Mobilizing Resentment CL: Conservative Resurgence from the John Birch Society to the Promise Keepers

by Jean Hardisty

Book Overview

"Mobilizing Resentment provides a wealth of information for anyone interested in how to refocus the energy and idealism of the progressive movement on the building of institutions that are relevant to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807043168
• ISBN13: 9780807043165
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Beacon Press (MA)
• Length: 287 Pages
• Weight: 1.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Serious scholarship about the radical right

This important book explains clearly and well, and how and why the radical right is such a threat to the civil rights of women, gays and lesbians, and people of color. Hardisty is a political scientist whose work helps to flesh out the scholarly literature on the religious right by the likes of sociologists Sara Diamond and Dallas Blanchard, and journalists Frederick Clarkson and Robert Boston...

The Growing Blur Between Church & State

An amazing book indeed. Jean Hardisty thoroughly researches and critiques the many sectors of the political right. This is a book worth reading whether you know nothing at all about the right-wing or you make a point to know. It is especially important in view of present day politics. She not only takes the right seriously in their ability to organize and mobilize but she reveals what their true message is. As a fellow progressive I appreciate her not glossing over the Progressive Movements own weaknesses. Once we truly understand the political right as well as bravely admit to our own faults we will grow into a greater movement.

A Clear, Substantive Challenge to the Right's Agenda

In an election year (and, I expect, in its aftermath), Mobilizing Resentment provides invaluable information about the right-wing forces that inform today's electoral and policy debates--as they have since the start of the Reagan administration. In an atmosphere in which people often demonize those with significantly different politics, I find it refreshing to read an analysis that strives to understand WHY both leaders and followers place themselves in the right's camp. Because the mainstream media so often refers to the right as monolithic, it is particularly valuable to read an author who distinguishes among the ideas and strategies of the right's various parts, including the Christian Right, neo-conservatives, "equality feminists," and libertarians (who are, in less nuanced discussions, not perceived as part of the right).The author's opening description of attending a Promise Keepers rally is powerful in itself, while setting the stage for a book in which she clearly and frequently locates herself in relation to her subject. In describing the right's successful grassroots organizing, she offers a thorough and tremendously informative exploration of mass fundraising, recruitment, think tanks, publications, and interconnected organizations, as well as committed and generous funders who bankroll these essential building blocks of a social movement.Although the author mentions in passing such right-wing targets as immigrants, public education, reproductive rights, welfare recipients, and religious pluralism, she focuses on the right's attacks on gay rights and affirmative action and on the anti-feminist women's movement. She details the extensive New Right anti-gay campaign committed to convincing people, for example, that basic civil rights for lesbians and gays related to housing and jobs are somehow "special rights" to be fought vigorously. She shows how all sectors of the right view racism (despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary) as a "thing of the past"--an argument that justifies opposition to affirmative action.I find particularly fascinating the author's description of the three main strains of the anti-feminist women's movement: the Eagle Forum of Phyllis Schlafly, who was so instrumental in defeating the ERA; the less well-known, but currently far more influential, Concerned Women of America, an arm of the Christian Right; and the Independent Women's Forum, Women's Freedom Network, and assorted "equality feminists" who have been remarkably succesful in bringing their own anti-feminist message to the airwaves and OpEd pages. The book's last chapter looks to the future by focusing on activism and analysis to counter the right and to advance social and economic justice.The author's personal voice and concrete and non-academic style make this book especially accessible to all readers, including those who might be just starting to learn about the right. Its clear, substantive analysis has much to teach everyone who shares the author'

Thoughtful and Persuasive

The author uses calm and cautious language to take the reader on a tour of various segments of the political right. While clearly a critic of the political and social movements she studies, Hardisty makes a persuasive case that right-wing leaders often organize angry and anxious people by telling them to blame their problems on scapegoats. In part, they do this by using populist-sounding rhetoric to claim they represent the people against liberal elites, masking the fact that they are conservative elites. Nice trick.Her look at anti-feminist women helps explain how these intelligent and motivated women could be persuaded to organize against policies that help women become more independent and gain more equality. Hardisty lances the pretentious myth of libertarianism, exposing it as a selfish form of romantic utopianism. She also looks at the new ways that racial prejudice and stereotyping hide behind coded language and policies that proclaim they are blind to racial difference. This is a book for everyone who wants to help build a more democratic society, while refraining from demonizing their opponents and attempting to engage in civil debates.

A tour de force

This is a tour de force for Jean Hardisty. While it will not appeal to the general market ( the extreme right-wing will find it anathema), it does present a well-documented description of the "Christian" right and the libertarian movement (which should not be confused). The big-money ties of the "right" are revealed with full documentation. Those not in denial will find this a refreshing read.