Fascism or Genocide

How a Decade of Political Disorder Broke American Politics

Ross Barkan

$42.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Verso Books
04 November 2025

Socialism & left-of-centre democratic ideologies; Political parties; Political corruption

Fascism or Genocide is New York Times Magazine writer Ross

Barkan’s sweeping report on the 2024 US election and the

decade of political upheaval that led up to it. From the primary

season that set up Biden and Trump to face off for the second

time, to the dramatic replacement of Biden by Harris, to

Trump's total victory, Barkan tells a riveting story of epochal

political disenchantment and chaos. The spectre of two elderly

men waging a retread campaign has alienated large swaths of

the electorate. During the Democratic primary season, more

than half a million Americans across the country cast votes for “Uncommitted” ballot options to send the Democrats a message

about the urgent need to end the killing in Gaza. These voters

contrast with the sentiments of mainstream liberals, who

believe Trump poses an existential threat to democracy and

that the Democrats must be saved despite their failure to

respond to vast swathes of the electorate's demands. And yet

millions of Democratic voters stayed home and sit the election

out. As the director of an influential Palestinian advocacy group

told Barkan, “It’s a choice between genocide or fascism.""

By: Ross Barkan
Imprint: Verso Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 129mm, Spine: 17mm
Weight: 260g
ISBN: 9781804299388
ISBN 10: 1804299383
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 04 November 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

1 The Squad 2 Trump 3 Biden 4 Social Justice 5 Israel 6 Culture 7 The Election 8 The Changing Resistance

Ross Barkan is a contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine. He is the author of two novels and The Prince: Andrew Cuomo, Coronovirus, and the Fall of New York. Washington Post columnist Shadi Hamid called him “consistently one of the most interesting and original essayists of his generation.” His essays have appeared in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, GQ, and the Columbia Journalism Review, among others

Reviews for Fascism or Genocide: How a Decade of Political Disorder Broke American Politics

One of the sharpest state policy minds I know. * Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez * A writer with real literary flair. Like I.F. Stone, Barkan works independently with a left point of view, but it's his shoe leather, his working the phones and hitting the street, that's invaluable because, sadly, it's so scarce. * Christian Lorentzen * Praise for The Prince A swift and devastating read. Barkan writes fluently, marshals facts persuasively, and foregrounds the.contempt for the powerless. * The Nation *