Minority Rule: Adventures in the culture war
Ash Sarkar, Bloomsbury, £18.99

MINORITY RULE sets out to explore the ways in which class politics are being fragmented: the way the right has been weakening working-class power through processes of “divide and rule.”

Marx and Engels identified the ways in which capitalism produces extreme wealth for the very few and impoverishment for everyone else — accompanied by environmental degradation on a global scale. But resistance to capitalism has been diminished as a result of divisions within and between different sections of the working class. 

Sarkar focuses on the ways in which identity politics have been weaponised to exacerbate these divisions, steering resentment away from the underlying causes of poverty and inequality. Right-wing pundits have been peddling the notion that majority interests are being threatened by minorities (however defined) effectively reinforcing the real threat — of minority rule by financial elites. 

Much of the book’s attention focuses on the divisive strategies of the right. But there is also welcome recognition of the fact that sections of the left have unwittingly opened themselves up to attack through their engagement with the politics of identity and culture. The focus on “victimhood” (however defined) and “grievance” have been particularly problematic, being open to very different interpretations and usages. 

Sarkar takes these criticisms seriously, as she explains in the introduction: “Without meaning to, the left opened the door for powerful people to tactically present themselves as victims — and tie us up in the knots of our own obsession with grievance.”

These themes — the right’s strategies to divide and rule, and left obsessions with identity politics, victimhood and grievances — run through the chapters that follow. 

Chapter one focuses on identity per se and the ways in which they have been used to divide the left. Victimhood confers recognition but those in power can co-opt victim status for their own ends. The cult of victimhood is corrosive of solidarity, as Sarkar goes on to explain. 

Chapter two goes on to focus on the role of the media and the amplification of divisive claims, whether there is any truth in them or not. This leads into the discussion of the links between politicians and the media, in chapter three, followed by reflections on the ways in which the issues of immigration and asylum have been weaponised, in chapter four.

Chapter five moves on to focus on moral panics about black youth. This is followed by the discussion of moral panics about the underclass, described as scroungers, “scum of the Earth,” but subsequently rediscovered as the white working class — the “salt of the Earth” whose interests were being undermined as a result of multiculturalism.

Chapter six moves on to focus on the divisive issue of trans, followed by discussion of potential links with the “Great Replacement” myth — the myth that white people are being “swamped” as a result of falling white birthrates. 

Chapter seven focus on landlordism, rentier capitalism and privatisation, showing how corporate interests have been pursuing their class interests. These are class issues requiring class solidarity in response, she concludes. We need to come together in solidarity, rather than allowing identity politics to divide us. 

Sarkar writes in a very punchy style. This is definitely “not an academic examination of the forces that shape our society,” as she herself explains, although she does provide extensive notes and references to her sources. Rather it’s about raising people’s consciousness about the right’s political tactics, preserving an economic system that is destroying people’s well-being, their community and the very planet that we live on, by diffusing and redirecting class conflict into culture wars. 

The result is an extremely readable book, amply illustrated by the author’s own experiences. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on The Lobby for instance. This explores the links between lobby journalists and politicians, the revolving door and the conflicts of interest involved, a chapter that includes highly entertaining accounts of her encounters with Piers Morgan.

Minority Rule explores contentious issues, however. Morning Star readers may find a number of challenges as a result. To associate trans issues with the discussion of “Great Replacement” theory, for example, leaves many questions to be unpacked. Nevertheless, they will find this book a stimulating read. The arguments are more relevant than ever in the current context, as the epilogue explains. 

This was written just after the riots that followed the murders in Southport in the summer of 2024. Sarkar sets the racism that was involved in these events within their wider context; an exacerbating climate crisis, rising inequality and increasing violence in the Middle East and beyond. 

While recognising that any one of these crises could lead to despair, Sarkar concludes with a message of hope. We can still make choices. And this can include the choice to work towards building solidarity across differences.