Watch | Arjun Appadurai on the factors that have led to the rise of the Right wing

All the demagogues promised national and cultural purification as a route to global political power, says the Emeritus Professor in Media, Culture and Communication at New York University

Widespread availability of the Internet and use of social media, loss of economic sovereignty of nation states, and spread of the idea of human rights across the world are the three main factors that have led to the success of Right wing political parties and far-right demagogues in democracies around the world, Arjun Appadurai, Emeritus Professor in Media, Culture and Communication at New York University and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences said at The Hindu Lit Fest 2024 here in Chennai on Saturday.

Speaking on the topic ‘Democracy fatigue: Why the world is moving towards the Right?’, Professor Appadurai said, “The leaders of the new authoritarian populisms [Donald Trump in U.S., Vladimir Putin in Russia, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey, Giorgia Meloni in Italy and few other similar far-Right leaders] have in common is the recognition that none of them can truly control their national economies, which are hostages to foreign investors and global agreements, transnational finance and mobile labour and capital in general. All of them promised national and cultural purification as a route to global political power.”

Read about the full conversation here.