By Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera*
02 Sep 2024, 10:54 AM EDT
The advance of the far right in the United States over the last decade is quite noticeable and has evolved in recent years to consolidate itself as a movement within the Republican Party through the leadership of Donald Trump and under the slogan “America First” (formerly Make America Great Again or MAGA). Among the cornerstones of what is also called “Trumpism” are: a nationalist populism; a supposed realism in foreign policy; and a focus on the border that includes a restrictive immigration policy through militarization. This far-right movement mainly promotes the interests of big American capital and is anchored in racism and xenophobia—particularly regarding the issue of immigrants from various parts of the Global South.
Since Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 US elections, his “radical” right-wing movement has been spreading and has gained countless followers who support such extreme (and absurd) ideas as building a (“big and beautiful”) wall along the entire southern US border, or bombing billboards or direct military intervention by the US army on Mexican territory. Thus, the ghost of fascism haunts central North America. Extreme polarization and the idea of civil war are increasingly less isolated elements in the national political discussion. It would not be surprising if, in November of this year, Donald Trump and his movement were victorious and an attempt was made to establish a new far-right order in the country.
In order to fully understand this extreme political shift to the right in the United States in recent years, it would be worthwhile to carefully review Claudia Leeb’s latest book entitled Challenging the Far Right (Contesting the Far Right: A Psychoanalytic and Feminist Critical Theory Approach; Columbia University Press, 2024). In this excellent text, Leeb uses a psychoanalytic and feminist critical theory approach—while developing a dialectical relationship between the psychological and the socioeconomic—to explain the rise of the far right as a response to the exploitation, insecurity, alienation, and isolation that come together in what she calls “precarity capitalism.” This book also offers ways to resist or challenge the far right and counter the psychological appeal of its propaganda techniques.
In seven chapters, this magnificent book examines the adverse effects of precarious capitalism and enlightens us about the psychological aspects in our contemporary world that lead us towards fascism. To illustrate this process, Leeb analyzes the rise of Trumpism and the recruitment tactics of other right-wing movements and parties (particularly the Freedom Party and the Identitarian movement in Austria); she also analyzes the gratifications of terror. According to the author of the book, “Living under precarious capitalism generates feelings of failure and anxiety, which people experience as lack of fulfillment, because it has become difficult, if not impossible, to live up to the fetish of economic, interpersonal and bodily success; and the far right takes advantage of these feelings. Their psychologically oriented propaganda tactics produce the illusion of fulfillment and a positive sense of self, while leaving intact the socioeconomic conditions that cause people to suffer. They also remove the inhibitions that keep people’s repressed aggression and racist and sexist attitudes under control.”
Ultimately, this process leads to tragedy, as the subjects who become followers of far-right leaders and movements under precarious capitalism actually pursue objective goals that “contradict their economic interests and other personal motivations” (p. 2). In these spaces, according to Leeb, existing contradictions become more evident and the most harmful elements of capitalism are consolidated. This analytical framework helps us understand certain dynamics of contemporary life in a part of American society. In addition, through this material, we can understand the context under which the income gap is considerably widening and the “American Dream” is being frustrated for a significant segment of the population living in the United States. Under these circumstances, we can explain the expansion of Trumpism—as a far-right movement in this country—amidst higher levels of poverty, homelessness, and drug addiction; the fentanyl crisis; the increase in the number of homeless people; and the multiplication of crime and violence.
Revisiting the work of Freud and Adorno, Leeb explains what is happening in the United States and other European countries—or rather, in countries of the Global North. What this material does not fully explain is the significant support of other minorities for far-right leaders, parties, and movements in the Global North, the triumph of such projects in the Global South, and, in particular, the support of a significant portion of Latinos in the United States for Trump. Leeb’s work focuses on analytical frameworks designed in the Global North and compares paradigms in the most privileged part of the world. It focuses on white men, but does not explain the phenomenon of support for the far right by some minorities—Latino men and women in the United States, for example. The case of the “Latinos for Trump” and the significant growth of this group in recent years should be analyzed much more carefully. It is not clear to me how Freud or Adorno could explain a world that they did not know in depth. The feminist and anticolonial perspectives developed in the Global North—as well as their tools of resistance—do not necessarily explain the reality in the Global South or the conditions of some minorities in more developed countries; I am referring, for example, to immigrants who, due to their culture, might reject the paradigms of radical feminism and who feel perhaps better represented by the conservatism of some far-right movements. The key question is: why do Latinos in the United States vote for Trump? Why do they do so when everything points to the fact that Trumpism, as an ideology, would go against their interests?
The Dr. Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera
is a professor at the Schar School of Politics and Government at George Mason University.
The texts published in this section are the sole responsibility of the authors, and La Opinión assumes no responsibility for them.
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