Joan Braune

Dr. Joan Braune works in Frankfurt School Critical Theory, Critical Hate Studies, and Critical Theory of Religion. Dr. Braune is a Lecturer in Philosophy and Instructor in Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. She holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Kentucky and a B.A. in Philosophy and Mathematics from University of the Incarnate Word. Her current scholarship looks at fascism as a social movement seeking power, always already connected to sources of power, which must be defeated by social movements against it. She also studies the psychological needs that are used to recruit people into hate groups, as well as ethical issues involved in policy and practice against hate groups, including addressing the limitations of state securitized responses and the need to protect civil liberties while engaging in work against hate groups. Her work in Critical Theory contributes to an ongoing revival of scholarship on Frankfurt School Critical Theorist and socialist organizer Erich Fromm (1900-1980). Dr. Braune's scholarship is public and engaged, in the service of social justice. She uses the Frankfurt School’s studies on authoritarianism, fascism, and antisemitism, and especially the work of Erich Fromm, to help communities understand the threats they face from hate groups and the resources they possess to work together towards safety and justice.