A politics of hope: Author Christopher Mathias talks about his book, 'To Catch a Fascist' * Oregon ArtsWatch

"There is a long, proud American tradition of unmasking fascists. Far-right extremists everywhere have found anonymity to be a useful tool in their agendas of brutality, preventing social and legal repercussions through overt intolerance, hate, and violence. Today, many indulge in the fantasy that total anonymity is a couple of burner emails and a cryptic username away."

"Mathias' book profiles anti-fascists who use subtlety, subterfuge, and espionage to pull hateful and potentially violent extremists into the light, to squirm and writhe in the sun. Mathias found himself often turning to anti-fascist activists for information, as antifa was gathering the best intelligence about the far right, often through espionage."

Christopher Mathias, a veteran journalist, has written a book titled To Catch a Fascist: The Fight to Expose the Radical Right, which he describes as a nonfiction anti-fascist spy thriller. The book chronicles the work of anti-fascist activists and organizations who investigate and unmask extremists involved in white supremacist, neo-Nazi, and fascist movements. Mathias draws on his extensive journalism career covering the modern American far right, during which he observed that anti-fascist activists gathered superior intelligence about extremist groups through espionage and investigation. The book profiles these activists as they use subtlety, subterfuge, and espionage to expose hateful and potentially violent extremists. Mathias emphasizes that unmasking fascists represents a long American tradition, and that far-right extremists rely on anonymity to avoid social and legal consequences for their intolerance and violence.

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