During a conversation with Pavithra Suryanarayan, a political scientist at the London School of Economics, about the driving forces behind far-right populism, she abruptly stopped mid-sentence and gasped upon receiving a news alert that TV host Tucker Carlson had been fired from Fox News. This moment exemplifies the larger point that Suryanarayan emphasized in our discussion: to comprehend the ascent of far-right populist politicians worldwide, we must consider institutions that failed to check them.
Suryanaryan’s research has largely focused on the reasons why expanding democratic rights often leads to a political backlash from groups that fear losing their status and privileges in a more equal society. This phenomenon has been observed in the response of White Southerners in the United States during the Civil Rights era and members of the Brahmin caste in India after the government implemented affirmative action in the 1990s. Disaffected groups can…
2023-04-26 13:51:13
Source from www.nytimes.com