Revolt: The Worldwide Uprising Against Globalization

Almost everyone can find something to hate about the rise of global trade, migration, and cultural diffusion, according to this deeply reported yet inconclusive debut. Calling antiglobalism “a justified revolt... [that] has mutated into a rejection of progress itself,” Israeli journalist Eyal explores the resulting discontents, documenting European rightists railing against Muslim immigrants, Syrian refugees hoping to start over in Europe, Greek anarchists writing anticapitalist manifestos and preparing Molotov cocktails, the 2008 jihadi terrorist attacks in Mumbai, starving African penguins that have to be force-fed by humans because overfishing has destroyed their food supply, and disillusioned Pennsylvania Democrats who voted for Trump in 2016. Eyal’s vivid reportage (“being surrounded by neo-Nazis is just like being surrounded by sharks, except that there’s no cage”) is supported by intriguing disquisitions on the history of trade and empire. However, his evidence that the revolt is driven by religious, nationalist, or ideological “fundamentalism” opposed to liberal values is less cogent, and maps haphazardly onto the grab bag of episodes—including Brexit, the Fukushima nuclear accident, and the Sandy Hook school shooting—he surveys. This unfocused treatise comes up short. (Jan.)