Condemn and Resist

Higher education is not on the sidelines—it is ground zero in the fight for democracy. At a moment of direct political assault on universities, Condemn and Resist powerfully exposes how attacks on knowledge, labor, and public institutions are tightly linked. A vital and compelling contribution to the growing movement of workers, students, and communities refusing the dismantling of public education and democratic life.

In Condemn and Resist, Corey Dolgon has assembled a set of scholars deeply connected to the communities and lived experiences Donald Trump has taken aim at in his second presidential term. Each chapter provides essential historical context and analysis of the administration’s current attacks and their impacts, from authors steeped in theory and the power and practice of everyday organizing. The assessments in these pages will help those trying to understand the present moment as well as those seeking inspiration for how to move forward--not back to ‘normal,’ but towards a liberatory vision of the future that we can build together.

In Trump 2.0, the politics of anti-democracy have been ramped up from the first term. The result is a grave threat to the future of the republic. Corey Dolgon’s edited collection captures this threat during the first year of Trump’s second term, offering snapshots of a rapidly moving and well-organized reactionary movement. Chapters offer explorations of a range of topics, including public health, immigration, abortion rights, worker rights, LGBTQ, and the environment. At the same time, the book captures glimmers of hope, in part because of a resistance movement that has grown quickly and is shaping public opinion. This book is a valuable guide for assessing the destructiveness of Trump 2.0, preparing us for what comes next.

My friends tell me we need a revolution. I don’t disagree. I'd like to know what it looks like. How do we get there? And specifically what policies work to empower and liberate others and ourselves? For all of this to happen, we need a powerful analysis. Corey Dolgon’s Condemn and Resist gives us a blow-by-blow description of how social institutions have been attacked and dismantled over many decades—but never more rapidly and viciously than in Donald Trump’s first year back in office. The autopsy is crucial—but the book’s real strength is its issue-by -issue look at how political, social, economic, legal, and media activism make a difference. Particularly inspiring is each chapter’s focus on what our neighbors are doing to stop ICE; to stop cuts to education, health care, and women’s reproductive care; to promote labor rights; and, most of all show how grassroots efforts are building a resistance. In doing so, they also give us a glimpse of what a future society might look like. If you want to understand today better and be inspired to work for a better tomorrow, read this book!

Brilliantly conceptualized and wonderfully presented, Condemn and Resist brings together an outstanding team of experts to analyze the breadth and depth of the Trump Administration’s authoritarian assault on democracy and civil society. This book is a ‘must read’ for scholars, activists, and citizens who want to understand and resist the entire scope of Trump 2.0.

With Sociology both under attack by the Trump administration and growing right-wing authoritarianism in the US and elsewhere and very well placed to analyse inequality, injustice and the operation of power (one of the reasons that it is targeted), this important collection with a range of excellent contributions is timely, necessary and welcome. Crucially, it gives us the tools to understand Trumpism and the current conjuncture, challenge its more dangerous tendencies and implications, and defend those targeted critically and collectively.