism, and Conspiracy Theories in Pandemic Times (2021), Marxist Humanism and Communication Theory (2021), Social Media: A Critical Introduction (3rd edition 2021), Communication and Capitalism: A Critical Theory (2020), Marxism: Karl Marx's Fifteen Key Concepts for Cultural and Communication Studies (2020), Nationalism on the Internet: Critical Theory and Ideology in the Age of Social Media and Fake News (2020), Rereading Marx in the Age of Digital Capitalism (2019), Digital Demagogue: Authoritarian Capitalism in the Age of Trump and Twitter (2016), Digital Labour and Karl Marx (2014), and Internet and Society (2008).

Table of Contents

1 Introduction PART I: FOUNDATIONS 2 The Relevance of Franz L. Neumann's Critical Theory Today: Behemoth and Anxiety and Politics in the New Age of Authoritarian Capitalism 3 Günther Anders' Critique of Ideology 4 M. N. Roy's Critique of Ideology, Fascism, and Nationalism 5 Martin Heidegger's Anti-Semitism: Philosophy of Technology and the Media in the Light of the Black Notebooks. Implications for the Reception of Heidegger in Media and Communication Studies 6 Anti-Semitism, Anti-Marxism, and Technophobia: The Fourth Volume of Martin Heidegger's Black Notebooks (1942–1948) PART II: APPLICATIONS 7 Fascism 2.0: Hitler on Twitter 8 Red Scare 2.0: User-Generated Ideology in the Age of Jeremy Corbyn and Social Media. 9 Racism, Nationalism, and Right-Wing Extremism Online: The 2016 Austrian Presidential Election on Facebook 10 A Frankfurt School Perspective on Donald Trump and His Use of Social Media 11 Donald Trump and Neoliberal Fascism 12 Authoritarian Capitalism, Authoritarian Movements, Authoritarian Communication 13 Why There Are Certain Parallels Between Joachim C. Fest's Hitler-Biography and Michael Wolff's Trump-Book 14 How Did Donald Trump Incite a Coup Attempt? 15 Boris Johnson Takes His Brexit Demagoguery to the Social Media Sphere 16 Slow Media: How to Renew Debate in the Age of Digital Authoritarianism PART III. CONCLUSION Conclusion: What is Digital Fascism?

Review

"In this colossal collection of critical theory and analyses, Christian Fuchs shows off his brilliant expertise by integrating Marxist theories of fascism with its digital articulations across a range of online discourses. His exemplary detailed elaboration of pertinent conceptual roots is complemented by several empirical case studies, including digital discourses of remembering Hitler on Twitter, anti-Corbyn campaigns online, and Trumpian discourses of racism, nationalism, and fascism. In its data analysis, Fuchs makes excellent use of insights from Critical Discourse Studies and provides articulate and compelling contextualisation of the findings."Majid KhosraviNik, Senior Lecturer in Digital Media & Discourse Studies at Newcastle University, UK"In this highly informative and theoretically grounded book, Christian Fuchs explores the rise of new forms of right-wing extremism online, in the era of Trump, Salvini and Bolsonaro, showing how social media has offered effective avenues for the growth of the populist right."Paolo Gerbaudo, Senior Lecturer in Digital Culture and Society, King's College London, UK

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