In this episode, Hialy Gutierrez, PRA Deputy Research Director, and Claudia Espinel, discuss the connections and contradictions between prevailing economic systems, political infrastructure and ideology, and rising authoritarianism. We touch on the various ways that corporate power intersects with government, civil society, and media to prioritize profit accumulation and market dominance over human and environmental dignity and wellbeing. We also identify ways to sharpen movement strategy so that we can more effectively and more coherently fight back, not just against authoritarian leaders and governance, but also against the economic systems that keep enabling them. We highlight the urgent need to combine our narrative strategies to combat the spread of far right ideology with a clear, materialist strategy to build alternative economic systems. Hialy Gutierrez is the Deputy Research Director at Political Research Associates, where she supports researchers in grounding and testing their analyses in a political economy strategic framework. She is also a cooperator in the solidarity economy ecosystem in Chicago; a PhD candidate and Fellow at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she explores strategic relationships and possibilities across grassroots movements, state institutions, and alternative institutions; and a steering member of the NY-DSA political education academy where she helps to advance education on different expressions of socialism. Claudia works as a consultant for the new Corporate Rights portfolio and political economy at PRA. After spending 15 years in organizational development for both for-profit and non-profit organizations, Claudia joined the PhD program in the Department of Criminology, Law, and Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago as a student. Her research focuses on the role of labor in neoliberalism and the forces and dynamics that create the conditions for labor exploitation. Claudia’s main research interests include non-extractive labor, cooperative governance, and democratic workplaces. She served as the research manager for the Community Wealth Building Project, a City of Chicago initiative that supports cooperative development. She also works on political education projects within Chicago’s worker cooperative ecosystem and has experience in building structures and processes to institutionalize democratized economic governance.

This episode is the second in PRA’s panel discussion series, The First 100 Days of Authoritarian Gains: Key Analysis to Inform Our Resistance. This second part discusses how MAGA weaponizes gender to entrench authoritarianism. Looking at the essential role that anti-LGBTQ, particularly anti-trans organizing and policy and anti-reproductive healthcare access and abortion restriction play in reinforcing authoritarian norms and politics. Research Analysts, Annie Wilkinson, Chancie Calliham, and Mary Reynolds are joined by reproductive justice movement leader Norbese Flint, for this focused discussion of the ways that gender and bodies are reified restricted and deployed by the U.S. Right to reinforce the cis-hetero Christian patriarchal norms that are essential to the authoritarian state making project both in the United States and abroad. They conclude their discussion with a clear call to action that defending reproductive and LGBTQ rights and flourishing are essential to the work of resistance and provide key insights into how to do this extraordinarily necessary work. The discussion is inspired by PRAs recent Winter Spring 2025, issue of the Public Eye on gender and authoritarianism.

In conversation with PRA’s Senior Research Analyst Steven Gardiner, he and Koki discuss the wide-ranging practices, policies, and ideologies underlying the antidemocratic goals of the Neoreactionary Right—and how to resist them. Diving into the foundations of white nationalism and Christian supremacy that prop up the billionaire agenda under Trump, their conversation pieces together the connections in topics ranging from privately owned micro states and the tariff regime intended to re-industrialize a post-industrial United States, to the fascistic, curtailing of opposition and checks on power. Steven Gardiner is Principal Research Advisor, and formerly Research Director, at Political Research Associates. He has been researching and writing in opposition to the politics of bigotry, violence, and authoritarianism since the early 1990s. In 2004, Gardiner received a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Cornell University; since earning his doctorate, he has taught more than twenty different courses at eight universities in the United States, Pakistan, and the UAE.

In this episode, Koki interviews PRA’s former Executive Director Tarso Luís Ramos, who stepped down from his role in December 2024 after nearly two decades at the helm of the organization. With over 30 years of experience working, researching, and leading in the Fight the Right sector, Tarso has had an indelible impact in the social justice Left, informing the ongoing and evolving fight against White, Christian, patriarchal supremacy. In our conversation, he reflects on the fascinating ways that the terrain of contestation between Left and Right has shifted over three decades, what this evolution tells us about the possibilities and imperatives of this moment, and where he looks to for inspiration in an era of growing authoritarianism. Former PRA Executive Director, Tarso Luís Ramos has been researching and challenging the U.S. Right Wing for nearly 30 years. At PRA, Tarso launched major initiatives on antisemitism, misogyny, authoritarianism, White nationalism, and other threats to democracy. Ramos is a sought-after public speaker and his work has been featured in The Guardian, The New York Times, and Time Magazine, among other outlets. Before joining PRA in 2006, Ramos served as founding director of Western States Center’s racial justice program, and exposed and challenged corporate anti-environmental campaigns as director of the Wise Use Public Exposure Project. Resources: Nativist Bedfellows: The Christian Right Embraces Anti-Immigrant Politics by Tarso Luís Ramos and Pam Chamberlain for Political Research Associates Listen to “Nativist Bedfellows: The Christian Right Embrace Anti-Immigrant Politics” on Inform Your Resistance Season 3, Episode 2 One Year In: A Q&A with Tarso Luís Ramos on Trump’s first year in office by Tarso Luís Ramos and Kathryn Joyce for The Public Eye Multi-Racial Democracy, or Authoritarianism?: A Webinar Discussion and Excerpt by Tarso Luís Ramos at the 2018 Facing Race conference closing plenary Capitol Offenses: January 6th 2021 & The Ongoing Insurrection, PRA State of the Right Report by Steven Gardiner and Tarso Luís Ramos for Political Research Associates Press Release: Political Research Associates Welcomes New Executive Director Sylvia Broude

This episode with guest-host Jack Gieseking features an in-depth discussion with Frederick Clarkson about the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), a significant and influential movement within the Christian Right. Clarkson explains the background and history of NAR, as well as its contemporary political significance. The conversation also touches on the relationship between NAR the January 6th 2021 Capitol insurrection, NAR’s relationship with Israel, and their strategy to build their voting block and flip districts, as well as the broader and far-reaching implications NAR has for democracy and religious freedom. Clarkson emphasizes the importance of understanding this movement, given its significant impact on politics and society. He calls for increased awareness and study of the NAR among all of us who care about fighting rising fascism. The discussion concludes with a call to action, urging listeners to educate themselves about the NAR and develop a common vocabulary to facilitate meaningful conversations about its influence and implications. Episode Resources -The Insurgence: Sheriffs is a podcast series that uncovers how a national network of far-right sheriffs is mobilizing to create a White Christian republic, one county at a time. The series features first-hand accounts from people across the country who have come up against the sometimes-fatal consequences from the unchecked power of county sheriffs and their growing alignment with the new Far Right. The Insurgence: Sheriffs is created and hosted by investigative reporter and PRA Research Director Cloee Cooper, and co-executive produced by Political Research Associates and Cuentero Productions. -Christian Right Denialism is More Dangerous Than Ever: A Reporter’s Guide to the New Apostolic Reformation, by Frederick Clarkson and André Gagné, Religion Dispatches, 2022. -Christian Nationalists Dream of Taking Over America. This Movement Is Actually Doing It by Kiera Butler, Mother Jones, 2024. -Packed with Threats of Political Violence, Media Largely Ignore the NAR’s ‘Million Women’ Rally in DC, by Frederick Clarkson, Religion Dispatches, 2024. -Where’s Wallnau? A NAR Apostle Takes Aim at Swing Counties in ‘The Battle for the Mountain of Government’, by Frederick Clarkson, Religion Dispatches, 2024. Episode Keywords New Apostolic Reformation, Christian Right, Christian Right leaders, Project 2025, Project 19

In this episode of Inform Your Resistance, Koki reads “Nativist Bedfellows: The Christian Right Embraces Anti-Immigrant Politics” by Tarso Luís Ramos and Pam Chamberlain, the fourth in our new From the Archives series. From the Archives features those must read and, now, must listen to pieces from PRA’s more than 40 years of publishing. This article was published in the Summer 2008 issue of The Public Eye magazine, and you can read the article here. This week we're also excited to announce the launch of a new podcast series. The Insurgence: Sheriffs is a podcast series that uncovers how a national network of far-right sheriffs is mobilizing to create a White Christian republic, one county at a time. The series features first-hand accounts from people across the country who have come up against the sometimes-fatal consequences from the unchecked power of county sheriffs and their growing alignment with the new Far Right. The Insurgence: Sheriffs is created and hosted by investigative reporter and PRA Research Director Cloee Cooper, and co-executive produced by Political Research Associates and Cuentero Productions.