Book cover of Cultural Backlash: Trump, Brexit, and Authoritarian Populism

Book description

Authoritarian populist parties have advanced in many countries, and entered government in states as diverse as Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Switzerland. Even small parties can still shift the policy agenda, as demonstrated by UKIP's role in catalyzing Brexit. Drawing on new evidence, this book advances a general theory…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

2 authors picked Cultural Backlash as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Cultural Backlash is aimed at sorting out the roots of the recent rise of what the authors call authoritarian populism, which is much the same thing as plutocratic populism.

They locate its origins in a backlash against the social consequences and policies that grew from socio-economic shifts that began in the 1960s and 1970s.

These include, obviously enough, the sexual revolution and changing gender norms, the civil rights movement and the increasingly multi-racial and multi-cultural character of modern societies, and the turn toward values that Inglehart, decades ago, termed post-materialist.

The book is distinguished by the vast amount of quantitative…

Since the rise of the likes of Donald Trump, Viktor Orbán, Narendra Modi, and Jair Bolsonaro, there has been no shortage of research that has studied authoritarian populism. After Brexit, many studies argued that globalization-induced economic dislocations were leading to grievances, which political entrepreneurs tapped into. Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart make the argument in their book, Cultural Backlash, that these grievances are driven by a cultural backlash to post-materialist values of liberalism, pluralism, and tolerance. This book does a great job explaining how authoritarian populist voters want to feel part of a tribe that shares their identity and…

If you love Cultural Backlash...

Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Want books like Cultural Backlash?

Our community of 13,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Cultural Backlash.

Browse books like Cultural Backlash

Book cover of How Democracies Die
Book cover of Let Them Eat Tweets: How the Right Rules in an Age of Extreme Inequality
Book cover of The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism

Share your top 3 reads of 2026!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

164

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Cultural Backlash, you might also like...

Book cover of The Tao of Poison

The Tao of Poison by Isham Cook,

A poisonous maiden, a Daoist sex cult, and a violent insurgency.

The polyandrous Yan family in China's rural Shaanxi Province takes in two carpenter brothers. When one brother is convicted of murder after killing their neighbor in a dispute, a constable threatens to expose the family's rumored polyandry and extorts…

Book cover of Big Ideas... For Small Businesses: Simple, Practical Tools and Tactics to Help Your Small Business Grow

Big Ideas... For Small Businesses by John Lamerton,

Big Ideas… for Small Businesses is a straight-talking, no-nonsense guide to growing a small business without sacrificing your lifestyle. Written by a former civil servant turned entrepreneur, the book challenges hustle culture and instead champions the idea of an "ambitious lifestyle business" - one that provides freedom and financial stability,…

5 book lists we think you will like!