The New Authoritarians

‘Timely and essential ... Points a way for the left not only to halt an unfolding disaster but to build something better in its place’
Dan Trilling, author of Bloody Nasty People: The Rise of Britain's Far Right

‘The best available account of today’s far right and how we can stop it’
Elane Heffernan, Anti-Nazi League

‘Renton is a stalwart of the anti-racist movement and his book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the changing nature of the right’
Sasha Das Gupta, organiser, Momentum

Across the world, right-wing politics is shifting, with conservatives and supporters of the far right allying. From Donald Trump to Marine Le Pen, these figureheads agree on issues that would have been considered extreme to previous generations, causing many to call them fascists.

But is this too simplistic? If they are not fascists, what are their politics?

David Renton approaches the problem from a new perspective. He identifies an emergent and deeply troubling form of right-wing radicalism, more moderate than classical fascism in its political strategy, yet indulgent of the racism of its most extreme components. In country after country, under the clouds of economic austerity and post-9/11 Islamophobia, the right is converging and strengthening. To understand why is the first step to stopping them. 

David Renton is a barrister, historian and anti-fascist activist. He is the author of Fascism: Theory and Practice.