Stanislav Vysotsky's Avatar

Stanislav Vysotsky

@professorstas.bsky.social

old punk. cranky academic. critical sociologist and criminologist. antifa and fascism scholar. author of American Antifa from Routledge and Antifa: What Everyone Needs to Know forthcoming on Oxford University Press. https://antifascismresearchnetwork.com/

5,023 Followers  |  1,167 Following  |  176 Posts  |  Joined: 18.12.2023
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Posts by Stanislav Vysotsky (@professorstas.bsky.social)

Functionally, anyone who is taking a stand against antifascism is a fascist. Conservatism has taken such a hard right turn - not that it wasnโ€™t bigoted before - that it would be hard to parse it from fascism these days.

27.02.2026 01:56 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Unfortunately, what we got in the trade off for not having quasi-fascists in power was more neoliberal austerity.

27.02.2026 01:26 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Conservative MP searches for โ€˜antifaโ€™ in federal government, Canadian Armed Forces - National | Globalnews.ca Federal departments and the Canadian Armed Forces must answer by April how many members of anti-fascist groups work for the public service and the military.

So much of the discussion about antifa on the right is projection of their strategies onto the left. The right has billionaire financing, so the left must also. The right joins the military for training, so the left must also. Hopefully, this doesnโ€™t go beyond grandstanding.

27.02.2026 01:17 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 30    ๐Ÿ” 15    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

This would be funny if it wasnโ€™t so dangerous. Of course thereโ€™s no leader of a decentralized, loosely networked political tendency; but the feds have been tasked with finding one, and no one is safe as long as they keep up their paranoid search.

03.02.2026 02:49 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 15    ๐Ÿ” 11    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
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Trump and His Party Have Put Ilhan Omar in Danger for Years The Minnesota congresswoman has weathered years of racist smears from Trump and his right-wing lackeys, in the lead-up to Tuesdayโ€™s attack on her.

"Trump and His Party Have Put Ilhan Omar in Danger for Years"

The Minnesota congresswoman has weathered years of racist smears from Trump and his right-wing lackeys, in the lead-up to Tuesdayโ€™s attack on her. Zeteo has the receipts.

29.01.2026 03:44 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2145    ๐Ÿ” 414    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 54    ๐Ÿ“Œ 14
Screenshot of tweet from the ONEBC party quote tweeting Dallas Brodie who is quote tweeting Cosmin Dzsurdzsa. 

ONEBC tweet says โ€œANTIFA is planning on attacking US targets in Canada and the Canadian government still cannot find a reason to list ANTIFA as terrorists.

They are terrorists!โ€

Brodieโ€™s tweet says, โ€œCanada must list ANTIFA as a terrorist organization. The fact that it has not been yet is worrying.

Are there ANTIFA sympathizers in the federal government?โ€

Dzsurdzsaโ€™s tweet says, โ€œBREAKING: Antifa cells in Canada are calling for โ€œattacksโ€ on US businesses & โ€œriotsโ€ to spread terror over Maduroโ€™s arrest

The call came from a Montreal-based cell and spread across affiliated sites. Ottawa has refused to label Antifa groups terror orgsโ€ with a link to a Juno News story about supposed antifa calls for violence.

Screenshot of tweet from the ONEBC party quote tweeting Dallas Brodie who is quote tweeting Cosmin Dzsurdzsa. ONEBC tweet says โ€œANTIFA is planning on attacking US targets in Canada and the Canadian government still cannot find a reason to list ANTIFA as terrorists. They are terrorists!โ€ Brodieโ€™s tweet says, โ€œCanada must list ANTIFA as a terrorist organization. The fact that it has not been yet is worrying. Are there ANTIFA sympathizers in the federal government?โ€ Dzsurdzsaโ€™s tweet says, โ€œBREAKING: Antifa cells in Canada are calling for โ€œattacksโ€ on US businesses & โ€œriotsโ€ to spread terror over Maduroโ€™s arrest The call came from a Montreal-based cell and spread across affiliated sites. Ottawa has refused to label Antifa groups terror orgsโ€ with a link to a Juno News story about supposed antifa calls for violence.

Over on that other fascist site, BCโ€™s far-right party is trying the same antifa are terrorists narrative as their US compatriots.

06.01.2026 03:13 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 7    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

This is just white nationalist rhetoric. This administration has moved from being fascist to straight up nazi.

21.12.2025 23:55 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 11    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The Criminalization of Antifa In the wake of the shooting of Charlie Kirk,ย andย in response to ongoing protests against snatch and grab raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, the Trump administratโ€ฆ

I wrote this summary of the criminalization of antifa. Labelling antifa as a terrorist group has major implications for repression of left-wing activism but doesn't seem to have much public support outside of the right-wing echo chamber.

16.12.2025 22:19 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 11    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Elon's little serfs are quite literally begging journalists to come back because every publicly available source of data shows people have fled the platform and young people won't use it.

They are literally begging regular people to come back. Don't do it! It is a website by and for actual Nazis!

15.12.2025 01:27 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 17703    ๐Ÿ” 5035    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 398    ๐Ÿ“Œ 358

Pepper spray can cause serious harm to adults, let alone a one year old.

15.12.2025 01:57 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Trump celebrated that extrajudicial killing in a campaign rally. He and his supporters want to see antifascists and leftists killed.

15.12.2025 00:29 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 7    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Bear in mind that during the first Trump administration, U.S. Marshals engaged in the extrajudicial killing of Michael Reinohl after he allegedly killed a far-right activist in Portland claiming self-defense.

15.12.2025 00:29 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 13    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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White House Refuses to Rule Out Summary Executions of People on Its Secret Domestic Terrorist List The Trump administration ignored questions about whether it would order the killings of those on its NSPM-7 list โ€” even while answering our other queries.

The administration is willing to engage in extrajudicial killing of antifa activists and others on the left.

15.12.2025 00:25 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 71    ๐Ÿ” 39    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

The way the word elites has become devoid of all meaning is interesting. Itโ€™s a placeholder for โ€œsomeone I donโ€™t likeโ€ and it fascinates me that the people who use it most are wealthy, went to โ€œeliteโ€ schools and hold positions of power. Look in the damn mirror. Youโ€™re talking about yourself.

14.12.2025 04:18 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2155    ๐Ÿ” 280    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 47    ๐Ÿ“Œ 15

People should take a page out of New School faculty's book and start doing forensic accounting for their own institutions using public documents

14.12.2025 21:08 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 383    ๐Ÿ” 127    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 5    ๐Ÿ“Œ 10

Part of the Chanukah tradition is to place the light menorah either outside or in a window where outsiders can see it. This is supposed to advertise the miracle of Chanukah. These days, it is also a way of saying, โ€œThis is a Jewish home.โ€

Every year I think about how it is also an act of bravery.

14.12.2025 17:53 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4734    ๐Ÿ” 735    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 19    ๐Ÿ“Œ 29

At best, that makes Chomsky a liberal on the issue of fascist speech, but itโ€™s a strategically and tactically unsound position. For this to work, the subject of the ridicule needs to care about othersโ€™ view of them. Fascists just donโ€™t care if their enemies mock them.

14.12.2025 00:35 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

From his defense of the free speech rights of Holocaust deniers to his more recent statements opposing antifa activism, Chomsky has been consistently wrong on fascism in its social movement form.

13.12.2025 23:29 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 26    ๐Ÿ” 7    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Post image

In case you have never seen this.

13.12.2025 22:38 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3179    ๐Ÿ” 1268    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 68    ๐Ÿ“Œ 74

Theyโ€™re trying so hard to make antifa a terrorist threat because it gives them a broad brush to criminalize and persecute the left. They will go after locally based antifascist affinity groups to try to look like theyโ€™ve made progress on their threats.

11.12.2025 20:40 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

The DOJ is moving from vague threats against antifascists and the left to targeted persecution.

07.12.2025 21:15 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Pam Bondi tells law enforcement agencies to investigate antifa groups for โ€˜tax crimesโ€™ Move is part of Trumpโ€™s broader crackdown on leftwing groups, including designation of antifa as โ€˜domestic terrorismโ€™ group

This is indicative of how little these people actually know about antifa activism, but itโ€™s still a dangerous open-ended method for persecuting antifascists and the left.

07.12.2025 08:07 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 12    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The Feds Want to Make It Illegal to Even Possess an Anarchist Zine Daniel Sanchez is facing federal charges for what free speech advocates say is a clear attack on the First Amendment.

Apparently, possessing anarchist zines makes someone โ€œantifa.โ€ Further proof that this is just a war on the left. The administration is going for more radical and marginalized activists before it turns its attention on more mainstream ones.

24.11.2025 02:03 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 92    ๐Ÿ” 48    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3

Identifying fascists is a thorough, methodical, and verifiable process.

14.11.2025 20:42 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 72    ๐Ÿ” 30    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

The administration is going to have a hard time proving any link between domestic antifa groups and any of the networks listed in todayโ€™s designation, but that wonโ€™t stop them from bringing the full force of federal law enforcement against antifascists domestically.

14.11.2025 02:51 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 23    ๐Ÿ” 13    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

Antifa Ost is no more an organization than any antifa group in North America. The โ€œterrorismโ€ that people affiliated with it were convicted of engaging in was violent attacks on a neo-nazi bar owner who was instrumental in fascist violence in Eastern Germany.

13.11.2025 22:29 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 10    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

There seems to be no justification for how they determined any of these groups are foreign terrorist groups. And certainly no evidence that they have direct ties to any U.S. antifa groups. Just like with the rest of this antifa panic, theyโ€™re just randomly creating boogeymen.

13.11.2025 20:26 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 45    ๐Ÿ” 19    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Fascists tried to have a conference in Vancouver. It was infiltrated. Now, theyโ€™ve been identified.

10.11.2025 20:44 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 36    ๐Ÿ” 15    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

The conflation of movements in this excerpt is really troubling but not unexpected. This is the same logic of all counter-extremism thinking that lumps different movements and ideologies into one amorphous enemy.

05.11.2025 20:25 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 7    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0