Minority Rule

Adventures in the Culture War

By: Ash Sarkar

Narrated by: Ash Sarkar

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2026 JHALAK PROSE PRIZE

'One of the boldest and most exciting thinkers of her generation' NAOMI KLEIN

'Delivers its message with punch and panache ... A joy to read' GUARDIAN

'If leftists feel they have been stumbling around in the darkness, Minority Rule flicks on the light' STANDARD

Minority rule (noun): an irrational fear fuelled by right-wing pundits, lobby journalists and billionaires, that minority groups are displacing majority populations.

We all know that the modern world is in crisis. But it’s not just a crisis for the climate, or of living standards – it’s a ‘blame crisis’. Whether it’s infighting on the left or the demonisation of immigrants on the right, there’s always a new talking point to distract us from real, systemic change.

Now is the time to realise that we have been duped into fighting with each other; now is the time to redirect our outrage towards those who deserve it.

In Minority Rule, political commentator Ash Sarkar offers a sharp and lively reality check. Whether it’s exposing the origins of the ‘white working class’, or examining how ‘non-events’ have taken over journalism, this book – now with a brand new afterword – will help you break the blame cycle for good.

©2025 Ash Sarkar (P)2025 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Critic reviews

Original, vivid, reflective ... Feels like it's written by a really sage old philosopher, sequestered away in the corner of the university but is somehow across pop culture to be able to make references that you find funny and have touchstones with ... A marvellous piece of writing (Oli Dugmore, PoliticsJOE)

I love a book which confounds your expectations. And Minority Rule is definitely that. It's the sort of book actually you wish you'd written. I really recommend it. Ash is a truly original thinker: unafraid to have something uncomfortable to say to her own side, which to me, is one of the marks of any political book which is worth reading (Lewis Goodall, The News Agents podcast)

Her analysis is painfully true – it’s brave and honest and the Left needs to hear this, especially from one of their own (Ian Martin, writer for THE THICK OF IT)

A brilliantly bracing polemic (Nigella Lawson)

This book is a timely investigation of how our culture, in its broadest sense, supports ideas that favour the ruling class … Ash Sarkar’s book is essential reading – and time is short! (Ken Loach)

A thrilling polemic-meets-memoir, which identifies who really wins when the marginalised and the exploited turn on one another, and is not afraid to name names (William Davies, author of THIS IS NOT NORMAL and THE LIMITS OF NEOLIBERALISM)