ECU Libraries Catalog

Surviving autocracy / Masha Gessen.

Author/creator Gessen, Masha author.
Format Book and Print
Publication Info New York : Riverhead Books, 2020.
Copyright Notice ©2020
Descriptionxvi, 270 pages ; 21 cm
Subject(s)
Contents What do we call it? -- Waiting for the Reichstag fire -- The Styrofoam president -- We could call it a kakistocracy -- We could call it corruption -- We could call it aspirational autocracy -- We could pretend he is an alien, or call it the government of destruction -- The death of dignity -- Mueller did not save us -- Institutions have not saved us -- Words have meaning, or they ought to -- The power lie -- The tweet trap -- Normalization is (almost) unavoidable -- Resisting Trump's war on the media -- How politics dies -- A white male supremacist president -- "Throwing off the mask of hypocrisy" -- The antipolitics of fear -- Confronting civil society -- The power of moral authority -- Who is "us"? And who are we?
Abstract "An analysis of the destruction the Trump administration has waged on our institutions, the cultural norms we hoped would save us, and our very sense of identity"-- Provided by publisher.
Abstract In the run-up to the 2016 election, Masha Gessen stood out from other journalists for the ability to convey the ominous significance of Donald Trump's speech and behavior, unprecedented in a national candidate. Within forty-eight hours of his victory, the essay "Autocracy: Rules for Survival" had gone viral, and Gessen's coverage of his norm-smashing presidency became essential reading for a citizenry struggling to wrap their heads around the unimaginable. Thanks to the special perspective that is the legacy of a Soviet childhood and two decades covering the resurgence of totalitarianism in Russia, Gessen has a sixth sense for signs of autocracy--and the unique cross-cultural fluency to delineate its emergence to Americans. This incisive book provides an indispensable overview of the calamitous trajectory of the past few years. Gessen not only highlights the corrosion of the media, the judiciary, and the cultural norms we hoped would save us but also tells us the story of how a short few years have changed us, from a people who saw ourselves as a nation of immigrants to a populace haggling over a border wall, heirs to a degraded sense of truth, meaning, and possibility. Surviving Autocracy is an inventory of ravages but also a beacon to recovery--or to enduring, and resisting, an ongoing assault.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references.
Issued in other formOnline version: Gessen, Masha. Surviving autocracy. New York : Riverhead Books, 2020 9780593188941
LCCN 2020003180
ISBN9780593188934 hardcover
ISBN0593188934 hardcover
ISBNelectronic book

Available Items

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Joyner General Stacks E912 .G48 2020 ✔ Available Place Hold