Go Back to Where You Came from: The Backlash Against Immigration & the Fate of Western Democracy

2017 | Law

Terrorist attacks across Western Europe have provoked a wave of extreme, politicised Islamophobia. American politicians have made it virtually impossible for Syrian refugees to be resettled, Germany's once- open doors are closing fast and even a progressive beacon like Denmark is now seizing the assets of refugees at its border. This climate has already helped propel Donald Trump to the White House, endangered Angela Merkel's hopes of re-election in Germany and put Marine Le Pen within striking distance of the Elysee Palace. Go Back to Where You Came From explains how we got here and why the new right has grown so strong in countries that have historically been defenders of human rights and models of tolerance. By combining narrative history, on-the-ground reportage and interviews with the rising stars of the new right and the intellectuals who have enabled them, Polakow-Suransky shows how xenophobia went mainstream and the politicians embracing it rebranded themselves as defenders of western liberal values to reshape the political landscape.

Read this book to understand how the new right poses a graver threat to liberal democracy than do radical Islamic extremists or mass migration.

Sasha Polakow-Suransky (Author)