Racism And The Rise Of The Right: A Verso Reading List

After Brexit, the election of Donald Trump and the spike in popularity of extreme-right parties across Europe, the question on everyone’s minds is: how did this happen? This reading list connects that with a more international focus - looking at the rise of racism on the streets, in political organisations and within state apparatus, as well as the ramifications for migrants and other minority groups. Starting with a new book from Liz Fekete on the rise of racism in Europe, this list also aims to offer hope and some pointers for resistance and protest. 

An expansive investigation of the ways in which a newly configured right interconnects with anti-democratic and illiberal forces at the level of the state, Europe’s Fault Lines provides much-needed answers, revealing some uncomfortable truths.

Old racisms may be structured deep in European thought, but they have been revitalised and spun in new ways: the war on terror, policing, the cultural revolution from the right, and the migration-linked demonisation of the destitute “scrounger.” Drawing on more than three decades of work for the Institute of Race Relations, Liz Fekete exposes the fundamental fault lines of racism an tarianism in contemporary Europe.

The State and Ultra-Right Vigilantism: read an excerpt from Europe's Fault Lines here.

The story of the remarkable resurgence of right-wing extremists in the United States.

A heartbreaking, full-color graphic novel of the refugee drama. Threads addresses one of the most pressing issues of modern times to make a compelling case, through intimate evidence, for the compassionate treatment of refugees and the free movement of peoples.

A major exploration of the refugee crisis, focusing on how borders are formed and policed.

Powerful critique of UK and US surveillance and repression of Muslims and prosecution of homegrown terrorism.

Dan Trilling on the rise and fall of the British National Party and the English Defence League.

Millions of immigrants risk deportation and imprisonment by living in the US without legal status. Underground America presents the remarkable oral histories of men and women struggling to carve a life for themselves in the US.

Combining firsthand accounts from activists with the research of scholars and reflections from artists, Policing the Planet traces the global spread of the broken-windows policing strategy, first established in New York City under Police Commissioner William Bratton. It’s a doctrine that has vastly broadened police power the world over—to deadly effect.

In State of Insecurity, Isabell Lorey explores the possibilities for organization and resistance under the contemporary status quo, and anticipates the emergence of a new and disobedient self-government of the precarious.

Inside Babylon is a radical ndictment which moves beyond over-simplified and misleading stereotypes to identify and explore the impressive struggles of black people of Britain.

A dissection of the racism that has deformed a century of border policy.

With racial justice struggles on the rise, a probing collection considers the past and future of Black radicalism.

FREE EBOOK: The Anti-Inauguration presents an initial discussion of what resistance should look like in the age of Trump—and what kind of future we should be fighting for. Featuring contributions from Naomi Klein, Jeremy Scahill, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Anand Gopal, and Owen Jones.

A fully updated compendium of revolt and resistance, this anthology - global in scope - presents voices of dissent from every era of human history: speeches and pamphlets, poems and songs, plays and manifestos.

A longtime movement insider's powerful account of the origins of today's protest movements and what they can achieve now.

Europe's Fault Lines

by Elizabeth Fekete

It is clear that the right is on the rise, but after Brexit, the election of Donald Trump and the spike in popularity of extreme-right parties across Europe, the question on everyone’s minds is: ho...

Alt-America

by David Neiwert

Just as Donald Trump’s victorious campaign for the US presidency shocked liberal Americans, the seemingly sudden national prominence of white supremacists, xenophobes, militia leaders, and mysterio...

Threads

by Kate Evans

**LONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR BOOKS 2018**In the French port town of Calais, famous for its historic lace industry, a city within a city arose. This new town, known as the Jungle, was home ...

Violent Borders

by Reece Jones

Forty thousand people died trying to cross international borders in the past decade, with the high-profile deaths along the shores of Europe only accounting for half of the grisly total.Reece Jones...

The Muslims Are Coming!

by Arun Kundnani

The new front in the War on Terror is the “homegrown enemy,” domestic terrorists who have become the focus of sprawling counterterrorism structures of policing and surveillance in the United Stat...

Bloody Nasty People

by Daniel Trilling

The past decade saw the rise of the British National Party, the country’s most successful ever far-right political movement, and the emergence of the anti-Islamic English Defence League. Taking aim...

Underground America

by Voice of Witness

Foreword by Luis Alberto Urrea

Edited by Peter Orner

They arrive from around the world for countless reasons. Many come simply to make a living. Others are fleeing persecution in their native countries. Millions of immigrants risk deportation and imp...

State of Insecurity

by Isabell Lorey

Foreword by Judith Butler

Translated by Aileen Derieg

Years of remodelling the welfare state, the rise of technology, and the growing power of neoliberal government apparatuses have established a society of the precarious. In this new reality, produ...

Inside Babylon

Contributions by Bob Carter, Errol Francis, Cecil Gutzmore, Shirley Joshi, Gail Lewis, Amina Mama, Steven Vertovec and Claudette Williams

Edited by Clive Harris and Winston James

The varied experience of the Caribbean diaspora in Britain, with its difficult and fractured history, is reflected in this distinctive and lively collection. The contributors to Inside Babylon show...

To Sin Against Hope

by Alfredo Gutierrez

Alfredo Gutierrez’s father, a US citizen, was deported to Mexico from his Arizona hometown—the mining town where Alfredo grew up. This occurred during a wave of anti-immigrant hysteria stoked by th...

Futures of Black Radicalism

Edited by Gaye Theresa Johnson and Alex Lubin

Black rebellion has returned, with dramatic protests in scores of cities and campuses, bringing with it a renewed engagement with the history of Black radical movements and thought. Here, key schol...

The Verso Book of Dissent

Preface by Tariq Ali

Edited by Andrew Hsiao and Audrea Lim

Throughout the ages and across every continent, people have struggled against those in power and raised their voices in protest-rallying others around them or, sometimes, inspiring uprisings many y...

Direct Action

by L.A. Kauffman

A vibrant, groundbreaking history of American radicalism since the SixtiesWhat happened to the American left after the Sixties? This engrossing account traces the evolution of disruptive protest ov...