The re-election of Donald Trump has illustrated in spectacular fashion the extent to which politics all over the world is in a state of continual flux. Old political configurations and parties are under unprecedented strain, with new forces, particularly on the hard right, challenging the status quo everywhere.
Rejecting stale analyses based on moralistic panics about 'populism' or social media, political commentator Steve Davies shows how we are going through a deep-seated process of realignment rooted in underlying structural trends. We are transitioning, he argues, from an era where the key political division was over the economic structure of society to one where the primary division is between a vision rooted in national identity and sovereignty, and an essentially post-national cosmopolitanism. This change upends the ideological and electoral alliances that have structured our political systems for decades.
No-one who wishes to truly understand the crises currently roiling the political status quo can afford to miss this stunning panoramic analysis of how this process works and how it is playing out across the world, from the USA and Germany to Argentina and India, and beyond.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Chapter I – Making Sense of the Populist Revolt
Chapter II – How Politics Realigns
Chapter III – The Roots of Resistance
Chapter IV – The Dawn of Realignment
Chapter V – The New Dividing Lines
Chapter VI – The Social Foundations of the New Politics
Chapter VII – Conclusion: Taking the New Right Seriously
About the Author :
Stephen Davies is Senior Academic Fellow at the John Locke Institute. From 1979 to 2009 he was Senior Lecturer in the Department of History and Economic History at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was then Head of Education at the Institute for Economic Affairs. He writes regularly for the Daily Telegraph.
Review :
"Stephen Davies was way ahead of the curve in anticipating an era of populist upheaval and political fracture. He remains a writer whose work needs to be read and engaged with, from across the left and not just within the right. For anyone interested in understanding today's turbulent political environment this book is a must."
Jon Cruddas, former Labour MP for Dagenham and Rainham
"Davies brings deep knowledge of history and gimlet-eyed observation of the present to show that we are in the midst of a generational political realignment across the West, in which the aligning issues and cleavages in politics are being radically transformed. Synthesizing the interaction between tends over decades, he shows how we got here, explains what's happening now — and makes a compelling case about what is to come next."
Daniel Rothschild, Director, Center for Civics, Education, and Opportunity at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute
"The Great Realignment explains the persistence and power of the new right not as a passing protest, but as a structural and enduring transformation — one rooted in large-scale social, economic, and cultural changes that have created an entirely new political map. This book is an essential read for everyone who does not want to be surprised constantly by the development of politics in the West. It is indispensable."
Steve Baker, former Conservative MP and government minister
"Steve Davies is a prophet, a seer, a soothsayer. Back in the late 1990s, he foresaw how politics was going to change. He could see that the old Left/Right paradigm was going to be replaced by a new division between Somewheres and Anywheres, localists and globalisers. And so it came to pass! Here, the great historian sets out the thesis in full and tells us what to expect next."
Daniel Hannan, Lord Hannan of Kingsclere, former Conservative MEP
"For British policymakers in general, this book should serve as a vital guide not just to where politics is headed, but also to a new world order, one that is not destined to go away and leave Britain alone [...] a substantive and important work of analysis."
Sebastian Millbank, The Critic
