THE PERSUADERS

A sharp examination of how activists are working to build resistance to the many antidemocratic forces now at work around the world.

In 2013, writes political analyst Giridharadas, a Russian troll farm recruited writers with the pledge of free meals and weekly payments in exchange for social media posts that supported Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine. The farm soon added a brief “to foment political unrest in Russia’s great adversary, the United States,” by exploiting already widening divisions in American society in order to undermine belief in democracy. The drumbeat sounded to both left and right at Russian hands: “These people are not to be trusted. They will never change. They are who they are. And who they are is a risk to your being.” Granted, notes the author in a cogent, sometimes encouraging narrative, there were yawning divisions to exploit, and they would widen with the rise of Donald Trump on the right and Bernie Sanders on the left. Some of Giridharadas’ subjects seem more or less doctrinaire at first blush: Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, say, who came under resounding assault from her own progressive wing for having dared say something nice about John McCain after he died, giving indications that there may be room for common ground after all. Of course, there are plenty of good reasons for political division. As one social justice activist told the author, “You probably don’t want to end up in a partnership with Jared Kushner just because you favor prison reform.” But most of the activists the author illuminatingly profiles are seriously committed to building bridges to a kinder, gentler, more united politics at a time when many purists, agreeing with others on 90% of issues, confine their focus to the 10% difference. Instead, the goal is to help voters find common ground, recognizing, for one thing, that “making manipulated people feel stupid is a terrible way to fight these [antidemocratic] forces.”

A welcome, revealing study of how political messages can be shaped positively to counter both enmity and disinformation.