Library:Strongmen
| Strongmen | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ruth Ben-Ghiat |
| First published | 2020 |
| ISBN | 978-1-324-00154-6 unverified |
| Role | Analysis |
| Domains | Politics & Elections History |
| Tactics | Propaganda Technique |
Strongmen is a 2020 book by Ruth Ben-Ghiat.
Summary
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a historian of fascism at New York University, analyzes authoritarian leaders over the past century as a type, from Benito Mussolini to contemporary figures.
The strongman playbook
The book is organized around tools that Ben-Ghiat argues such leaders share: propaganda, the projection of virility, corruption and violence. She discusses figures including Mussolini, Hitler, Francisco Franco, Augusto Pinochet, Muammar Gaddafi, Silvio Berlusconi, Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Donald Trump.
Propaganda and personality
Ben-Ghiat emphasizes how such leaders cultivate a personal bond with followers through media spectacle, attacks on the press and repeated falsehoods.
Relevance to Bullshitopedia
A comparative account of how leaders use propaganda to build personal power. Its inclusion of contemporary democratic leaders alongside dictators has been debated by reviewers, and readers may want to weigh it against other perspectives.
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