Fighting Fascist Feelings

The far right and fascists are on the rise around the world. Why are people attracted to these groups and ideas, and what can we do about it?

In this short interactive presentation and discussion, social theorists Max Haiven and Sarah Stein Lubrano will examine what motivations attract people to far right ideas, what can (and crucially, can’t !) move people away from these positions, and how those who care about fighting back against the rise of the far right should focus their efforts. A mix of social science, psychology, and activist practice will inform thinking on all three.

Max and Sarah will first discuss three key motivations of those attracted to far right and fascist ideas. Then, together, we’ll consider the role of paranoia, opportunism and an attraction to power, or “psychedelic thinking”. Then we’ll examine some potentially surprising things that don’t work, from voting to debating to sympathising with the far right. Finally, we’ll consider which people can really be moved, with words, relationships, and actions.

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ABOUT The Hosts

dr Sarah Stein Lubrano has a background in feminist, mutual aid, and other local organising as well as teaching in prisons. She holds a PhD from the University of Oxford and a Master’s degree from the University of Cambridge. Her thinking often reaches the public through the Sense and Solidarity Initiative and the Future Narratives Lab. She was previously the Head of Content at The School of Life. Her first book is, Don’t Talk About Politics: Changing 21st Century Minds is out now with Bloomsbury. She regularly appears on public radio and a variety of podcasts.

Max Haiven has been organizing grassroots movements since he was 12 in anti-capitalist and anti-colonial initiatives. Today works as the Canada Research Chair in the Radical Imagination at Lakehead University and directs RiVAL: The ReImagining Value Action Lab, a platform to bring together social movements and radical ideas. He is the author or editor of 9 books which all focus on the relationship between capitalism and the imagination. Along with Alex Khasnabish, he is the author of The Radical Imagination: Social Movement Research in the Age of Austerity (2014) and is currently working on a book titled The Player and the Played: How Financialization Fosters Fascism