Proud Boys and the White Ethnostate: How the Alt-Right Is Warping the American Imagination

This book takes on the modern alt-right movement, including its desire to move away from Nazi symbols. And that’s part of what makes them so insidious; instead of making it clear who they are, the younger crowd’s goal is to spread their insidious influence slowly throughout the country.Although it doesn’t talk about the Proud Boys nearly as much as the title suggests, this is still a very worthy entry into books about white nationalism/white supremacy. Perhaps the most revolting chapter was the one on the women of the movement. They’re happy to urge for a world where there’s no feminism and the patriarchy rules all. They also believe they should have many, many white children to help propagate the race. At the same time, a large portion of the “alt-right” are misogynistic men who believe that women are only good for s€x (if that). Seems a bit incompatible to me...This isn’t an easy read (due to the content, not the writing), but it is an important one.By the way, ignore all the haters who descended on this book from the Proud Boys. They make it clear they’ve never read it, yet they got to destroy the book’s ratings.

I represented one of the Proud Boys in a four-plus month trial alleging seditious conspiracy, so I picked up this book to better understand the group. The book has almost nothing to do with the Proud Boys. I suspect the title was chosen simply to sell the book. (It worked!). Even so, some solid scholarship on the politics of race. A quick read in the genre of fear of whiteness.

Of course those who veer towards the right aren't going to like this book... The rest of us know the Proud Boys for who they are. I witnessed their violence in DC this past weekend. It is important to better understand how these ideas came about and how alt-right figures are using the proud boys, and others, to do their dirty work and stoke division and conspiracies.

I enjoyed this book and feel it is important. I am usually a fan of larger works but this one seemed just right at around 137 pages. Due to the sickening behavior of the characters/groups involved i was happy it was not too long.The author Alexandra Stern has a deep concern relating to the way in which the alt right re brands or renames and factions off appearing to become something new or less stereotypical. Her concern is justified and important because no matter how the alt right changes or polishes up it's image its foundation is rooted in racism, male dominance over women, violence and most importantly selective learning taken from selective historical figures, texts or and molding ideologies to fit a confirmation bias.I was hoping Stern would include information about neurological and socioeconomic reasons why modern people flock to groups with such a nasty background. What i did receive instead is the equally informative history of some of the esoteric philosophers who had fascist plans mixed with traditionalism or tribalism. Some of these are Rene Guenon, Julius Evola and Savitri Devi. The writings of these people make up a historical pool that the alt right dips into to fish out selective moments that they use to make up their philosophies.It is important to know about this history to drive home one of the main points of the book in that every alt right person has a nasty history regardless of how it is sugar coated.Stern makes a great and at time comical point of showing that even if the newer less violent factions want to disassociate with public violence and Nazi connections they are just as bad. The less obviously extreme alt lighters for example want to move to a white ethnostate and in turn each race should be sanctioned off into geographical locations. The author stresses that wanting to separate into these race defined locations in a peaceful way is no different than parading around with a shaved head and a Nazi regalia. She points out to even initiate an ethnostate you would have to involve eugenics. Every description of the ideal ethnostate would involve regulating genes to eventually produce a perfect white person. That sounds like something from an Adols Huxley distopian novel.The lighter alt right people seem to come off as peaceful and stress that is is natural and best for everyone to be with their own people within an ethnostate. Stern points out that the lighter non violent groups are basically at all times harboring negative sentiment that is a mix of racism and elitism which is no different that the extreme activities of white nationalists.She talks about newer groups such as the Proud Boys and how they are basically male dominant organization that 'bemoan that men are falling behind, becoming depressed and marginalized, and have nostalgia for a time when " girls were girls and men were men"-(taken from page 71)(taken from proudboyusa.com ref notes pg 156).Stern stresses the importance of the internet in relation to the propagation of the alt rights ideas/ideology,philosophies etc. Most importantly the internet allows for the selective selection,distribution and rehashing of confirmation biased information to the masses.She stresses the lack of women at alt right seminars/ralleys. It becomes comical when time after time Stern mentions a function of alt right speaker where most have 0 women speaker and barely and in attendance.Stern goes into detail about "red pilling" techniques as a form of basically brainwashing. This seeing the light moment when someone has been "red pilled" is a sort of hypnosis that is dosed out in the form of selective history and selective meanings with the intent to drive a person into a bliss like drive to save the white race. Stern goes into many alt right terms such as "white genocide" "doxing".She point out characters such as Jordan Peterson in relation to discrimination of transgender rights. She gets into the women of the alt right painting them as submissive to the dominant Nordic-White male stereotype.Stern points out how certain leaders within the various levels of alt right variations seem to act as fearless warriors only to go into a sort of hiding for various reasons. Stern uses alt right women figures such as Bre Faucheux as fall guys/girls and essentially proxy faces controlled by the male majority. She suggests Faucheux's sudden disappearance from the spotlight could be in relation to doxxing attempt as well as violent threats from the more extreme factions.In relation to Faucheux Stern says in an angry tone-"being an alt right leader is next to impossible in a movement grounded in ultra-essentialist conceptions of women as breeders and helpmates, and populated in good measure by vitriolic and unrelenting misogynists who police women and do whatever they can to exclude them"-pg 94- second paragraph-Stern2019)-.In conclusion i highly recommend this to the point, easy to read and at times brutal background and focus on the various types of alt right groups.

I read Stern’s eugenics book some years ago, and I have read a number of articles she wrote. She writes about topics that interest me personally and professionally and she generally produces intelligent, useful, and readable material. I was thus looking forward to reading this new book of hers—at least as much as one can look forward to reading about such a dark and alarming topic.I think that this book is certainly worth reading, but also that it is somewhat disappointing: it simply could have been a lot better. My overall take-away is that the book was one solid edit away from being finished. I say this rather than focus on specific areas of concern or specific chapters both because the criticisms I have to offer would too quickly go into the weeds—what is appropriate for a scholarly journal’s book review and what is appropriate for Amazon’s less specialized readers are different. I also think that the problems are both large and small: the overall organization isn’t perspicuous, and individual chapters are too often less focused (and more repetitive) than they should be. And some of the writing is less than clear.I do think that this book is a valuable contribution to the ongoing discussion of the rise and shape of the New Right (or Alt-Right, though I don’t find the term helpful) in the US and in Europe. But the book is a tougher read than it had to be.

Don't believe the detractors here. The book is very thoroughly supported with Notes and References. Although much of the book is a bit challenging, resembling a PhD dissertation, most of it is readable enough for the less scholarly to grasp and appreciate perhaps its primary message: That white supremacists in America (and worldwide) are waging a largely well-orchestrated campaign of ethnonationalism through deceptive tactics that "sugar coat", tone down and make appear respectable their essentially racist, fascist end goal of purifying society of multicultural elements; in short, to resurrect the kind of society that would make Hitler proud.