George Hawley, “Making Sense of the Alt-Right” (Columbia UP, 2017)

George Hawley has written Making Sense of the Alt-Right (Columbia University Press, 2017). Hawley is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Alabama. He is the author of three previous books. From the start of this book, Hawley makes clear the racism at the heart of the alt-right–or alternative right–movement, but what he is seeking, as the title suggests, is to draw subtle but important distinctions between this manifestation of racist political organizing and others. As such, Making Sense of the Alt-Right explores how the alt-right differs from traditional white nationalism, white supremacism, libertarianism, and other extremist movements. Hawley argues that the alt-right’s use of offensive humor and its adeptness at social media trolling can make it difficult to determine its objectives. He is able to synthesize a movement that not only disagrees with liberalism but also fundamentally rejects most of the principles of conservatism in the US and has been energized by President Donald Trump.