On Wednesday next week, May 13, I am joining Eric Warwick and Lupe Wolfe on a webinar encouraging people to talk with their kids, and to understand and prevent online recruitment into hate movements during this pandemic. Please consider signing up or inviting interested parents or others who work with youth. (The suggested ticket price goes to supporting the work of local social justice group PJALS, the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane. However, if the cost is prohibitive, you can register for free.)
My co-edited book on Erich Fromm’s critical theory (Eds., Kieran Durkin and Joan Braune, Erich Fromm’s Critical Theory: Hope, Humanism, and the Future, Bloomsbury, 2020) is now out in print. It’s a great anthology (though I might be biased)—admittedly pricey, but we are hoping to get it into lots of libraries, and a paperback edition will hopefully be out in the future. It is exciting to see the renewal of work on Erich Fromm’s contribution to Critical Theory, and the anthology represents some of the best work on Fromm done recently, including looking at applications of Fromm’s work to contemporary theory and praxis in responding to authoritarianism, as well as looking at Fromm’s contributions to Marxism, Critical Theory of Religion, and bringing Fromm into dialogue with feminism and other lenses.
Spectres of Fascism (Pluto, 2020), Edited by Samir Gandesha, is also out now in print. I have a chapter in the book exploring Steve Bannon’s ties to fascist ideology. Samir is organizing a number of online presentations from contributors to the book in coming weeks. I am looking forward to joining one of the panels to share some of my more updated research on Bannon, including especially my response to Bannon’s campaign against China and my take on the latest revelations of Bannon’s ties to fascism in the problematic new book War for Eternity by Benjamin Teitelbaum.
I have a new article out in Spokane FAVs (Faith and Values), exploring the psychological appeal of conspiracy theories during the coronavirus.
I was guest again on my friends’ radio show in Milwaukee, “The Grass is Greener”: https://soundcloud.com/user-240416425/the-grass-is-greener-2020-04-2. Topics included: Talk to your kids; Steve Bannon and the Falun Gong; Conspiracy theories.
I also had the honor last month of presenting over zoom to Emerge Washington’s cohort of young progressive Democrat women in training for political leadership and candidacy. We talked about the growing threats communities face due to white supremacist and fascist movements and far-right militia networks.
Dr. Joan Braune -- News & Updates 