Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future

We are delighted to host scholar Jason Stanley in conversation with Rethinking Schools editor Jesse Hagopian for an online class on Monday, May 12.

Here is why:

In Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future, Jason Stanley exposes the ways authoritarian regimes manipulate historical narratives to maintain power.

Stanley demonstrates how attacks on education and historical memory support authoritarianism, undermining public understanding of past struggles for justice.

By showing how history is weaponized to advance political agendas, Stanley underscores the importance of preserving historical truth as a safeguard against authoritarian rule.

Stanley doesn’t just diagnose the problem — he also offers strategies to resist these attacks, from advocating for historical literacy to supporting educators under fire. As one of those resistance strategies, he points to the role of teachers using people’s history lessons from the Zinn Education Project.

This class is in preparation for the 5th annual Teach Truth Day of Action.

Jason Stanley is the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University and a Distinguished Professor at the Kyiv School of Economics. Stanley has written seven books, including How Propaganda Works, How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, and Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future.

ASL interpretation provided.

Professional development credit certificate provided upon request for attendees.