A Global Anti-Right Backlash

Lula da Silva’s unexpected re-election in Brazil has energized liberals and progressives far beyond Latin America. His campaign assembled a broad coalition, drew new voters, and stopped the far-right Bolsonaro family’s return to power, despite economic pressures and a legislature hostile to Lula. Indian opposition figure Anish Gawande sees the result as evidence that diverse movements can unite against authoritarian politics, while leaders in Spain and France cast it as a hopeful sign ahead of their own contests. The result also weakens a network of symbolic allies for Donald Trump, following Viktor Orbán’s defeat in Hungary. In Serbia, a student-led movement that began after a fatal infrastructure collapse has likewise displaced a long-dominant strongman, Aleksandar Vučić, and now seeks to restore accountability and the rule of law.

These victories and protests do not amount to a coordinated global movement, and their political consequences remain uncertain. Governments and institutions still favor the right in places such as India and Brazil, while inflation, public debt, and fragmented coalitions constrain elected progressives. Demonstrations across Europe and India have brought together people angry about corruption, living costs, housing, public services, and illiberal governance, but they have also faced repression and can be undermined by violence or looting. In France, unrest has been misrepresented by right-wing commentators as the work of migrants or extremists, even as it reflects broader opposition to austerity and inadequate public investment. Protest energy may renew democratic politics, but it can also strengthen the far right; its impact depends on whether separate grievances become durable political coalitions.