Vendor
	C.H.BECK Anna-Sophia Mäder
Original language
German

Let's Keep Talking

Stephan Lamby

How A Family Reunion Turned Into A Journey Through The World Of Demagogues

When Stephan Lamby learned at a family celebration that his American cousin had been involved in the storming of the Capitol, he decided to embark on an unusual journey. Why are so many people susceptible to extreme views? Why do they succumb to the seductive power of demagogues? Over the course of a year, Stephan Lamby visited four countries to try and get a sense of what exactly radicalised citizens were afraid of. He wanted to understand why emocracy is hanging in the balance. His travels took him to the USA, Argentina, Italy and Germany.

They also led him back to his own family and friends. Some encounters were very painful, others heartening. He delves deep into the history of his family and the history of the countries he knows best. A hundred years on from the emergence of historical fascism, and eighty years after its downfall, he asks whether the concept of fascism is still applicable to our current political discourse. Stephan Lamby met with people at Benito Mussolini’s former residence and at Graceland, the property once owned by Elvis Presley. He observed the Argentinian president Javier Milei at close quarters, and spoke to his own American cousin, who was present at the storming of the Capitol, as well as to a doctor in Gera (Germany) who campaigns for the AfD. The conversations were almost always worthwhile. But there were also limits.

Stephan Lamby's major travelogue is a very personal snapshot