Europe and North America are currently witnessing dramatic shifts in the existing balance of power. Whether the AfD and Pegida in Germany, UKIP in Britain, the French Front National, the FPÖ in Austria, the Dutch Party for Freedom, Fidesz and Law and Justice, which have already come to power in Hungary and Poland respectively, Donald Trump in the US, and similar parties and movements in Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Italy and elsewhere – while these groups and developments are by no means identical, it is nevertheless obvious that in many places today, national-conservative forces are on the rise and ever more forcefully – and successfully – making a bid for power (the most recent and, perhaps, most shocking instances of this success being the Brexit in June of last year and the election of Donald Trump as president of the US in November). The essays collected in this issue tackle these and other issues connected with the rise of the new right. They address topics such as populism and ‘affective politics’, neoliberalism, political rhetoric, the Brexit, Donald Trump, gender and sexuality, ‘race’ and class, the realm of culture, as well as the role of the left, of Cultural Studies and of the university more generally. In line with Hall’s conception of intellectual work, our issue is intended not just, or even primarily, as an academic publication, but also as a political intervention. Thus, I am hopeful that it will make a contribution, even if only a small one, to the task of finding ways to understand and adequately respond to the challenge presented by the new right.