A field guide to the everyday language of manipulation, from lying and gaslighting to shaming and silencing, drawn from politics, media, and real life.
We are living in dangerous times, when many of our leaders and high profile influencers regularly use language that hurts, demeans, dehumanizes, and even threatens people with violence. In everyday life, this language would raise red flags as signs of emotional and verbal abuse. But when we hear these patterns being broadcast from the world stage, it is harder to recognize. In fact, when world leaders use language of emotional abuse, the patterns become normalized in our cultures.
These patterns of verbal abuse are called Toxic Tactics.
We are dwelling in cultures dominated by toxic tactics. We are living in a relationship of emotional and verbal abuse with our leaders. We are all in it.
This book aims to fix that. In order to fix our civil discourse, the first thing we need to do is to name the toxic tactics that we are living with. That is the purpose of this book. Because naming the tactics is the first step in pushing back against it. Once we name the toxic tactics, we can refuse to participate, stop their spread, and find our voice and our power. These are the first steps in taking back our culture.
Naming the tactic restores clarity. It shifts focus from the lie to the underlying act of manipulation. Recognizing these patterns does not eliminate them, but it removes some of their power. Once we can see the tactics clearly, we are no longer trapped inside them.
The 79 tactics fall into seven families. Explore any one to see how it works.
Elana Sztokman is an award-winning Jewish feminist anthropologist, author, and activist, and a two-time winner of the National Jewish Book Award. Toxic Tactics is her eighth book. She writes the Substack The Roar and co-hosts the peace podcast Women Ending War.
The free list of all 79 tactics, plus launch news.
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