Webinar – The Black Book of the New Right: How the Cultural Battle Was Built and How It Is Being Waged (Book Presentation)
Thursday 19 November 2026, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm CET, online (Spain)
Presenter
- Ezequiel Saferstein, CONICET & Centro de Estudios y Políticas Públicas del Libro de la Escuela Interdisciplinaria de Altos Estudios Sociales (EIDAES, UNSAM)
Moderator
- Ignacia Perugorría, University of the Basque Country
Description
In 2016, Argentine conservative intellectuals Agustín Laje and Nicolás Márquez, then relatively marginal figures whose influence was largely confined to right-wing online communities and small publishing houses, published The Black Book of the New Left (El libro negro de la nueva izquierda). The book helped lay the ideological foundations of what the Latin American far right calls the “cultural battle” (batalla cultural): a struggle to challenge progressive values and reshape the cultural foundations of political life. Its central argument was that, following the collapse of Soviet communism, the left had lost its military and economic power but retained its influence over culture. Feminism, LGBTQ+ rights, and what its authors labelled “gender ideology” became central targets, portrayed as threats to the traditional family and Western civilisation.
A decade later, ideas once confined to marginal intellectual circles have gained considerable political influence, particularly following the election of libertarian economist Javier Milei as Argentina’s president in 2023. His political movement, La Libertad Avanza (Freedom Advances), combines radical free-market economics, anti-establishment rhetoric, and alliances with socially conservative actors, placing the cultural battle at the heart of its political project.
Against this backdrop, Argentine sociologist Ezequiel Saferstein’s The Black Book of the New Right (El libro negro de la nueva derecha) examines how this political and social movement emerged, expanded, and ultimately entered the corridors of power. Rather than simply condemning the far right, Saferstein explores how its actors understand themselves, the role of younger generations in driving its expansion, and the tensions between anti-establishment rebellion and institutional power.
Drawing on years of interviews and ethnographic fieldwork at political festivals, book fairs, and public events, Saferstein reconstructs the networks of intellectuals, publishers, activists, influencers, and political entrepreneurs behind Argentina’s far-right cultural mobilisation. He highlights the publishing infrastructures, digital platforms, and grassroots initiatives that sustain the circulation of ideas and connect ideological leaders with broader audiences.
The book challenges the notion that the cultural battle is merely a secondary aspect of far-right politics or a top-down communication strategy. Instead, it reveals how cultural mobilisation helps build collective identities, forge political constituencies, and connect ideological projects with everyday experiences. While grounded in Argentina, Saferstein’s analysis offers valuable insights into the global rise of the far right, the transnational circulation of political ideas, and the cultural processes through which anti-establishment movements gain political power.
About the Presenter
Ezequiel Saferstein is an Argentine sociologist, researcher at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), and coordinator of the Programme for the Study of Contemporary Political Books at the National University of San Martín (UNSAM). He holds a PhD in Social Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires.
His research explores the intersections of politics, culture, publishing, and intellectual production, focusing on the role of books, publishers, intellectuals, and cultural intermediaries in shaping political ideas, collective identities, and ideological mobilisation.
He is the author of ¿Cómo se fabrica un best seller político? (2021) and El libro negro de la nueva derecha (The Black Book of the New Right, 2026), both published by Siglo XXI Editores. His latest book examines the cultural and organisational foundations of Argentina’s contemporary far right, the networks of intellectuals, activists, and publishers that sustain it, and the relationship between cultural mobilisation and the political rise of Javier Milei. Drawing on extensive interviews and ethnographic fieldwork, his research contributes to international debates on the cultural dimensions of far-right politics, the circulation of political ideas, and the transformation of anti-establishment movements into governing forces.
Meeting Details | Join Us Online
Thursday, November 19, 2026
16-18 CET | 15-17 GMT | 12-14 ART
Online | English
Platform: Microsoft Teams
Meeting link: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/3571619241531160?p=igkEGTFHOinjZB5byP
Meeting ID: 357 161 924 153 116 0
Passcode: Cg3fP29s
Find more information here: https://newfarrights.org/events/rightscapes/rightscapes03/