Understanding world politics in 2016

Four scholars will give their perspective on political developments around the world in 2016.

Supporters of nativist movements are said to be forgotten victims of de-industrialisation or of the inequality resulting from globalisation or have been left behind by the progressive identity politics of the last few decades. But these macro-level explanations fail to account for why nativist is seen as an answer to such woes - why it has such particular emotional and political appeal.

Farhan Samanani

Four Gates Cambridge Scholars are taking part in the first internal symposium to be themed solely on world politics.

The event, next Tuesday, will discuss developments in 2016 in the US, Europe and Brazil as well as why China's political system remains so different from other East Asian states.

The speakers are Victor Roy, Yevgen Sautin, Farhan Samanani and Paulo Savaget Nascimento.

Victor's talk is entitled The Great Fracturing: Five faultlines for understanding 2016. Victor [2012], who is doing a PhD in Sociology, says analysts have been looking for reasons to explain the US election outcome, with economic anxiety and ethnoracial animus as the two leading candidates. Using an analytical framework from sociology that draws on data from across fields, he will instead show how five specific faultlines are working in an inter-related manner to produce such outcomes in the US but can also explain the rise of the far right in Europe and the Brexit result. He says: "People from all across society – from politics, business, academia, and the arts, and from local communities, national government and global institutions – must reckon with the trends and forces driving these faultlines. I present this data as an invitation to consider the multiple responses and new possibilities that can and must be forged in the coming years."

Farhan's presentation, "I'm not racist but…" Understanding the rise of nativism within a complex world, also looks at the explanations given for the rise of nativist or racist sentiments seen in the Brexit and the US general election campaigns. He says: "By and large, explanations for this phenomenon have focused on large scale factors. Supporters of nativist movements are said to be forgotten victims of de-industrialisation or of the inequality resulting from globalisation, or else are seen as those who have been left behind by the progressive identity politics of the last few decades. But these macro-level explanations fail to account for why nativist is seen as an answer to such woes – why it has such particular emotional and political appeal."

Farhan [2013], who is doing a PhD in Social Anthropology, will draw on his research in a London neighbourhood to make a case for how nativism has been used as a tool for simplifying a complex world. He states: "Firstly, it collapses the complex network of forces shaping modern society into a simpler perspective, where a single, identifiable group can be held to blame. Secondly, it asserts the value of familiar, face-to-face relations over abstract economic and political ones, particularly because people tend to think of inter-personal relationships as more trustworthy and as easier to think with. And third, it imagines a world where people's own self worth doesn't have to be vindicated by unfamiliar others, but where it can be taken for granted amongst peers who are presumed to share one's fundamental perspective. These may all be fantasies, but I will draw on evidence from Anthropology and Psychology to argue that they have become highly alluring fantasies in this day and age." He will end by suggesting what might be done about this state of affairs.

Paulo's talk is entitled The Reawakening of the Far Right in Brazil. He says that while far right authoritarianism and hatred aren’t new in politics, they are rising fast not only in the Global North, but also in several middle and lower-middle-income regions, such as Brazil, India and the Philippines. Paulo [2015], who is doing a PhD in Engineering, will talk about Brazil's recent political history before discussing in more depth the reawakening of the far-right. He hopes to open a discussion on the similarities and differences between different regions in order to expand perceptions of what is happening and discuss potential responses.

Yevgen [2016], who is doing a PhD in History, will address the historical background to modern Chinese politics. His talk, The Furnace of Revolution: Manchuria and the Creation of Modern China, covers his research on the reintegration of Manchuria into China from 1949 to 1954 which he says was a major step in solidifying Communist rule over China and developing political institutions that continue to this day. In addition, he says, the process catalysed the transformation of the Chinese Communist Party from a regional guerrilla force into national ruling party. He states: "Relatively little work has been done on this topic and it’s the kind of focused issue that allows the tackling of important broader questions, including about the Cold War, the determination of borders, and the making of a new China after 1949. These early years of the PRC also shed light on why China's political system has remained so markedly different from other East Asian states and also escaped the fate of the former Eastern Bloc."

*The symposium takes place on December 6th from 7:30-9:30pm in the Gates Cambridge Scholars Common Room. All scholars and their guests are welcome. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons.