
Extremism
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $9.45
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Matthew Josdal
-
By:
-
J.M. Berger
About this listen
A rising tide of extremist movements threaten to destabilize civil societies around the globe. It has never been more important to understand extremism, yet the dictionary definition - a logical starting point in a search for understanding - tells us only that extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme". In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, J. M. Berger offers a nuanced introduction to extremist movements, explaining what extremism is, how extremist ideologies are constructed, and why extremism can escalate into violence.
Berger, an expert on extremist movements and terrorism, explains that extremism arises from a perception of "us versus them", intensified by the conviction that the success of "us" is inseparable from hostile acts against "them". Extremism differs from ordinary unpleasantness - run-of-the-mill hatred and racism - by its sweeping rationalization of an insistence on violence. Berger illustrates his argument with case studies and examples from around the world and throughout history, from the destruction of Carthage by the Romans - often called "the first genocide" - to the apocalyptic jihadism of Al Qaeda, America's new "alt-right", and the anti-Semitic conspiracy tract The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
©2018 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (P)2019 Gildan Media, LLCRelated to this topic
-
Hate in the Homeland
- The New Global Far Right
- By: Cynthia Miller-Idriss
- Narrated by: Kelly Burke
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hate crimes. Misinformation and conspiracy theories. Foiled white-supremacist plots. The signs of growing far-right extremism are all around us, and communities across America and around the globe are struggling to understand how so many people are being radicalized and why they are increasingly attracted to violent movements. Hate in the Homeland shows how tomorrow's far-right nationalists are being recruited in surprising places, from college campuses and mixed martial arts gyms to clothing stores, online gaming chat rooms, and YouTube cooking channels.
-
-
Insightful solutions to combat our current times
- By Jacqueline Castillo on 07-17-22
-
Identity
- The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment
- By: Francis Fukuyama
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2014, Francis Fukuyama wrote that American institutions were in decay, as the state was progressively captured by powerful interest groups. Two years later, his predictions were borne out by the rise to power of a series of political outsiders whose economic nationalism and authoritarian tendencies threatened to destabilize the entire international order. These populist nationalists seek direct charismatic connection to “the people”, who are usually defined in narrow identity terms that offer an irresistible call to an in-group and exclude large parts of the population as a whole.
-
-
Robotic narrator
- By Shahin on 09-19-18
By: Francis Fukuyama
-
Fascism: The Career of a Concept
- By: Paul Gottfried
- Narrated by: Kevin Moriarty
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What does it mean to label someone a fascist? Today, it is equated with denouncing him or her as a Nazi. But as intellectual historian Paul E. Gottfried writes in this provocative yet even-handed study, the term's meaning has evolved over the years. Gottfried examines the semantic twists and turns the term has endured since the 1930s and traces the word's polemical function within the context of present ideological struggles.
-
-
Refreshing scholarly treatment of a widely misused concept
- By Minister of the Posterior on 01-15-24
By: Paul Gottfried
-
The Twilight of the American Enlightenment
- The 1950s and the Crisis of Liberal Belief
- By: George M. Marsden
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the aftermath of World War II, the United States stood at a precipice. The forces of modernity unleashed by the war had led to astonishing advances in daily life, but technology and mass culture also threatened to erode the country's traditional moral character. As award-winning historian George M. Marsden explains in The Twilight of the American Enlightenment, postwar Americans looked to the country's secular liberalelites for guidance in this precarious time, but these intellectuals proved unable to articulate a coherent common cause by which America could chart its course.
-
-
Such a relevant book to our current world
- By Adam Shields on 09-14-16
-
The Great Delusion
- Liberal Dreams and International Realities
- By: John J. Mearsheimer
- Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this major statement, the renowned international-relations scholar John Mearsheimer argues that liberal hegemony, the foreign policy pursued by the United States since the Cold War ended, is doomed to fail. It makes far more sense, he maintains, for Washington to adopt a more restrained foreign policy based on a sound understanding of how nationalism and realism constrain great powers abroad.
-
-
Dense, fact filled, sober analysis and prescription
- By John Brynjolfsson on 12-15-18
-
How Terrorism Ends
- Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns
- By: Audrey Kurth Cronin
- Narrated by: Diana Dorman
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amid the fear following 9/11 and other recent terror attacks, it is easy to forget the most important fact about terrorist campaigns: the always come to an end - and often far more quickly than expected. Contrary to what many assume, when it comes to dealing with terrorism it may be more important to understand how it ends than how it begins.
-
-
Halfway through
- By John S. on 07-27-12
-
Hate in the Homeland
- The New Global Far Right
- By: Cynthia Miller-Idriss
- Narrated by: Kelly Burke
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hate crimes. Misinformation and conspiracy theories. Foiled white-supremacist plots. The signs of growing far-right extremism are all around us, and communities across America and around the globe are struggling to understand how so many people are being radicalized and why they are increasingly attracted to violent movements. Hate in the Homeland shows how tomorrow's far-right nationalists are being recruited in surprising places, from college campuses and mixed martial arts gyms to clothing stores, online gaming chat rooms, and YouTube cooking channels.
-
-
Insightful solutions to combat our current times
- By Jacqueline Castillo on 07-17-22
-
Identity
- The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment
- By: Francis Fukuyama
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2014, Francis Fukuyama wrote that American institutions were in decay, as the state was progressively captured by powerful interest groups. Two years later, his predictions were borne out by the rise to power of a series of political outsiders whose economic nationalism and authoritarian tendencies threatened to destabilize the entire international order. These populist nationalists seek direct charismatic connection to “the people”, who are usually defined in narrow identity terms that offer an irresistible call to an in-group and exclude large parts of the population as a whole.
-
-
Robotic narrator
- By Shahin on 09-19-18
By: Francis Fukuyama
-
Fascism: The Career of a Concept
- By: Paul Gottfried
- Narrated by: Kevin Moriarty
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What does it mean to label someone a fascist? Today, it is equated with denouncing him or her as a Nazi. But as intellectual historian Paul E. Gottfried writes in this provocative yet even-handed study, the term's meaning has evolved over the years. Gottfried examines the semantic twists and turns the term has endured since the 1930s and traces the word's polemical function within the context of present ideological struggles.
-
-
Refreshing scholarly treatment of a widely misused concept
- By Minister of the Posterior on 01-15-24
By: Paul Gottfried
-
The Twilight of the American Enlightenment
- The 1950s and the Crisis of Liberal Belief
- By: George M. Marsden
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the aftermath of World War II, the United States stood at a precipice. The forces of modernity unleashed by the war had led to astonishing advances in daily life, but technology and mass culture also threatened to erode the country's traditional moral character. As award-winning historian George M. Marsden explains in The Twilight of the American Enlightenment, postwar Americans looked to the country's secular liberalelites for guidance in this precarious time, but these intellectuals proved unable to articulate a coherent common cause by which America could chart its course.
-
-
Such a relevant book to our current world
- By Adam Shields on 09-14-16
-
The Great Delusion
- Liberal Dreams and International Realities
- By: John J. Mearsheimer
- Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this major statement, the renowned international-relations scholar John Mearsheimer argues that liberal hegemony, the foreign policy pursued by the United States since the Cold War ended, is doomed to fail. It makes far more sense, he maintains, for Washington to adopt a more restrained foreign policy based on a sound understanding of how nationalism and realism constrain great powers abroad.
-
-
Dense, fact filled, sober analysis and prescription
- By John Brynjolfsson on 12-15-18
-
How Terrorism Ends
- Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns
- By: Audrey Kurth Cronin
- Narrated by: Diana Dorman
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amid the fear following 9/11 and other recent terror attacks, it is easy to forget the most important fact about terrorist campaigns: the always come to an end - and often far more quickly than expected. Contrary to what many assume, when it comes to dealing with terrorism it may be more important to understand how it ends than how it begins.
-
-
Halfway through
- By John S. on 07-27-12
-
China’s Good War
- How World War II Is Shaping a New Nationalism
- By: Rana Mitter
- Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For most of its history, the People’s Republic of China limited public discussion of the war against Japan. It was an experience of victimization - and one that saw Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek fighting for the same goals. But now, as China grows more powerful, the meaning of the war is changing. Rana Mitter argues that China’s reassessment of the World War II years is central to its newfound confidence abroad and to mounting nationalism at home.
-
-
Scholarly work
- By Kindle Customer on 09-12-23
By: Rana Mitter
-
American Exceptionalism and American Innocence
- A People's History of Fake News - From The Revolutionary War to The War on Terror
- By: Roberto Sirvent, Danny Haiphong, Ajamu Baraka - foreword, and others
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
American Exceptionalism and American Innocence examines the stories we’re told that lead us to think that the U.S. is a force for good in the world, regardless of slavery, the genocide of indigenous people, and the more than a century’s worth of imperialist war that the U.S. has wrought on the planet. Roberto Sirvent and Danny Haiphong detail just what Captain America’s shield tells us about the pretensions of U.S. foreign policy, how Angelina Jolie and Bill Gates engage in humanitarian imperialism, and more.
-
-
Still processing
- By D'Juan Eastman on 07-03-19
By: Roberto Sirvent, and others
-
White Christian Privilege
- The Illusion of Religious Equality in America
- By: Khyati Y. Joshi
- Narrated by: Priya Ayyar
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The United States is recognized as the most religiously diverse country in the world, and yet its laws and customs, which many have come to see as normal features of American life, actually keep the constitutional ideal of “religious freedom for all” from becoming a reality. Christian beliefs, norms, and practices infuse our society; they are embedded in our institutions, creating the structures and expectations that define the idea of “Americanness.”
-
-
Audible needs to allow longer headlines
- By Adam Shields on 07-28-20
By: Khyati Y. Joshi
-
The Light That Failed
- Why the West Is Losing the Fight for Democracy
- By: Ivan Krastev, Stephen Holmes
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why did the West, after winning the Cold War, lose its political balance? In the early 1990s, hopes for the eastward spread of liberal democracy were high. And yet the transformation of Eastern European countries gave rise to a bitter repudiation of liberalism itself, not only there but also back in the heartland of the West. In this brilliant work of political history, Ivan Krastev and Stephen Holmes argue that the supposed end of Communism turned out to be only the beginning of the age of the autocrat.
-
-
Great text
- By Safronov on 05-03-21
By: Ivan Krastev, and others
-
Another Bloody Century
- By: Colin Gray
- Narrated by: David Shaw-Parker
- Length: 19 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many nations, peoples and special interest groups believe that violence will advance their cause. Warfare has changed greatly since the Second World War; it continued to change during the late 20th century, and this process is still accelerating. Political, technological, social and religious forces are shaping the future of warfare, but most Western armed forces have yet to evolve significantly from the Cold War era when they trained to resist a conventional invasion by the Warsaw Pact.
-
-
a must read for those who study warfare
- By Austin on 01-21-24
By: Colin Gray
-
ISIS
- A History
- By: Fawaz A. Gerges
- Narrated by: Bradley Hayes
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Islamic State has stunned the world with its savagery, destructiveness, and military and recruiting successes. What explains the rise of ISIS, and what does it portend for the future of the Middle East? In this book, one of the world's leading authorities on political Islam and jihadism sheds new light on these questions as he provides a unique history of the rise and growth of ISIS. Moving beyond journalistic accounts, Fawaz Gerges provides a clear and compelling account of the deeper conditions that fuel ISIS.
-
-
Great information and understanding
- By Anon on 12-02-16
By: Fawaz A. Gerges
-
The Enemy at Home
- The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11
- By: Dinesh D'Souza
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dinesh D'Souza, the most original and controversial writer on politics and society in the U.S. today, uncovers the links between the spread of American pop culture, leftist ideas, and secular values and the rise of anti-Americanism throughout the world. In The Enemy at Home, D'Souza makes the startling claim that 9/11 and other terrorist acts can be directly traced to the ideas and attitudes perpetrated by America's cultural left.
-
-
FINALLY, Someone gets it!!
- By Ron Egolf on 03-21-07
By: Dinesh D'Souza
-
The Anatomy of Fascism
- By: Robert O. Paxton
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is fascism? By focusing on the concrete, what the fascists did rather than what they said, the esteemed historian Robert O. Paxton answers this question for the first time. From the first violent uniformed bands beating up "enemies of the state", through Mussolini's rise to power, to Germany's fascist radicalization in World War II, Paxton shows clearly why fascists came to power in some countries and not others.
-
-
Great book for getting a clearer idea of fascism
- By Amazon Customer on 11-02-17
By: Robert O. Paxton
-
Democracy Incorporated
- Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism
- By: Sheldon S. Wolin
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sheldon Wolin considers the unthinkable: has America unwittingly morphed into a new and strange kind of political hybrid, one where economic and state powers are conjoined and virtually unbridled? Can the nation check its descent into what the author terms "inverted totalitarianism"? Wolin portrays a country where citizens are politically uninterested and submissive - and where elites are eager to keep them that way.
-
-
Essential listening....
- By M. Levine on 02-25-11
By: Sheldon S. Wolin
-
China in the 21st Century, 3rd Edition
- What Everyone Needs to Know
- By: Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this fully revised and updated third edition, Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom and Maura Elizabeth Cunningham provide cogent answers to urgent questions regarding the world's newest superpower and offer a framework for understanding China's meteoric rise from developing country to superpower. Framing their answers through the historical legacies that largely define China's present-day trajectory, Wasserstrom and Cunningham introduce listeners to the Chinese Communist Party, the building boom in Shanghai, and the environmental fallout of rapid Chinese industrialization.
-
-
Amazing!
- By Anonymous User on 07-11-20
By: Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, and others
-
The Next Christendom
- The Coming of Global Christianity
- By: Philip Jenkins
- Narrated by: Robert Feifar
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this new and substantially expanded Third Edition, Philip Jenkins continues to illuminate the remarkable expansion of Christianity in the global South - in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Drawing upon the extensive new scholarship that has appeared on this topic in recent years, he asks how the new Christianity is likely to affect the poor, among whom it finds its most devoted adherents. How should we interpret the enormous success of prosperity churches across the Global South? Politically, what will be the impact of new Christian movements?
-
-
Be aware that the audio book is an old edition
- By GANC Line on 04-20-18
By: Philip Jenkins
-
The Battle for Bonhoeffer
- By: Stephen R. Haynes
- Narrated by: Trevor Thompson
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The figure of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) has become a clay puppet in modern American politics. Secular, radical, liberal, and evangelical interpreters variously shape and mold the martyr’s legacy to suit their own pet agendas. Stephen Haynes offers an incisive and clarifying perspective. A recognized Bonhoeffer expert, Haynes examines “populist” readings of Bonhoeffer, including the acclaimed biography by Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy.
-
-
Bonhoeffer was a person, not a Rorschach test
- By Adam Shields on 10-12-18
What listeners say about Extremism
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- David
- 02-27-22
Performance is wooden and smug
Analysis is strong and also worth rereading, but I reduced 1 star for the performance. It’s just too wooden and smug.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Straightforward analysis of extremism.
Narration is acceptable, actually, a bit better than that.
As brief as this audio is, it could have been reduced to2–2.5 hours of listening, as a lot of the information is unnecessarily reiterated.
I RECOMMEND this audio, because the authors simple definition of extremism makes sense and is supported by extensive research, including compelling examples.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sunshine
- 08-02-24
Good exploration of extremism
Oftentimes we observe individuals voting against their own best interest or participating in theories and activities that are inherently negatively bias towards them or their identities; this is summed up well in chapter 5 (I think that’s the chapter this is from): “Studies suggest the tendency to prefer the status quo is strong enough to overcome bases against out groups even when the status quote disadvantages one’s own group and provide advantages to a competing group.”
Further the parallels between religious terroristic efforts and American political conservative landscape is spot on and ever visible in today’s stage - especially considering the continual onslaught to women’s autonomy and personhood. The religious zealot’s effort to force both marriage (end of no fault divorce, end of marriage equality, end of SA ruling for spousal assault) and children (pro-forced birth) is especially evident.
Lastly, as the book highlights, no “side” or group is without its extremist segments and we must be ever vigilant and prepared to stop radicalization that leads to extremism and violence as it serves no one.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jason Blum
- 10-30-24
Good book
Very academic book. If you want a Masters, read it. If you want more of a less academic book, don’t read this.
Jason Blum
Wash DC
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- H.B.
- 03-16-24
book is passable but plagued by left-wing bias
the book is passable but poisoned by left-wing bias and innuendo. "”Cato was an early populist-nationalist. He was a paleo-conservative even relative to the standards of the day— militaristic, misogynistic, and racist ”. Uh?! Of course, Berger here simply “telegraphs” the politically convenient rubbish some other woke somnambulist published elsewhere: academic cronyism. It is absurd to apply to people or events centuries or even millennia in the past the standards political opportunism dictates here this season. "”The actions of the conquistadors left as many as 70 million dead through a combination of intentional massacres, the effects of enslavement, and the introduction of deadly diseases ”. If only one figured that estimates for the Ottoman Empire's population in the year 1500 are at 15 million people.Of course, for many the only purpose of publishing any book on any arcane subject is to add political condiment that tickles the taste buds of the radical today. And many other examples I dispense with.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!