Jason Stanley, a prominent scholar of fascism and author of the 2018 book "How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them," is leaving the United States to take up a position at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. The move comes as Stanley expresses deep concern over the current political climate in the US, which he fears is veering towards a "fascist dictatorship."
Stanley has just laid out his worries in a detailed piece for The Guardian. He talked about a recent directive coming out of the Department of Education that was particularly alarming. According to this directive, it may now be a civil rights violation to teach that systemic racism exists and that other currently-discussed controversial topics are traumatizing. Alarmed by such developments, Stanley has decided to relocate to Canada to raise his children "in a country that is not tilting towards a fascist dictatorship."
Stanley ultimately chose to take the position at the University of Toronto. He was driven to do so, he says, by what he perceives as a dangerous trend in US higher education. He cited Columbia University’s recent commitment to these efforts as a key influence in his decision-making process. Stanley blasted Columbia for what he saw as capitulation in the face of political pressure.
“When I saw Columbia completely capitulate, and I saw this vocabulary of, well, we’re going to work behind the scenes because we’re not going to get targeted – that whole way of thinking pre-supposes that some universities will get targeted, and you don’t want to be one of those universities, and that’s just a losing strategy,” he said.
Stanley expressed his frustration with what he perceives to be a lack of solidarity between academic institutions.
“You’ve got to just band together and say an attack on one university is an attack on all universities. And maybe you lose that fight, but you’re certainly going to lose this one if you give up before you fight,” he stated.
Though he is departing Yale, Stanley has no concerns about his capacity to pursue his scholarship elsewhere. Calhoun commended his fellow faculty members at Yale for their perseverance in resisting outside forces attacking academic freedom. What worried him most is that Yale doesn’t want the kind of negative attention that comes with being singled out by political figures. He thinks that this strategy would be ultimately unsustainable.
“I just became very worried because I didn’t see a strong enough reaction in other universities to side with Columbia. I see Yale trying not to be a target. And as I said, that’s a losing strategy,” he commented.
Stanley's move has drawn criticism from other scholars and defenders of free expression. Nikole Hannah-Jones tweeted about her fears of scholars being pushed out of US universities because of the current political climate.
“When scholars of authoritarianism and fascism leave US universities because of the deteriorating political situation here, we should really worry,” she noted.
Stanley rejects any idea that his leaving is an escape.
“I don’t see it as fleeing at all,” he remarked. “I see it as joining Canada, which is a target of Trump, just like Yale is a target of Trump.”
Yale responded by acknowledging Stanley's contributions and emphasizing its global faculty community.
“Yale is proud of its global faculty community which includes faculty who may no longer work at the institution, or whose contributions to academia may continue at a different home institution,” read a statement from Yale.