Illiberal Vanguard

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.

• Preface Introduction: The Neoglobalism of the American and Russian Far-Right IntelligentsiaChapter 1: A Place at the High Table: Mythologizing the Russian Intelligentsia, Crusading against US ElitesChapter 2: Whither the State? Steve Bannon, the Alt-Right, and Lenin’s State and RevolutionChapter 3: Hijacking Academic Authority: Racism and the Internet Expertise of Kevin MacDonald and Alexander DuginChapter 4: The Spectacle of God’s Will: Performing Homophobia in the Russian FederationChapter 5: Statuary Performances: Monuments and Neopaganism in the United States and the Russian FederationConclusion: The Fight against Rightist ElitesAcknowledgmentsNotesWorks CitedIndex

“An erudite and informed analysis of the cultural and intellectual dynamics of far-right intellectuals in the US and Russia.”—Choice “[A] thoroughly informed and timely study of radical conservative movements and actors in contemporary Russia and the United States, their connection to mainstream conservative constituents, and their influence on the wider political landscape in both countries. . . . The conclusion takes [Mihailovic’s] book further beyond the academy and into the political. Identifying danger for the future of democracy in the manufacturing of popular consent that the far right achieves through their growing dominance in the cultural sphere, the book concludes with a call for action.”—The Russian Review “A seminal, informative, and impressively insightful work of meticulous and deftly scripted, organized, and presented scholarship, Illiberal Vanguard: Populist Elitism in the United States and Russia is a timely contribution. . . . A critically important and highly recommended addition.”—Midwest Book Review“This book raises a crucial issue for our time. Mihailovic brings a scholarly eye and a sharp cross-cultural understanding to fill important gaps in our knowledge not only about rightist movements in both the United States and Russia but how they relate to each other.”—Tom Nichols, contributing writer, The Atlantic, and author of Our Own Worst Enemy “Sensitive to cultural differences, Alexandar Mihailovic’s brilliantly articulate Illiberal Vanguard draws rich parallels between radical conservatives in both the United States and Russia and their strange alliance in the Internet age, focusing particularly on the emergence of a public-intellectual elite among them. This book is a must-read for those who would like to untangle the complicated roots of Russian and American neonationalism.”—Edith W. Clowes, author of Russia on the Edge: Imagined Geographies and Post-Soviet Identity