Climate and Capitalism editor, Ian Angus introduces 8 left-wing books on the rise, ideas and goals of the new far right.
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First, an apology: I’ve been working flat out on my next book — Social Murder: Capitalism’s Assault on Human Health in the Anthropocene — so this the first Ecosocialist Bookshelf since July. I will try not to miss any more.
Second, an explanation: Usually I include titles on a variety of subjects in science, politics, theory, history etc. But recently my shelf has been crowded with new books on the rise and nature of the radical right, so I am introducing eight of them at once. I’ll return to the normal mix next month.
End Times Fascism and the Fight for the Living World
By Naomi Klein and Astrid Taylor
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
A new iteration of the far right is on the march. Klein and Taylor explore the alliance of religious fundamentalists, Silicon Valley technologists and ethno-nationalists that aims to make the world unlivable while protecting themselves from the consequences by hiding on luxurious private islands, rocketing to Mars, or deploying massive military force to keep the bad people out.
Backlash: The Global Rise of the Radical Right
Edited by Don Kalb and Walden Bello
Pluto Press
We live in an age of counterrevolution. Liberal elites around the world are weaponising their fascistic narratives, creating political enemies and consolidating even more power and wealth. This collection of essays from leading researchers reveals new forms of the radical right, neo-nationalism, authoritarian neoliberalism, illiberalism and democratic backsliding.
Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed
By Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff
Harper Collins
Elon Musk promises sovereignty through technology: plug in, power up and become self-reliant. Slobodian and Tarnoff cut through the hype to reveal what Musk really represents: a new political economy, where to be “free” means to serve a Technoking. Muskism isn’t about the man. It’s about the machine that made him — and the world he’s trying to make.
Country of Lords: Neo-Aristocrats, Social Darwinists, Tech Utopians, and the Long Fight Against Equality in America
By Kim Phillips-Klein
WW Norton
American history is often told as a hard-won march toward the promise of equality, but there has always been a countertrend. Again and again, influential Americans have argued that the social, economic, and racial hierarchies in which some groups of people rule over others are not only natural but good.
The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy
By Gil Durán
Simon & Schuster
Durán explains the origins, strategies, and ambitions of Silicon Valley’s war on democracy. From San Francisco’s weaponised elections and secret billionaire projects to the White House, Durán exposes how the world’s richest men aim to replace elected governments with corporate rule.
The Right-Wing Idea Factory: From Traditionalism to Trumpism
By Donald F Kettl
Oxford University Press
Kettl traces the rise of a revolutionary political force that has redefined the United States right. Fueled by soft money and amplified by social media, a network of determined activists and organisations aims to dismantle traditional free-market conservatism and replace it with a populist agenda rooted in cultural and social issues.
Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley
By Jacob Silverman
Bloomsbury
An essential dispatch from the front lines of the billionaire revolution in which Musk is just the beginning. Silverman maps a sprawling network of radicalised elites — from Peter Thiel and JD Vance to the financiers bankrolling Donald Trump — who are using their power and their money to drive a political revolution.
The Cultural Marxism Conspiracy: Why the Right Blames the Frankfurt School for the Decline of the West
By AJA Woods
Verso
“Cultural Marxism” is one of the far right’s favorite buzzwords. Woods uncovers the bizarre story of the cult leaders, right-wing intellectuals and White House officials who believe a coterie of left-wing scholars and students is plotting to undermine Western civilisation.
[Reprinted from Climate and Capitalism. Inclusion of a book does not imply endorsement.]