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What Fuels Far-Right Nationalism?

“In trying to solve the puzzle of why people vote in politicians that do little to improve their living standards, Seymour goes for a psychological explanation.

“this dismissal of the primacy of the economic is not just surprising coming from one of the foremost Marxist intellectuals in Britain today, but rests upon empirically spurious claims.

“Seymour only tangentially acknowledges the role of elites in the rise of disaster nationalism. While he does point out that its political economy is mainly about furthering the interests of domestic capitalists, that is never really explored.

“To get a full picture of the social forces driving the rise of the far right and likely to benefit from it, we need more systematic and comparative analysis of party elites, their donors and their actual economic policymaking when they enter office. This could help better explain the apparent contradiction of the far right as both a rejection and reinforcement of neoliberalism. We also need to better understand how this nexus between capital and the far right might vary across countries and play out in the broader context of rising inter-imperialist tensions around the globe. Seymour’s account falls short in all these respects. 

The subtitle of Seymour’s book 'The Downfall of Liberal Civilisation' is an exaggeration that fits into the inevitability part Bortun has mentioned in the review.

Another review of 'Disaster Nationalism'

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