Over the past several decades, neoliberalism has hollowed out the social and emotional foundations of political life. As welfare states eroded, precarious labor expanded, and public protections disappeared while a new atmosphere of insecurity emerged — one in which anger, fear, resentment, wounded pride, and a longing for belonging became powerful political currencies.
This emotional terrain is not theoretical. It is inscribed in the rhetoric of today’s most influential leaders. Donald Trump vows to speak for “the forgotten.” Viktor Orbán warns that Europe is “under siege.” Narendra Modi frames political transformation as a “national rebirth.” Giorgia Meloni claims identity — “a woman, a mother, an Italian, a Christian” — as a fortress under threat. Javier Milei shouts that “everything will collapse” without radical rupture. Benjamin Netanyahu casts each crisis as a battle for national survival.
Their vocabularies differ, but they share the same emotional grammar: mobilizing fear, pride, humiliation, and existential anxiety in societies fractured by neoliberal restructuring. The rise of today’s authoritarian-populist formations cannot be understood through charisma alone; they are rooted in a deeper landscape of economic precarity, social fragmentation, and collapsing institutional trust.
To understand this convergence of emotion and power, Jacobin spoke with sociologist Mabel Berezin, whose work explores the relationship between affect, political identity, and the historical development of right-wing movements. In this conversation, Berezin explains how emotions become political tools, why new right-wing formations resonate across continents, and how neoliberalism prepared the ground for new modes of authority.
Before we get into structural forces, I want to start with the raw material itself: emotions. Contemporary politics often feels driven not by programs but by fear, pride, and resentment….
Auteur: Mabel Berezin
