Chain of Ideas - Large Print by Ibram X Kendi (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The National Book Award-winning historian of Stamped from the Beginning charts how "great replacement theory" has moved from the margins to become the most dominant politcal theory of our time--and what we can do to safeguard democracy from this insidious threat.

Recall the words chanted in Charlottesville, Virginia, but heard around the world: "You will not replace us!" Recall the string of mass shooters around the world--in Oslo and Christchurch, Buffalo, El Paso, and Pittsburgh--who claimed their crimes were a defense against "White genocide." Recall business and media figures cultivating anxiety and furor over demographic change. These incidents only scratch the surface of this ascendant idea: Popular and ruling politicians in every region of the world have been expressing some version of great replacement theory, eroding democratic norms in the name of preventing demographic change and restoring national greatness.

What is great replacement theory? Variations on the theory have existed for centuries, but it was given this name by a French novelist in 2011 who believed Black and Brown immigrants were "invading" Europe, brought by shadowy elites to "replace" Europe's White population. From there, politicians and theorists--whether in the United States or the United Kingdom, Germany or Chile, Hungary or Australia--repackaged the conspiracy as a story of "globalists" welcoming "migrant criminals" and diversity initiatives to take away the jobs, cultures, electoral power, and the very lives of White people. Over time, great replacement theory has expanded the threat to include citizens, men, Jews, Christians, heterosexuals, and ethnic majorities in countries as distinct as Russia, El Salvador, Brazil, Italy, and India. All are targeted with the message that they are under an existential attack that only a strongman can prevent.

In our fast-shifting political landscape, most people are unfamiliar with this theory's origins and its spread, which isn't a coincidence. In Chain of Ideas, international bestselling author Ibram X. Kendi uses exacting and clear prose to uncover the roots of great replacement theory and its various mutations around the world. It is an unsettling but indispensable global history of how great replacement theory brought humanity into this authoritarian age--and how we can free ourselves from it.

About the Author

Dr. Ibram X. Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University and the founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. Dr. Kendi is the author of many highly acclaimed books including Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction, making him the youngest-ever winner of that award. He has also produced five #1 New York Times bestsellers, including How to Be an Antiracist, Antiracist Baby, and Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, co-authored by Jason Reynolds. In 2020, Time magazine named Dr. Kendi one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, popularly known as the Genius Grant.