May 2023 MBR The Political Science Shelf

The Political Science Shelf

Illiberal Vanguard
Alexandar Mihailovic
University of Wisconsin Press
728 State Street, Suite 443, Madison, WI 53706-1418
www.uwpress.wisc.edu
9780299340506, $79.95, HC, 240pp

https://www.amazon.com/Illiberal-Vanguard-Populist-Elitism-United/dp/0299340503

Synopsis: Recent years have witnessed a growing affinity between increasingly radicalized right-wing movements in the United States and Russia, countries that only recently viewed each other as intractable foes.

With the publication of " Illiberal Vanguard: Populist Elitism in the United States and Russia", Professor Alexandar Mihailovic untangles this confluence, considering ethnonationalist movements in both countries and their parallel approaches to gender, race, and performative identity. Rather than probe specific points of possible contact or political collusion, Professor Mihailovic unveils the mirrored styles of thought that characterize far-right elitism in two erstwhile enemy nations.

Professor Mihailovic investigates notable right-wing actors like Steve Bannon and Alexander Dugin and targets of right-wing ire such as globalization, LGBTQ+ activism, and mobilizations to remove controversial statues (that honor Confederate generals and Soviet leaders, for instance), but the argument extends beyond the specifics.

How and why are radical right-wing movements developing along such similar trajectories in two nominally oppositional countries? How do religious sectarianism, the construction of whiteness, and institutionalized homophobia support each other in this transnational, informal, but powerful allegiance?

Despite their appeals to populism and flamboyant theatrics, Professor Mihailovic argues, much of the answer can be found in the mutual desire to justify and organize an illiberal vanguard of elite intellectuals, one that supports and advocates for a new authoritarianism.

Critique: A seminal, informative, and impressively insight work of meticulous and deftly scripted, organized and presented scholarship, "Illiberal Vanguard: Populist Elitism in the United States and Russia" is a timely contribution to our understanding of the current political turmoil and polarity of American politics -- including the dramatic changes within the Republican Party. Informatively enhanced with the inclusion of a two page listing of Acknowledgments, twenty pages of Notes, a twenty-two page bibliography of Works Cited, and a twenty-one page Index, "Illiberal Vanguard: Populist Elitism in the United States and Russia" is a critically important and highly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library Contemporary Political Science, Fascism, and US/Russian Relations collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Alexandar Mihailovic is Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature and Russian at Hofstra University and visiting professor at Bennington College. His books include The Mitki and the Art of Postmodern Protest in Russia, Corporeal Words: Mikhail Bakhtin's Theology of Discourse, and an edited volume, Tchaikovsky and His Contemporaries: A Centenary Symposium. (https://www.bennington.edu/academics/faculty/alexandar-mihailovic)

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The Midwest Book Review is an organization of volunteers committed to promoting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. We accept no funds from authors or publishers. Full permission is given to post any of these reviews on thematically appropriate websites, newsgroups, listserves, internet discussion groups, organizational newsletters, or to interested individuals. Please give the Midwest Book Review a credit line when doing so.

The Midwest Book Review publishes the monthly book review magazines "California Bookwatch", "Internet Bookwatch", "Children's Bookwatch", "MBR Bookwatch", "Reviewer's Bookwatch", and "Small Press Bookwatch". All are available for free on the Midwest Book Review website at www (dot) midwestbookreview (dot) com

Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugalmuse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publisher, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number, and list price).

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review