Wronged and Dangerous

“Connecting the pandemic-like spread of right-wing populism with aggrieved masculinity (i.e. “a seething sense of rightful virility wrongly denied”), Ashcraft’s Wronged and Dangerous makes a convincing argument for shifting studies of populism away from only considering issues of class.” Love Reading

“Toxic masculinity is pervasive in contemporary politics and Ashcraft offers the best analysis to date. Wronged and Dangerous is also a sensitive engagement in the troubled politics of belonging, resentment, and anger.” Craig Calhoun, Arizona State University

“At once personal, searching, and accessible, and often funny, Ashcraft’s gender analysis charts a humane path forward through the political storms of wounded masculinity.” John Durham Peters, Yale University

“A unique, passionate reading of the entanglement of gender and New Populism, explaining how the infectious passion of aggrieved masculinity goes viral because it runs on a gender binary code.” Silvia Gherardi, University of Trento

“Ashcraft's examination of the relationship of gender and class in our political moment is both urgent and brilliant. It is easily one of the best books on populism in recent years.” Joseph Lowndes, University of Oregon

"Ashcraft’s persuasive account of how unhappy masculinities form the bedrock of right-wing populism provides cause for concern: misogynistic dragons we thought had been slain are now rousing. Aimed at an intelligent, general readership, it is a manifesto and call to action; intellectually rigorous, compassionate, thought-provoking and an excellent read. Its ideas should become part of our everyday conversations." Nancy Harding, University of Bath

"But for Karen Ashcraft, the writing was on the wall. In fact, the writing was from a book she published two years ago, which warned that “viral masculinity” was a growing threat to young men and boys not just in the United States but worldwide." CU Boulder Today

Karen Lee Ashcraft is Professor of Communication at the University of Colorado Boulder. She grew up in the lap of evangelical populism, and her research examines how gender interacts with race, class, sexuality, and more to shape organizational and cultural politics.

Introduction

Part 1: Gender as an Acquired Taste

1. Reality in Hard and Soft

2. Strongmen versus Sober Women

3. From Binary to Biodiversity

4. Of Masks and Men

5. Gender as a Matter of Life and Death

Part 2: The Feel of New Populisms

6. This Is Populism

7. Crash Course

8. New Populism

9. Anger, Downrising

10. The Problem with Anger Management

Part 3: Probable Cause

11. Class and Culture, of Course

12. Aggrieved Masculinity as Animation

13. Perish the Thought of Gender

14. Identity Politics for the Universal Human

15. Not Another Masculinity Crisis

Part 4: Virality and Virility

16. Culture Wars Can Kill

17. Dear Manosphere

18. Metaphor Matters: Poison or Pandemic?

19. Identity Politics 2.0

20. We the Sleepwalkers