This book offers a new analysis of why Trump’s Far Right populism helped him win the Presidency twice, and how it enshrined a corporate establishment that he claimed to run against. Charles Derber presents a counter history of positive left populism and argues that populist parties gain power in eras of hard times for working people while mainstream parties lose voter support as they defend the existing system.
Fighting Oligarchy: How Positive Populism Can Reclaim America makes the unorthodox case that only a left-leaning positive populist movement is likely to defeat Trump and his corporate regime. Derber highlights the core principles of resistance to build a new and sustainable US democracy.
Table of Contents:
Introduction, 1. Hard Times: When Populism Wins, 2. Far-Right Populism: The Appeal of the Dark Side, 3. Trump’s Trick: Populism with Billionaires, 4. Left-Leaning Populism: Pitchforks Against Oligarchy, 5. Liberalism Without Class: How the Democratic Party Handed America to Trump, 6. Lessons from Europe and the Global South: From Fascism to Social Democracy, 7. Young People as Populists: Education, Universities and Democracy, 8. Resist and Overcome: Positive Populism Against Autocracy and Regime Change at Home for a Post-Oligarchic America, Afterword: The Ten Commandments of Positive Populism
About the Author :
Charles Derber is professor of sociology at Boston College, USA. He is the author of 30 books, most recently Dying for Capitalism (Routledge, 2023) Who Owns Democracy (Routledge, 2024) and Bonfire (Routledge, 2025).
Review :
“This book is crucial for understanding the recent transformations of American populism and politics, with the second coming of Trumpism. Trump wins support by presenting himself as a populist, which means in order to understand Trump and his appeal, it is necessary to understand populism and its evolution. Despite Trump’s claim to embody the interests of the common citizen against contemptuous ‘elitists,’ he has surrounded himself by corporate oligarchs, often billionaires, who have cut taxes for the very rich as they slash services upon which the vast majority depend. Derber proposes this can only be countered by a genuine left-wing populism which offers programs that truly guarantee a viable standard of living for people who are legitimately anxious and insecure. Derber’s contrast of far-right populism with a positive left-leaning populism offers a distinctive perspective on populism itself, and makes clear what needs to be done to defeat far-right populism. This is book that will give hope in the midst of dark times!”
Yale R. Magrass, Chancellor Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth
“This text offers a clear and concise framework that can help students and the general public make sense of the present political moment. The book builds on social movement literature to make a case that we need such social justice movements to be at the forefront of a new left positivism that can counter the negative positivism of the right. Part of what is captivating about this text is that it applies a fresh new frame to a set of factors that are being hotly contested among pundits and intellectuals trying to make sense of the moment. As well, the text shows that we already have the tools we need to build this positive populist movement because we’ve already done this at other points in our past.”
Adam Saltsman, Associate Professor & Acting Chair, Department of Urban Studies, Worcester University
“There have been numerous texts published on the subject of right-wing populism and the Trump presidency in the last eight years. However, I believe that this book provides a new and unique perspective that hasn’t really been addressed in those works. The juxtaposition of left-wing versus right-wing populism in this book is a novel approach to the subject that would inform both scholarship and activism. The presentation of a potential positive populism that is rooted in democracy provides a potent and useful model for understanding mobilization on the left and a critical ground for generating hope for a way out of the current dark times.”
Stanislav Vysotsky, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of the Fraser Valley
“We are living through unprecedented times, causing a great deal of generalized anxiety. Across a broad array of social movements – for immigration, climate and environmental justice, health equity, educational justice, and housing/economic organizing – people are looking for fresh analysis and strategies. This book really answers that call, and Derber’s style of writing is intelligent and insightful while also being accessible to public audiences. I believe this book will have wide appeal as it is such a timely contribution, importantly presenting sociological and political economic analyses of our current political moment. And while this political turn seems extreme and unparalleled, this book lends historical analysis to dissect what is happening, what predated this moment, and what is needed to protect the commons and preserve human rights.”
Shelley White, Associate Professor of Global Public Health, Boston College
“In this clear and well-argued analysis Charles Derber rescues the long-suppressed story of America’s experience with populism. Debunking the dominant narrative which describes populism as inherently demagogic, right-wing and supportive of authoritarianism, he recalls that populists were important players on the left in four phases of American history: abolitionism, the 1890s uprising against the Robber Barons, the New Deal labor movements and in the 1960s the movement for civil rights and against the Vietnam War. While hard economic times generate popular anger on both left and right against political and corporate elites Derber argues that Donald Trump’s attack on globalisation and his use of tariffs apparently to encourage investors to support American workers are a smoke screen. Behind it, Trump offers the billionaire class lucrative government contracts and big tax breaks while also cutting crucial social programs for workers. The Democratic Party has become too embedded in identity politics to oppose Trump effectively. It needs to emphasise economic and class issues. Political optimism is scarce these days but Derber makes a powerful case that populism of the left has a broader base in American society than the mainstream media usually suggests. His book deserves to become a key text for uniting community organisers and activists of all kinds.”
Jonathan Steele, former chief foreign correspondent for The Guardian"If you want to learn about the history of progressive populism and its phony populist opposition, this is the book for you. If you also want to learn what you can do about Trumpism now, this is the book for you."
Ralph Nader“Fighting Oligarchy disentangles the central confusion of our times over how to address the falling living standards for most Americans. Corporate-backed right-wing populism will fail to address the real drivers of extreme inequality, stagnant wages and rising costs, and billionaire power grabs. As Charles Derber writes in this illuminating book, the only path forward is a progressive left populism, with a program to challenge billionaire oligarchy and corporate power.”
Chuck Collins, Institute for Policy Studies, co-editor, Inequality.org and author of Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power are Ruining Our Lives and Planet
