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Recorded 3-11-26

On this edition of Parallax Views, sociologist and public intellectual Charles Derber joins us to discuss his book Fighting Oligarchy: How Positive Populism Can Reclaim America and the growing struggle between democracy and oligarchic power in the United States. As economic inequality deepens and public trust in institutions erodes, populist movements—both left and right—are reshaping the political landscape. But what exactly is populism, and why has it become such a defining force in modern politics?

Derber argues that contemporary American politics is increasingly defined by a battle between corporate oligarchy and competing forms of populism. While figures like Donald Trump present themselves as anti-elite champions of “the people,” Derber contends that this rhetoric often masks policies that ultimately benefit billionaires and entrenched corporate power. In contrast, he proposes the idea of “positive populism”—a democratic, multiracial movement capable of challenging oligarchic influence while rebuilding solidarity among working-class Americans.

In this conversation we explore the roots of populist politics in American history, from the anti-robber baron movements of the Gilded Age to the New Deal era and the social movements of the 1960s. Derber also offers a controversial critique of contemporary liberal politics, arguing that the Democratic Party’s shift away from class-based politics toward professional-class liberalism and cultural identity conflicts may have unintentionally opened the door for right-wing populism.

We discuss the contradictions of Trumpism, the role of identity politics and culture wars in dividing the working class, and whether a broad democratic coalition capable of confronting corporate power is still possible in today’s polarized political climate. Is the United States already drifting toward oligarchy? Can populism strengthen democracy rather than undermine it? And what would a genuine anti-oligarchic political movement look like in the twenty-first century?

All this and more on this edition of Parallax Views.