The world seems out of joint. Current socio-political conjuncture has brought forth a series of alarming developments thought impossible in our modern age only several years prior: the spectacular rise of nationalist and anti-liberal parties like the Front National and the Alternative für Deutschland, a degradation and vulgarisation of public discourse by the likes of demagogues like Donald Trump, widespread mistrust of the mainstream press, and growing audiences for xenophobic and racist sentiments. Politicians are callously denounced as »traitors to the Fatherland« and Muslim citizens placed under general suspicion, while conspiracy theories of the crudest variety spread like wildfire on the Internet. The speed at which our societies seem to be falling behind once entrenched social standards is frightening. Has the world gone off the rails?

The Great Regression collects contributions from fifteen international authors, taking a closer look at the root causes behind these developments, locating them in their respective historical contexts, and discussing strategies for fighting back. In clear and unambiguous opposition to the »Nationalist International«, this volume responds to our current state of global turbulence by building on the power and potential of a transnational public sphere, appears in 14 languages.

Volume editor Heinrich Geiselberger on the project’s background and goals:

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