Edited by Don Kalb and Walden Bello
Pluto Press
5/20/2026, paperback
SKU: 9780745351995
Essays on the terrifying new political formations damaging our world
We live in an age of counterrevolution. Political and social gains of previous decades are being rolled back, while at the same time, the atomization and injustices of global capitalism intensify. Political leaders are scapegoating minorities and political enemies, while consolidating even more power and wealth for elites.
This collection of essays from an international team of leading researchers explores the global rise of the radical right and its social and political contradictions. Examining India, Eastern Europe, the US, Argentina, Germany, and more, Backlash draws connections between these movements and governments, providing crucial analysis for those seeking weaknesses in the terrifying rise of the far right.
Reviews:
"Backlash refuses to dither while fascists burn our planet. A High Noon call to analytical arms for academics and activists; global, local, everywhere." --Patrick Neveling, Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences, Bournemouth University
"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." --John Feffer, author of Right Across the World
"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." --Sian Lazar, Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge
About the Editors:
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.