The far right wants metapolitics to simply go back to the past, restoring a thinly disguised form of fascism in the hijacked domain of contemporary conservative politics. Humans have always tried to understand and live their finite lives in relation to infinite possibilities — what could happen, what if, perhaps. Infinite possibilities are unknown unless brought to… Continue reading “The Metapolitics of the Far Right”
The contemporary political landscape is characterized by extreme polarization, and that’s not only in Britain or the US. The outcome of the election in the United Kingdom is just one more piece of evidence of a pernicious trend that has increasingly infested liberal democracies — extreme polarization. While it will take some time to get… Continue reading “The Extremes Win Today’s Elections”
Call for Chapters Routledge Handbook of Non-Violent Extremism: Groups, Perspectives and New Debates Background For a long-time overshadowed by jihadi extremism, non-violent (or vocal) extremism has been the centre of inflamed political and academic debates throughout the world (Cordesman, 2017; Gilligan, 2019; Hamid, 2016; Wali, 2013; Whitespunner, 2018). This debate is fuelled by the massive… Continue reading “Call for Chapters: New Routledge Handbook on Non-Violent Extremism”
Democracy has a core meaning but it needs to be defined from a vantage point, given that is is a contested concept subject to dynamic framing and reframing processes. According to Habermas’ deliberative democracy theory, deliberation is central to democratic decision making. Hence, language development is an essential part of democracy and democratic discourse: autocrats… Continue reading “Of ‘Nazi-Pigs’, ‘Jewish sows’ and ‘bourgeois coalitions’ (A German perspective)”
Through fear-mongering, conspiracy theories, and voter suppression tactics, the far-right has poisoned America’s political discourse in pursuit of power. Writing an op-ed column “Why Republicans Play Dirty” in The New York Times, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt describe recent efforts by Republican executives and legislators – at both the state and federal levels – to subvert the… Continue reading “How The Radical Right Took American Politics Hostage”
Members of the Radical Right are allying with authoritarian regimes like Russia to undermine the liberal world order as we know it. Civilizations tend to exist either in a state of war or peace. Clausewitz reminds us that war is none other than “the continuation of politics by other means”. However, war does not stay… Continue reading “Right-Wing Authoritarians Are Waging A Hybrid War On Democracy”
Answering some of the pressing, if not existential questions facing diverse, democratic societies require a clearer understanding of tolerance. Tolerance is vital to the functioning of modern, liberal democracies. In societies where individual rights and freedoms are recognized and protected, some amount of tolerance of difference is required. Diversity comes in many forms: thought… Continue reading “What is tolerance and how much of it do democracies require?”
Civilisations tend to exist either in a state of war or peace. Clausewitz reminds us that war is none other than “the continuation of politics by other means”. However, war does not stay the same; it changes, evolves, and grows depending on the context and time period it’s situated in. One person to examine the… Continue reading “War against the core values: Rise of the radical right in a context of hybrid war”
Recall that in the last CARR blog, I offered key definitions in the literature, including what we mean by the radical right, populism, nativism, and illiberalism respectively. I also highlighted some interpretations of these terms and underscored some of the links between them. In this blog, I want to offer seven theses on the rise… Continue reading ““The Global Rise of Nativism and Illiberalism: A Conversation on the Contemporary Political Pathology,” Part 3: Seven theses about the radical right”
Where left-leaning observers warn of a return of totalitarian nationalism, the far right warns of the return of socialist and communist totalitarian politics. With the rise of populist and far-right politics in Europe and beyond, the fear of the return of totalitarian politics has equally intensified. Comparisons with the rise of fascism in the 1920s… Continue reading “The Far Right Imagines a Totalitarian Other”