Ethno-Racial Politics

Ethno-Racial Conflicts

By Avery Benton

Avery is a third year undergraduate studying Ancient History BA. She is heavily involved in and keen on researching contemporary world events: particularly, she is interested in nationalism and manifestations of democracy and their effects on state’s domestic and international policies, US foreign policy, and Transatlantic relations.

The Rise of the Right: Anti-Globalisation Backlash and the Ugly Face of Ethno-Nationalism in the 2020s

Ethno-racial politics in the 2020s is going to be defined by globalization, or more accurately, by anti-globalization. The backlash and resulting sociopolitical movements shaped by ethnocentrism can be grouped into nationalistic and populistic tendencies. Ethno-nationalism is what is on the rise this decade, and it is markedly different from its counterpart, civic nationalism. The ethno-racial quality of ethno-nationalism and it’s polarizing quality of politics is what further divides a country from the inside out. It is the “us vs them” mentality which harms the cohesiveness of the nation, and it is through ethno-nationalism on a broader, international scale and white nationalism in Anglo nations which have started to emerge from the depths. Nationalism and populism both adapt the definition of globalization, usually in the form of anti-globalization, to fit their political aims of uniting an ethnicity against an “other”, whether it be a different ethnicity, elites, or another country, etc. [2] Nationalism and populism adaptations of anti-globalization in the forms of segregated ethnic-racial politics, while it might spell the preservation of the nation-state for now, also poses a huge geopolitical risk in terms of conflict. [3] There has been a buildup of nationalism across the globe in the past decades, most notably, white nationalism in the Western world with the United States as a hot spot.[4] 2020 as a year alone had the amount of spectacles expected in a decade, and the United States is a warning for the trend for the rest of the globe. The recent attempt on the Capitol and Senate, the election of Donald Trump and his subsequent fall from grace, coupled with the rising of right-wing parties in Europe, all against the backdrop of emerging fascists in the Philippines and Turkey, all spell a dangerous combination of divisive political landscapes for the 2020s as a decade. [5] Modi in India, Erdogan in Turkey, and Trump in the US all show signs of dangerous political antics that centralize ethno-racial politics as their core source of power. While Modi and Erdogan have been in power before Trump, the ramifications of Trump’s presidency are emboldened nationalist and right-wing populist players across the globe, and the 2020s will feel this effect. [6]

The world has essentially been divided into two ethno-racially focused political camps: White nationalists and Ethno-nationalism. Both of these nationalist politics are underlined by strong rightwing populist political rhetoric, fueling both parties on the conservative side. The National Front in France, Modi’s Hindu-focused Bharatiya Janata Party, Erdogan’s Muslim-Turk focused political rhetoric, and the United State’s Republican Party swing towards alt-right politics is to name only some of the right-leaning

populist parties that have been building up for years, and now are starting to raise their heads. [7]

White nationalism is rising white majority settler and host nations, notably the United States, Germany, Britain, Hungary, and France, Ethno-nationalism is congregating in countries like India, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, and North Korea. The most notable difference in the rise of white nationalists versus ethno-nationalism is that white nationalists are characterized by more rhetorical features of deep rightwing politics, such as anti-truth, specific authoritarian worship of the “true” leader of the people, insular governmentality, rejection of “outsiders” or “others” and prosecution of those who go against their people. [8] Ironically, it is also defined by ethno-racial identity: white nationalists must be white. Ethno-nationalism encompasses a much more broad spectrum of people.

Their goals, however, remain the same. Anti-truth, specific authoritarian worship of the “true” leader of the people, insular governmentality, rejection of “outsiders” or “others” and prosecution of those who go against their people. This is evidenced by the persecution of the Armenians in Azerbaijan, a proxy for Turkey. Armenians are targeted by the government on the belief that they are infringing on the rights of the Turkish and Azerbaijani peoples. The attacks on the Capitol in Washington D.C. are further evidence of the violent reactionary populist politics that both of these ethno nationalisms hold. Both of these examples are also defined by the anti-globalization belief that outsiders are poisoning the democracy or the government of the “true” people. In Washington, it is the belief that Democrats, or the “global order” is targeting Trumps and Republicans. In Turkey, it is the belief that the Armenians are “outsiders” who want to change the status or the power of the “pure” people of the host-nation. The general anti-pluralism and anti-multiculturalism based rhetoric is based off the desire to not “share” the nation-state with those who are “other”. [9]

The rise of globalization also brings dangerous opposition to ethno-racial political ideals, especially ones held by white nationalists and ethno-nationalists. Those ideals that are characterized by the fear of “global orders” or the “other” that migrates into the country, or even the minority population that is well established pose a risk to the political integrity and cohesiveness of the nation These volatile and reactionary politics may define the decade and the decline of Western (US) hegemony. [10] The rise of anti-globalization, and by extension anti-liberal [11] political regimes, poses may return political thinking and organization to a more primitive state, one defined by cultural seclusion and suspicion of those that are different. [12] The current trajectory of white nationalist and ethno-nationalist politics leads this statement to be true, especially evidenced by the polarizing and violent conflicts of the attempt on the Capitol and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

We have already witnessed that the risk involved with right-wing ethno-racial politics and anti-globalization are damaging to all aspects of the current capitalist world order. These include economic protectionism, tightening immigration restrictions, limits on the general movement of peoples, less international job opportunities, harder visa requirements, etc. [14] The 2020s face the risk of such insular pol-

itics threatening not only the current world order, but also more existential elements. Issues like climate change threateni the entire species and require global cooperation and a fundamental coming-togetherness for the survival of humanity. This kind of cooperation cannot be achieved with such polarizing politics dominating the world stage. To remedy the risk of right-wing ethno-racial politics, the liberal order will need to be revitalized, restamped, and redistributed throughout the world with a better focus on justice and collectivity. [1][15] Essentially, to mitigate the risk brought about by ethno-racial nationalist and populist politics, the liberal order will have to reorder its politics in a more populist fashion, essentially to unite the left, to generate steam to overcome the dangers of right-wing politics.

Sources

[1] Manfred B. Steger, A Very Short Introduction: Globalization, (Oxford University Press: Fifth Edition, 2020) 17. [2] Anthony D. Smith, Nationalism, (Polity Press: Second Edition, 2010). Samuel P. Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations?” (Foreign Affairs 72, no. 3 1993): 22-49. [3] Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations?” 22-49 Liah Greenfeld, “The Globalization of Nationalism and the Future of the Nation-State.” (International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society 24, no. 1/2 2011): 5-9. [4] David Neiwert, Alt-America, (Verso, 2018). [5] Jack Synder, “The Broken Bargain: How Nationalism Came Back” (Foriegn Affairs, 2019) [6] Lars-Erik Cederman, “Blood For Soil: The Fatal Temptation of Ethnic Politics” (Foreign Affairs, 2019). Jack Sullivan, “The World After Trump: How the System Can Endure” (Foreign Affairs, 2018). Azar Gat, “The Return of Authoritarian Great Powers” (Foreign Affairs, 2007). Fareed Zakaria, “Populism on the March: Why the West is in Trouble” (Foreign Affairs, 2016). [7] Bart Bonikowskia and Noam Gidron. “The Populist Style in American Politics: Presidential Campaign Rhetoric, 1952–1996.” (Social Forces 94(4), 2016) 1593–1621. [8] David Neiwert, Alt-America [9] Cas Mudde and Cristobal Rovira Kaltwasser, A Very Short Introduction: Populism, (Oxford University Press, 2017) Steven Grosby, A Very Short Introduction: Nationalism, (Oxford University Press, 2005) Aurelien Mondon and Aaron Winter, Reactionary Democracy: How Racism and the Populist Far Right Became Mainstream, (Verso, 2020). Marco Revelli, The New Populism: Democracy Stares Into the Abyss, (Verso, 2019). [10] Jack Sullivan, “The World After Trump: How the System Can Endure” [11] Joseph S Nye Jr, “Will the Liberal Order Survive? The History of an Idea” (Foreign Affairs, 2017). [12] Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations?” 22-49 Lamont Dehaven King, “Nations without Nationalism: Ethno-Political Theory and the Demise of the Nation-State.” (Journal of Developing Societies 18, no. 4, 2002): 354–64. [13] Rida Fatima, “Civic and Ethnic Nationalism in a Populist World: Behind the Facade of Dichotomies” (moderndiplomacy, 2020). [14] Richard C Levin. “Anti-Globalization.” In A World Connected: Globalization in the 21st Century, edited by Chanda Nayan and Froetschel Susan. (Yale University Press, 2012) 290-327. [15] Jack Synder, “The Broken Bargain: How Nationalism Came Back” Joseph S Nye Jr, “Will the Liberal Order Survive? The History of an Idea”

Image Credits

https://tribune.com.pk/article/93205/why-is-the-world-embracing-right-wing-politics https://time.com/5021203/trump-group-handshake-asia-trip/ https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-02/12th-street-riot-police/9111494?nw=0