We live in an age of counterrevolution. Liberal elites around the world are weaponising their fascistic narratives, creating political enemies of the 'other' as a means of consolidating even more power and wealth. While scapegoating minorities is nothing new, we have never seen it happen quite like this before.
Today, global capitalism is financialised, tech-driven and violently mercantilist. This collection of essays from leading researchers reveals new forms of the radical right, neo-nationalism, authoritarian neoliberalism, illiberalism and democratic backsliding.
Looking beyond the simplistic headlines, they reveal the deep systemic shifts that have been building for decades. Exploring India, Eastern Europe, the US, Argentina, Germany and more, Backlash draws the systemic connections between these seemingly nationalist movements, providing crucial information for those on the left looking for weaknesses in the terrifying rise of the right.
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Counter-Revolution Within and Against the Counter-Revolution - Don Kalb
1. What is Fascism, and Why We Should be Really, Really Worried about Fascists - Walden Bello
2. Autocracy and Resistance in India - Svati Shah
3. South Africa’s Postcolonial Right-Wing: Authoritarian Populism as Anti-Liberal ‘Revolutionary Politics’ - Christi van der Westhuizen
4. Unraveling Liberalisms: Hungarian Insights for America and Elsewhere - Gábor Scheiring and Ábel Csath
5. "Us First": Counter-Revolutionary Consciousness in the French Working Class - Benoit Coquard
6. Russia’s Vanguard Authoritarian Neoliberal System - Jeremy Morris
7. Eastern European Reactionary Nationalism: A Ukrainian Exception? - Volodymyr Ishchenko and Don Kalb
8. Which Fascism, Whose Counter-Revolution? Unpacking the Current Political Conjuncture from the Netherlands - Ewald Engelen
9. Turning Points and Undertows: German Authoritarianism and History’s Long Reach - Petra Rethmann
10. "Learning the Value of Things": Why Working People Consent to the Far Right Government in Argentina - Julia Soul
11. Fascism USA: Class and Identity Politics in the Age of Trump - Marc Edelman
12. The Trumpist Movement: A Class-Based Counter-Revolution Against Those Who Would Strand the Assets of Capital? - Don Nonini
Notes on Contributors
Index
About the Author :
Don Kalb is a leading anthropologist of global capitalism, class, labor and neo-nationalism, Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Bergen, and director of the GRIP programme on global inequality (UiB and the International Science Council). His most recent book is Value and Worthlessness: The Rise of the Populist Right and Other Disruptions in the Anthropology of Capitalism.
Walden Bello is an author, academic and political analyst. He has devoted most of his life to fighting imperialism and corporate globalisation, and has served as a member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines. Designated 'my favourite no-nonsense revolutionary' by Naomi Klein, he is also the recipient of 'Most Distinguished Defender of Human Rights' by Amnesty International Philippines in 2023, and author or co-author of many books.
Review :
'An urgent book. Its historical materialist approach has produced a depth and grounding too often lacking in contemporary debates about the rise of illiberal politics, and the clear focus on what is to be done is substantive rather than shrill. The collected essays show how the rise of autocracy links to global upward transfers of wealth, in ways that are crucial to our understanding of the world today and what we might do – politically – in response.'
'Whither humanity? Blending incisive political economy with sensitive ethnography and thoughtful, passionate and personal reflection, this book provides bleak answers from around the world'
'With the far right continuing to consolidate power across the world, Backlash is an essential guide to the different forms authoritarian populism has taken and the different strategies it has employed. The book's cross-cutting analysis and attention to examples in both the Global South and Global North make it required reading not only for scholars but for those on the frontlines of fighting fascism.'
'Backlash refuses to dither while fascists burn our planet. A High Noon call to analytical arms for academics and activists; global, local, everywhere.'
