A timely examination of progressive politics in the era of radical populism.

Since 2016, western democracies have experienced a series of political earthquakes, spectacularly upending conventional political wisdom. Everywhere, outsider politicians rail against ‘the elite’.

Yet, with a few notable exceptions, the populist mood has benefited reactionaries rather than reformers. The status quo might be in crisis, but the emerging voices are those of hate and violence. Where is the progressive alternative?

In Trigger Warnings, Jeff Sparrow sympathetically but critically examines key progressive ideas. How does a billionaire position himself as anti-elitist? Are the culture wars worth fighting? What's at stake in the battles over political correctness? Should progressives defend it ― and, if so, how?

Sparrow traces the evolution of the Left and Right to explain the origins of this strange evolution, untangling some of the thorniest controversies of our time and arguing that the future needn't only belong to nihilists and bigots.

Film star. Icon. Agitator. Martyr.

Paul Robeson was a twentieth-century icon; the most famous African-American of his time. The son of a former slave, he found worldwide fame as a performer, travelling from Hollywood to the West End, and even to communist Russia.

A champion of social justice and equality, he would go on to lose everything for the sake of his principles.

Here, Jeff Sparrow traces Robeson’s remarkable life. Part travelogue, part biography, this is a story of political ardour, heritage, and trauma ― a luminous portrait of a man and an urgent reflection on the politics that define us now.

The first book to unearth the Christchurch massacre's fascist roots and examine what it represents and threatens. The massacre of more than fifty worshippers at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, shocked the world. The murders were not random. They expressed a particular ideology, one that the alleged perpetrator described as 'fascism'. But what does fascism mean today - and what kind of threat does it pose? Jeff Sparrow traces the history of the far right, showing how fascists have adapted to the new politics of the twenty-first century. Burgeoning in dark places online, contemporary fascism exults in violence and picks its targets strategically. Today, it is Muslims; tomorrow, it will be Jews or gays or Asians. With imitative massacres already occurring around the world, Christchurch must be a wake-up call. This book makes a compelling, urgent case for a new response to an old menace.

'Genuine radicalism depends on the provision of hope. It provokes through a scandalous insistence that life can be otherwise, that we aren't doomed to economic and environmental decline, and that the future can exceed than the past.' Jeff Sparrow is one of Australia's leading public intellectuals. From great controversies to the heroes and villains of our time, Provocations raises arguments that matter. History gets made by actions, not by words alone. Yet these pages are filled with the kind of words that inspire action. By showing us that Australia has a history of slavery it needs to reckon with. That amidst the turmoil of catastrophic weather events, Christmas beetles are disappearing as we look the other way. That while war was once an anomaly in a world increasingly devoted to peace, no one believes that anymore. In Provocations, Jeff Sparrow brings together some of his most challenging and continuously relevant work alongside daring new writing.