13 March 2025: Discussion/Lecture : Fascisation, neoliberal shock strategy and the coming struggles

The election of Trump in the USA and Milei in Argentina are authoritarian tipping points. Both rely on an authoritarian-neoliberal shock strategy, aggressive nationalism, misogyny and anti-feminism. In recent years, a transnational laboratory of right-wing neoliberal, authoritarian-nationalist and neo-fascist projects has developed. We find ourselves in a phase of contested transition, in which we must search for new left alternatives based on resistance. Based on the experiences in the USA and Argentina, we want to set out together in search of left-wing politics of hope in dark times.

With Arlie Russel Hochschild, we take a look at the social and cultural divisions that underlie the rise of Trump's MAGA movement. Moving away from the oft-troubled controversy over ‘identity’ vs. class politics, in her latest book ‘Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right’ (2024), she turns to the connections between class and experiences of loss and shame that are echoed in white nationalism. What can we learn from the experiences of forgotten communities for a left-wing politics that wants to organise pride, solidarity and hope?

Javier Milei's shock strategy is seen by many right-wingers and (neo)liberals around the world as a model for ‘disruption’ and authoritarian-neoliberal state restructuring. It is still controversial whether the new regime can stabilise and whether there will be a ‘fascisation of social reproduction’.  With Veronica Gago (The Feminist International 2021), we take the perspective of the creative power of social struggles and queer-feminist movements against the laboratory of the right. What could a ‘feminist international’ against neoliberal authoritarianism and fascisation that strengthens democracy from below look like?

• Verónica Gago teaches Social Sciences and Economics at the Universities of Buenos Aires and San Martín in Argentina.
• Arlie Russel Hochschild is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley in the USA and author.
• Moderator: Mario Candeias, Senior Advisor Socialist Transformation Research, Left Strategies and Parties at the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung