Listen to a sample
Book Bans, Disinformation, and Cultural Erasure
- Author
- Paul T. Jaeger
- Narrator
- John Chancer
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Publish Date
- 12 November 2026
- Run Time
- 7 hours 56 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
Across schools, libraries, and museums—in the United States and elsewhere—the coordinated onslaught of efforts to remove books and roll back diversity initiatives are reshaping public life. While both these methods of cultural control have been widely used for centuries, their nefarious role as part of a larger effort has been overlooked. This book connects the dots between censorship, disinformation, and cultural erasure and explores the sturdiness of democracy in a period of enormous political upheaval.
Blending research with real-world examples across time and place, it offers practical ways to push back on this alarming movement—through advocacy strategies, direct actions, educational activities, research initiatives, and legal and policy changes.
When we understand these threats as interconnected, we are better able to combat them. This perspective empowers educators, cultural heritage professionals, and supporters of democratic institutions to defend the spaces where knowledge is shared and preserved.
Critics Review
-
Book Bans, Disinformation, and Cultural Erasure is exactly the book we need right now: drawing together the myriad issues the US and its libraries face. Jaeger is exactly the person to tackle the phenomena of this volume: a scholar with deep learning and research who engages public matters. He covers not just contemporary issues but the long tail of their history and context that gives them current resonance and oxygen. At each step Jaeger brings the stakes – social, political, educational – to bear on libraries and learning and democratic society. It is also very well written. In all, a feat of synthesis and analysis that will define both scholarship on and how we think about the last decade and a half.
Dean of University Libraries and Associate Provost for Research and Innovation Seton Hall University, USA
-
An incisive, extensively researched assessment of the political and social context of American censorship, misinformation, and cultural erasure. This well-crafted treatise explains how censorship reflects a much broader societal movement that destabilizes society’s dispossessed and undermines their access to power. Jaeger provides a wakeup call to librarians and urges them to confront the warning signs endangering the health of our democracy.
Teaching Professor, Rutgers University Department of Library and Information Science, and Past President, American Library Association, USA
-
Paul T. Jaeger provides a sharp, critical, and contemporary analysis at the intersection of book bans, disinformation, and cultural erasure, targeted at libraries, schools, and democratic institutions under the far-right political leadership in the United States. Refurbishing past writings organized through a fresh array of related topics, Jaeger weaves a renewed and compelling argument around the implications of the unprecedented hatred and revengeful attacks of today’s nationalist political regime. The question of the durability of democracy in a period of vast political upheaval is at the forefront, while the urgency and need for immediate action emerge as key takeaways for resistance to censorship and disinformation as it is continuously politically coordinated to erase marginalized cultures and constrain freedom of expression for all.
EBSCO Endowed Chair in Social Justice and Professor, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alabama
User Reviews
No reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Paul T. Jaeger
- Narrator
- John Chancer
- Duration
- 7 hours 56 minutes
- Release Date
- 12 November 2026
- ISBN
- 9798216602286
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Genre
- Library and information sciences / Museology, Ethical issues: censorship / freedom of expression, Disinformation and misinformation
Synopsis
This book shows how today’s waves of book bans and disinformation campaigns intentionally drive the cultural erasure of marginalized communities—and what we can do to stop them.Across schools, libraries, and museums—in the United States and elsewhere—the coordinated onslaught of efforts to remove books and roll back diversity initiatives are reshaping public life. While both these methods of cultural control have been widely used for centuries, their nefarious role as part of a larger effort has been overlooked. This book connects the dots between censorship, disinformation, and cultural erasure and explores the sturdiness of democracy in a period of enormous political upheaval.Blending research with real-world examples across time and place, it offers practical ways to push back on this alarming movement—through advocacy strategies, direct actions, educational activities, research initiatives, and legal and policy changes.When we understand these threats as interconnected, we are better able to combat them. This perspective empowers educators, cultural heritage professionals, and supporters of democratic institutions to defend the spaces where knowledge is shared and preserved.
About xigxag
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK's only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at $13.95. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from $7.95. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.