By Neha Suri | Vanguard ALT Los Angeles | May 7, 2025
LOS ANGELES, CA – Naomi Klein’s recent UCLA talk, “Fascism or Eco-populism: Our Stark Choice,” examined how climate disaster, inequality, and political failure lay the groundwork for modern fascism—both in the U.S. and globally. The event, hosted at the UCLA Nimoy Theater in Westwood by the Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy, drew a crowd of what Klein called “radical thinkers,” who were greeted with protest leaflets reading “TRUMP/MAGA FASCISM.”
Klein, a professor of Climate Justice at the University of British Columbia, winner of the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction for Doppelganger, and New York Times bestselling author, traveled from Canada for the talk. Following her remarks, a panel discussion featured Ananya Roy, Hannah Appel, and Kian Goh—all UCLA Luskin faculty leaders and scholars in urban planning, anthropology, and global studies.
The program opened with a reading by Lupita Limón Corrales of her poem “Housing and Other Verbs,” which set the tone for the evening. “A landlord is a parasite and you’re a roach,” she read. “[These bridges] promis[e] to connect us by burying our houses like fossils.” The poem grounded the night’s discussion in a politics of housing justice that identified clear lines between perpetrators and victims.
Klein began by introducing the concept of eco-populism through the case of the 2018 Paradise Fires. She detailed how the fires displaced thousands, many of whom resettled in the nearby town of Chico. But Chico, already struggling with its own housing crisis, became a flashpoint for division.
According to Klein, before the fires, Chico had declared a housing emergency: approximately 17% of residents lived in mobile home parks, and over two thousand people were unhoused. When fire refugees arrived, a divide emerged between those seen as “deserving” victims and those already living in poverty.
What followed, Klein argued, was a breakdown of the initial spirit of solidarity. The rise of the “Safe Chico” movement during the pandemic marked a reactionary backlash. As public spaces became refuges for the unhoused, some residents responded with fear, anger, and NIMBYism. Safe Chico ultimately blocked a local Green New Deal plan and flipped the city council to the right, leading to some of the strictest anti-homeless policies in California.
This, Klein explained, is the “fascist flip”—what happens when neoliberalism strips society of the “shock absorbers” needed to cope with crisis. In the absence of strong public infrastructure and universal social support, far-right movements fill the void with exclusion and authoritarianism.
She illustrated this pattern with a contemporary example: New York Assemblymember Zohran Kwame Mamdani, a progressive candidate for mayor, who represents one of the state’s most affordable housing districts. Yet much of his base—Black and brown working-class voters—supported Donald Trump in the last election. Mamdani, after speaking with constituents, found that many felt abandoned by the government and resentful of what they perceived as aid being given to immigrants in luxury hotels, while their own communities were ignored.
Klein emphasized that the right thrives on these failures of the left. When progressive politics fail to deliver universal support, the far right swoops in with scapegoats and slogans. “Fight like hell,” she urged. “All over the world, the authoritarian right is surging… based on climate disasters. We have to work ceaselessly to fight the conditions that allow fascism to spread.”
She and the panel discussed what she called “end-times fascism”—our failure to confront past authoritarianism now manifesting in new forms. When asked by panelist Hannah Appel to relate her themes to current events, Klein turned to Palestine.
“Victims of genocide can become perpetrators of genocide,” she said, arguing that this is precisely what is happening in Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Klein described Israel as a “settler colonial state” and emphasized the need to break taboos around drawing comparisons between historical atrocities and contemporary ones.
“There’s a difference between replication and reparation,” Klein said. Preventing comparisons to events like the Holocaust, she argued, only enables fascist patterns to resurface under different guises.
“Black and brown working-class voters—supported Donald Trump in the last election. Mamdani, after speaking with constituents, found that many felt abandoned by the government and resentful of what they perceived as aid being given to immigrants in luxury hotels, while their own communities were ignored.”
Democrats hate it when their constituents see them for what they are and come to their senses.
“This, Klein explained, is the “fascist flip”—what happens when neoliberalism strips society of the “shock absorbers” needed to cope with crisis. In the absence of strong public infrastructure and universal social support, far-right movements fill the void with exclusion and authoritarianism.”
The truth is that NEITHER the “left” OR “right” addresses “shock absorbers”.
That’s why all of this (e.g., the fires in Paradise- as mentioned in the article) will occur again-and-again.
“Paradise Strong”.
(As long as PG&E can be blamed, I guess.)