A leading political philosopher dissects the far right’s appeal through the lens of Bolsonarismo, tracing its roots to the social, cultural, and economic disintegration caused by the crisis of neoliberalism.
In 2022, Brazilians defeated the far right at the polls—and, in 2025, the country’s high court jailed its leader, former president Jair Bolsonaro, for plotting a coup. But for four years, Bolsonaro led the nation and the popular, far-right movement that bore his name. Anatomy of Disintegration is about how Bolsonaro came to power and was defeated, but it is also about much more: it offers a perspective on the global rise of the far right as seen from one of the largest countries in the Global South. What explains the far right’s appeal, in Brazil, in the US, and across the world? What is so attractive about its message and the future it offers, one that valorizes individualism, glorifies trolls, con artists, and conspiracy theorists, and imagines a world in which punishment and political violence are celebrated?
Through sharp analyses of the social composition of the far right, the affective conditions that underpin it, and the mainstream’s inability to respond to it, Rodrigo Nunes argues that the far right’s power comes not from some mysterious “outside” source, but from the unresolved conflicts produced by neoliberalism and the failed promises of contemporary capitalism. What emerges, then, is a portrait of a world in disintegration, beset by climate collapse, rampant inequality, and the proliferation of sacrifice zones for the poor and protected enclaves for the rich. It is essential that we understand the forces that are trying to accelerate that process––and how the left might effectively fight back.
Rodrigo Nunes is a senior lecturer (associate professor) in Political Theory and Organisation at the University of Essex. He is the author of Neither Vertical Nor Horizontal: A Theory of Political Organisation (Verso, 2021) and Organisation of the Organisationless: Collective Action after Networks (Mute, 2014), as well as numerous articles in publications such as Les Temps Modernes, Radical Philosophy, South Atlantic Quarterly, Jacobin, and The Guardian. He lives in London.
Publication date: October 6, 2026
Introduction
Excursus 1 – The Point of View of the Periphery
Chapter 1 – Of What Is Bolsonaro the Name?
Chapter 2 – The Present of an Illusion: Are We in Denial About Denial?
Excursus 2 – Affective Infrastructures
Chapter 3 – Our Brand Is Crisis: Entrepreneurialism and the Far Right
Excursus 3 – Three Scenes from Daily Life
Chapter 4 – All Power to the Trolls: The Colonization of Politics by Social Media
Chapter 5 – Every Side Has Two Sides: On the Idea of Political Polarization
Chapter 6 – From Trance to Vertigo: Images of Defeat in Brazilian Cinema (and Beyond)
Excursus 4 – The Encounter of Batman with the People
Endgame