Why read Hayek's Bastards?

Book cover of Hayek's Bastards

Book description

A revelatory exploration of how today's right-wing authoritarianism emerged not in opposition to neoliberalism, but from within it

Bracingly original... Hayek's Bastards demonstrates how a history of ideas can be riveting. Slobodian grounds intellectual abstractions in the lives of the people who espoused them... His book offers an illuminating history…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Hayek's Bastards as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Pádraig Carmody

Author

I loved this book because it explains how to understand our current politics, particularly in the United States and Europe.

Far-right parties have gained ground globally and have often come to power. Sometimes the political changes and events happen so quickly that they are bewildering, but there is a logic to them that has roots back to the rise of the ideology of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.

The book traces this lineage and shows how the rise of the populist right reflects a fracture within this global movement, which now brings together libertarians, market liberals, racists, and nationalists in…

From Pádraig's list on The best books on global transformations.

Elliot Dolan-Evans

Author

Slobodian's latest book, which charts the connection between neoliberalism and far-right politics, is a crucial read for today. The book works to displace the erroneous thought that far-right politics sweeping the globe is a challenge to the neoliberal world order; rather, it has grown from neoliberal doctrine and works to uphold these power structures, in a more violent, exclusionary way

From Elliot's 3 favorite reads in 2025.