Professor Yale, who studies fascism, has put the US in a Canadian university because of the current political situation in the United States.
Jason Stanley, who wrote the 2018 book How Fastism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, has accepted his position at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.
Stanley told Daily Nooth, the philosophy profession website, that he had made the decision to “raising children in a country that is not leaning towards a fascist dictatorship.”
He said in an interview that Columbia University’s recent actions moved him to accept the offer. Last Friday, Columbia succumbed to the Trump administration by agreeing to a series of demands to restore federal funds to $400 million. These changes include cracking down on protests, improving the security capabilities of several academic programs, such as the Middle East Research Division, and “internal reviews.”
“When we see Colombia fully surrender, when we see this vocabulary, we are not targeted, so we are going to work behind the scenes.
Stanley added: “You just have to unite and say that an attack on a certain university is an attack on every university, and you may lose that fight, but if you give up before you fight, you will certainly lose this.
“Colombia was just that kind of warning,” he said. “I was very worried because I didn’t see strong enough responses to Colombia at other universities. I see Yale keeping it from being a target, and like I said, it’s a losing strategy.”
Stanley wasn’t worried about his ability to continue his scholarship at Yale, but said the broader climate for the university played a role. He said he hoped the other teachers of Yale to stand up against the attacks on their profession and that he wanted him to stay with them and fight.
“But if you’re not an American, how can you speak loudly?” he asked. “And if you’re not an American citizen, when will they come for American citizens? That’s inevitable.”
Social media posts spread on Wednesday, noting that fascist scholars had an alarm sounded to leave the country over the political situation. Nicole Hannah Jones, journalist and creator of the 1619 project, wrote on the social media platform Bluesky:
In a statement, Yale said it was “home to world-class faculty dedicated to scholarships and education excellence.”
“Yale is proud of the global faculty community, including faculty members who may no longer work in facilities, or whose contribution to academia may continue at another home institution,” the university said. “Faculty members make career decisions for a variety of reasons, and the university respects all such decisions.”
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Stanley recently wrote to The Guardian about a new Department of Education directive that said teaching on systemic racism and other topics could be the basis for civil rights violations, according to the Trump administration’s legal interpretation. Stanley said the order sets the country “a path to education authoritarianism.”
He considered leaving the US in 2017, but said the second Trump administration has proven “unquestionably” worse than the first. Stanley’s profile is also on the rise after several books on propaganda and fascism were published. Munk School builds its program with the view that there is a “an international struggle against democracy” and offers “a very exciting intellectual opportunity,” he said.
“I don’t think I’ll run away from it at all,” he said. “I think Yale is joining Trump’s target Canada, just like Trump’s target.”
What does it mean that fascist scholars are leaving America now? Stanley said: “Part of that is because it’s like ultimately leaving Germany in 1932. 33, 34. There’s resonance. My grandmother left Berlin in 1939 with my father.
