Fighting Oligarchy - How Positive Populism Can Reclaim America

This book offers a new analysis of why Trump's Far Right populism helped him win the Presidency twice, and how it enshrined a corporate establishment that he claimed to run against. Charles Derber presents a counter history of positive left populism and argues that populist parties gain power in eras of hard times for working people while mainstream parties lose voter support as they defend the existing system.
Fighting Oligarchy: How Positive Populism Can Reclaim America makes the unorthodox case that only a left-leaning positive populist movement is likely to defeat Trump and his corporate regime. Derber highlights the core principles of resistance to build a new and sustainable US democracy.

List of contents

Introduction, 1. Hard Times: When Populism Wins, 2. Far-Right Populism: The Appeal of the Dark Side, 3. Trump's Trick: Populism with Billionaires, 4. Left-Leaning Populism: Pitchforks Against Oligarchy, 5. Liberalism Without Class: How the Democratic Party Handed America to Trump, 6. Lessons from Europe and the Global South: From Fascism to Social Democracy, 7. Young People as Populists: Education, Universities and Democracy, 8. Resist and Overcome: Positive Populism Against Autocracy and Regime Change at Home for a Post-Oligarchic America, Afterword: The Ten Commandments of Positive Populism

About the author

Charles Derber is professor of sociology at Boston College, USA. He is the author of 30 books, most recently Dying for Capitalism (Routledge, 2023) Who Owns Democracy (Routledge, 2024) and Bonfire (Routledge, 2025).

Product details

• Authors: Charles Derber, Derber Charles
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 01.12.2025
• EAN: 9781041119982
• ISBN: 978-1-0-4111998-2
• No. of pages: 200
• Series: Universalizing Resistance
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Philosophy > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Miscellaneous; Sociology, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / History & Theory, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / Social Theory, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Ideologies / Radicalism, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Ideologies / Capitalism, Social & political philosophy, social and political philosophy, Social issues & processes, United States of America, USA, Social classes, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Social Classes & Economic Disparity, Social and ethical issues, Socialism & left-of-centre democratic ideologies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Activism & Social Justice, Left-of-centre democratic ideologies and movements