American Zealots

American Zealots: Inside Right-Wing Domestic Terrorism by Arie Perliger should become an essential read for anyone who remembers what American democracy once was or at least hoped to be and wants to move back toward that ideal. It is an uncomfortable read because of the content but one we must all work to understand regardless of the unease.

A quick comment about what this book is not nor tries to be. This is not prescriptive except in the very broadest of terms. This is meant to place where we currently find ourselves within the larger context of the history of right-wing rhetoric, particularly violent and extreme right-wing rhetoric. The strength of this approach is that the reader is not shifting back and forth between trying to understand and trying to assess potential solutions. We can focus on understanding. From an understanding we can begin to form remedies for society and, one hopes, those who currently accept such ideas as factual and/or worthy of violence. Perliger only touches on potential responses in the sense that he highlights what must be kept in mind when generating such plans or policies.

The writing is very straightforward and not heavy with jargon. Any terms he uses, whether from his areas of study or from within the groups he is studying, are explained clearly and concisely, with areas of ambiguity made known. The material, however, can seem overwhelming and confusing at first. I think this is so for two reasons (at least). One is that we have a tendency in public discourse to lump large groups together as if they are a monolithic whole. This habit runs across the political and social spectrum and more often than not serves to muddy the waters of any possible discussion or debate. The other is more related to the material itself, namely that there are many similarities even while the different strands have very different ideological foundations. As these groups have found some common ground to work together (even on very targeted and temporary goals) the casual citizen has perceived these groups as being largely variations on one theme, which is way off the mark.

I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to combat violent extremism of any sort and especially the rise of right-wing violent extremism. You can't hope to change that which you don't understand, and this book is designed to help us understand the current environment by understanding the history and rhetoric of these groups. This is absolutely essential reading for policy makers and future activists who want to do more than simply react to actions or words but rather make substantive change in society.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

I found this to be an interesting look into a very current subject. It covered many different far-right groups, such as skinheads and other Neo-Nazis, as well as the Christian Identity groups. While interesting, I found the book to be a bit too academic for my taste. It would be a great resource for a university course on the subject.

Perliger's book is balanced, well-researched, and makes a very complicated topic understandable. I think one of the most difficult parts of getting this topic to the public in a consumable way is to connect what has sprung up over the last decade to something with historical roots that go far beyond that and Perliger does that with the skill of an academic researcher and the accessibility of a popular author.