On Progressive Victories Against the Right-Wing Surge
A Progressive Tide?
The sweeping Democratic Party victory in the 2026 US midterm elections was warmly greeted by many across the globe. With clear majorities in the US congress, and victories at state and local levels, the American people have spoken. Trumpism has been soundly rejected by an undeniable majority of US citizens.
Just a few weeks ago, the Brazilian elections were likewise closely watched. The attention enjoyed by these elections go beyond national or regional concerns. People tuned in because these political developments reflected the polarization and radicalization we see in many other places.
It was in this context that progressive forces and trade unionists the world over collectively breathed a sigh of relief when Lula and the PT won, and are now celebrating the Democratic victory. Well-deserved praises and warm greetings quickly flowed in from various movements, parties, and personalities inspired by these successes.
After years of democratic backsliding in Europe, the United States, and across much of the Global South, finally, some good news! These past few weeks are a welcome relief for the many people anxious about the climate crisis, the threat of AI, and the slow social decay brought about by decades of rampant neoliberalism.
The hardwon victories in the Americas can be seen as part of a broader chain of successes against a fair-right tide that, a few years ago, seemed all too inevitable.
In Sweden, social democracy, also by an inch, managed to secure a victory to push out the far right Sweden Democrats in power. One of course cannot ignore the popular New York City Mayor Mamdani, whose municipal socialism continues to draw national attention in the United States to a growing and revitalized socialist movement.
Successes against Orban in Hungary, the sweeping victory of the Student List in Serbia, and the impressive full slate election of local socialists in Vancouver, Canada are also welcome news. Massive protests against austerity and the neglect of public services have exploded in France. The massive mobilizations have also inspired protest movements in other parts of Europe.
It seems that the far right is not automatically guaranteed to reap the benefits of widespread discontent at the neoliberal status quo. Many of the democratic and progressive forces that beat the far right campaigned on a message centered on economic justice and addressing decades of resentment at a political establishment unable to improve people’s lives.
Affordability, decent public services, people-centered governance, anti-authoritarianism, and an unapologetic rejection of big business influence in politics resonated strongly with the electorate in several countries. As the Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO) observed, the right wing tide can be turned. We just need the right strategy, tactics, and political instinct.
However, winning elections and mass movement eruptions are not enough. Explosions of popular support and fury will eventually dissipate. The barricades cannot stay up forever. Life must go on, people need to go back to school, work, and to our lives.
For working people, success cannot be measured just by the thousands and millions that march. Our victory depends on how much of the progressive social vision is realized through reforms, policy, and our everyday lives. The ultimate measure of success is not what government we helped elect, but if our jobs, commutes, food, and healthcare have improved.
We workers, in other words, cannot win through opposition alone.
The Day After the Election
Despite the progressive victories, it is clear that we remain in the middle of a global crisis. The ongoing collapse of the neoliberal order — through the breakdown of multilateral institutions and the rise of anti-democratic forces — is destroying political certainties that were hegemonic for almost half a century. At the same time, the climate crisis presents an existential threat that will force economic and social transformation, or else we risk our common ruin.
The success of the radical right is thanks to its ability to capture and mobilize popular rejection against the political-economic system of neoliberal globalization. The myriad movements of the right — from the French National Rally, the German Alternative fur Deutschland, Trump in the United States, the Bolonaros in Brazil, and the Dutertes in the Philippines — are all expressions of the right wing solution to the present crisis.
This should not surprise us. Fascism emerged as the right’s solution to the uncertainties and crises of the 1930s.
In today’s political and social battle for humanity’s future, the right has found its answer. The question for us is simple. Are we serious about developing our own?
This is the main strategic challenge that confronts the progressive movement globally. Progressives can, have, and will win elections. But can they govern differently? Can progressives develop, advance, and defend a program of social justice rooted in economic transformation?
To a certain degree, the impressive gains by the radical right can also be connected to the inability of our movements to articulate our own strategic vision. Progressives currently struggle with expressing a vision of the future that can be advanced through programs and collective action. This problem is made worse by the history of compromise, cooptation, and accommodation by progressive parties and representatives with capital and the neoliberal order.
We should not forget that many of the progressive parties and personalities we are cheering for have accepted, agreed to, or even implemented the economic and political policies that drove people to the far right in the first place.
The danger for progressives, especially at this political juncture, is complacency. Once in power, the complexities of governance might make it tempting to fall back to old habits and practices. Obviously, good governance, reforms, and pragmatic politics are needed. However, these must not substitute for the ambitious politics, and political struggle needed to reclaim our democracy and transform our economic structures — at home and globally.
The New Struggles to be Born
Clearly, we cannot leave workers’ political and economic demands solely in the hands of our political parties and representatives. A government or political party governing in the name of workers does not always, or automatically, act in the best interests of workers. This is a lesson that organized labor learned the hard way.
Given the long history of betrayal, compromise, and cooptation by our own political representatives, how should workers navigate the political currents of our time?
For organized labor, the answer lies in rediscovering the power of collective and militant action. History shows us that the mass mobilization of trade unionists and labor activists is not just against the state or capital. Often, the rank-and-file must fight their own political leadership — whether inside the trade union and mass movements, our political parties, and other institutions.
We must rebuild collective power and militant action, not to destroy our leaders and organizations. This “culture of struggle” is necessary if we are serious about building the political power to force the state and capital to accept workers’ demands. This culture of struggle is essential to ensure that our own political representatives will consistently fight for the interests of the ordinary worker. This culture of struggle can be organized labor’s contribution to the progressive strategic vision.
Electoral victories and mass protest must fuel the organizing drives that can build organized mass movements. These movements in turn, informed by the experiences and aspirations of the working class, can help develop the progressive alternative to neoliberal technocracy and rightwing barbarism.
Fortunately, the building blocks of an alternative are there. Programs and demands that address cost of living, affordability, healthcare, wages, and political reforms — against political elites/dynasties, privatization, and corporate lobbying — are widely popular across societies.
Millions remain ready to fight for a future of solidarity, cooperation, and shared humanity. Can progressives give this energy and hope an inspiring vision for the future?
