This talk looks at the “authoritarian playbook” of propaganda, corruption, violence, and machismo that has sustained illiberal leaders for a century. It also addresses how to strike back at authoritarians, drawing on historical cases of their falls from power.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat is Professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University. She writes about fascism, authoritarianism, and propaganda. She is the recipient of Guggenheim and other fellowships, an advisor to Protect Democracy, and a historical consultant for film and television. She is an MSNBC opinion columnist and provides commentary on MSNBC, CNN, and other networks. She publishes Lucid, a newsletter on threats to democracy. Her latest is book, Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present (2020; paperback, 2021).

This talk is sponsored by Dr. Henry Giroux and the McMaster Center for Scholarship in the Public Interest