Classics and the Alt-Right Conundrum

Existential fears of “losing” what is seen as “Western Civilization” have animated many within what is considered the alt-right. However, the valorization of “western civilization” is often rooted in romanticized notions of ancient Greece and Rome, which alt-right groups have appropriated and promoted in recent propaganda. Why and how do nationalists in Europe and the U.S. draw contemporary connections to ancient Greece and Rome? What are the consequences of this for our understandings of the ancient era? And what should scholars in the Classics and History do about it? On this episode of History Talk, hosts Jessica Viñas-Nelson and Brenna Miller speak with three classists to discuss the alt-right’s appropriation of classical history: Denise Eileen McCoskey, Donna Zuckerberg, and Curtis Dozier.

For more on this topic, see:

Denise Eileen McCoskey - "Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts: How Neo-Nazis and Ancient Greeks Met in Charlottesville"

Curtis Dozier - Pharos: Doing Justice to the Classics and The Mirror of Antiquity Podcast

Donna Zuckerberg - How to Be a Good Classicist Under a Bad Emperor

Posted on: September 2018

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A transcript of this podcast is available at https://origins.osu.edu/historytalk/classicists-and-white-supremacists%20alt-right%20trump%20western%20civilization%20culture