The Dig Fascist Police State w/ Alberto Toscano and Stuart Schrader
23 snips
Sep 18, 2025 
Alberto Toscano, a scholar of fascism and political theory, pairs with Stuart Schrader, a historian focused on policing and counterinsurgency, to explore the impact of Trump's intensified policing strategies on American society. They discuss the disturbing trend of federal-centralized law enforcement following 9/11 and the politicization of ICE as a tool of repression. The guests also analyze the carceral roots of fascization, connecting historical accounts of policing with contemporary authoritarian practices, revealing a chilling vision of America's governance.
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Paramilitary Aesthetic In Street Policing
- Stuart notes ICE agents often wear paramilitary gear mismatched to their desk roles, borrowing equipment or buying online.
- That aesthetic blurs military and police identities on U.S. streets.
Colonial Policing Shapes Fascism Theory
- Black and colonial theorists linked fascism to colonial police and military repression against labor and strikes.
- In the U.S., fascization was seen as preventive, via legal counterinsurgency and deputized violence.
Liberal Complicity In Spreading Repression
- Liberal policymakers often enabled repressive techniques abroad which later became hard to contain.
- Once counterinsurgency tools are deployed, they tend to spread and intensify rather than recede.
