From the rise of Trump and the MAGA movement to the strongman politics of Modi and Bolsonaro, a new wave of spectacular authoritarianism is sweeping the globe. Alfredo Saad-Filho argues this is no accident, but the inevitable structural outcome of fifty years of neoliberalism hollowing out democracy and intensifying inequality. This emerging political form, ‘neoliberal fascism,’ marries the ruthless defense of free-market interests with the exclusionary violence of classic fascism. By mobilizing mass resentment against fabricated enemies like immigrants and the so-called deep state, these regimes distract from economic devastation to build a totalitarian state far more resilient than traditional dictatorships. Neoliberal Fascism offers a path for resistance, urging a struggle for a renewed, inclusive democracy that transcends the failures of the past.
