Here’s How the Left Can Defeat the Fascists

The ‘Radical Centre’ has lost control of the capitalist crisis it helped create and the far right is on the march across Europe. Only anti-fascist economics, writes Yanis Varoufakis, can stop it.

Sep 23, 2026

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Co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Alice Weidel (centre) and AfD candidate for Berlin Kristin Brinker (left) celebrate their win in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Photo by Ralf Hirschberger / AFP via Getty Images

As the far right surges across Europe – most alarmingly in Germany – how should we understand the economic forces behind fascism’s latest surge, and is there a way to pull Europe back from fascism’s lair? What would an effective anti-fascist economics look like?

Fascism happens whenever capitalism has an existential crisis and the left fails to offer a credible alternative. At that point, the fascist playbook stands ready. If the left does not counter it with a clearheaded, persuasive, uncompromising socialist programme, the fascists’ policies shall triumph even before fascists win office.

The fascists’ first move is, always, to plagiarise the left.

Here’s How the Left Can Defeat the Fascists

The ‘Radical Centre’ has lost control of the capitalist crisis it helped create and the far right is on the march across Europe. Only anti-fascist economics, writes Yanis Varoufakis, can stop it.

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