{"id":25767,"date":"2017-11-23T09:29:08","date_gmt":"2017-11-23T08:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/libmod.de\/?p=25767"},"modified":"2020-12-09T17:22:13","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T16:22:13","slug":"fuecks-whats-drivin-antiliberal-revolt-what-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libmod.de\/en\/fuecks-whats-drivin-antiliberal-revolt-what-to-do\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s driving the anti-liberal revolt? And what should we do about it?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Foto: Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The rapid pace of moderni\u00adsation renders people suscep\u00adtible to populism. For the cosmopolitan milieus, this came as a surprise. Yet the warning signs had long been apparent.<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

We live in a period of turbulent change. America\u2019s crisis and the rise of author\u00adi\u00adtarian powers are increasing inter\u00adna\u00adtional uncer\u00adtainty. The global integration of markets is inten\u00adsi\u00adfying the pressure to compete, a challenge that is acutely felt by the working and middle classes. The digital revolution is having a profound effect on the world of work and our daily lives. Global migration is dissolving the buffer between us and the others. The emanci\u00adpation of women and equality for sexual minorities are toppling the patri\u00adarchy from its pedestal. All of these changes are happening simul\u00adta\u00adne\u00adously and at a rapid pace.<\/p>\n

For the well-educated portion of our society, this accel\u00aderated modernity holds out bright prospects, despite all the concomitant stress. The \u201cErasmus gener\u00adation\u201d feels at home in a border-free Europe. For cosmopolitan Americans\u200a\u2014\u200athe \u201cBobos in Paradise<\/a>\u201d\u200a\u2014\u200aopen borders and immigrant neigh\u00adbours are core to the American dream. For them, the doors to the world stand open. The multi\u00adcul\u00adtural mix enriches their lives. Global\u00adi\u00adsation multi\u00adplies their options. When a move would bring advancement, or when love calls, this gener\u00adation feels bound to neither place nor language.<\/p>\n

It is these elites in the spheres of science, business, politics and media who shaped the liberal cosmopolitan consensus that has been shaken by the Brexit refer\u00adendum, the election of Donald Trump and the buoyant rise of nation\u00adalist parties.<\/p>\n

For many in that sphere, the anti-liberal revolt came like a bolt from the blue. Yet signs of its approach had been apparent for some time\u200a\u2014\u200aat least since the onset of the 2007 financial crisis, which dramat\u00adi\u00adcally shook the public\u2019s confi\u00addence in the ruling elites and democ\u00adratic institutions.<\/p>\n

Since then, the sense that control has been lost has predom\u00adi\u00adnated. It is no accident that the battle-cry of Brexi\u00adteers in the United Kingdom was \u201ctake back control\u201d\u200a\u2014\u200acircling the wagons, the retreat to a national fortress promising safety from the threats of global migration and free trade. Trump rode the same wave into the White House.<\/p>\n

For liberals, one hopes that the recent success of the anti-liberal revolt also marked its zenith. We have seen a defiant democ\u00adratic reaction since then. The Trump agenda is losing support, as demon\u00adstrated compre\u00adhen\u00adsively in the November 7 Virginia<\/a> elections. Right-wing populists were thwarted in the Nether\u00adlands and France. The 12.6 percent for the Alter\u00adnative for Germany (AfD) is a warning sign, but not yet a threat to the democracy.<\/p>\n

It would be dangerous to sound the all-clear though. Author\u00adi\u00adtarian regimes are gaining ground from China to Turkey. In the European Union, too, the spirit of \u201cilliberal democracy\u201d is stirring.<\/p>\n

The Threat of Change<\/h2>\n

Those reacting against the liber\u00adalism of the last few decades see change as threat, not oppor\u00adtunity. They are afraid of losing social status and they defiantly defend tradi\u00adtional gender roles and national self-images. For them, the future seems darker than an idealized past. This is fertile ground for \u201cidenti\u00adtarian\u201d tendencies.<\/p>\n

Identi\u00adtarians promise security by way of withdrawal back into a closed world view and a closed society. Ethnic nation\u00adalism is one version of this, Islamism is another. In their aversion to the open society, these two have more in common than would appear at first glance.<\/p>\n

The question is how liberal democracy will respond. We cannot shield our societies from the changes happening in our times; we have to accept them and take up the task of shaping them. The job of policy-makers is to steer changes, not merely to manage them.<\/p>\n

Experi\u00adencing global compe\u00adtition, the digital revolution or the huge influx of people from other areas of the world as simply natural phenomena\u200a\u2014\u200aevents beyond control that descend upon us\u200a\u2014\u200adestroys the legit\u00adimacy of liberal democracies.<\/p>\n

Winners and Losers in a Liberal World<\/h2>\n

Since the \u201cneoliberal\u201d swing in economic policies, the paradigm of free markets, dereg\u00adu\u00adlation and priva\u00adti\u00adzation dominated over political regulation and government inter\u00advention\u200a\u2014\u200ain part an ideological choice and in part a reflection of the widening gap between economic global\u00adization and national gover\u00adnance. The flip side of global compe\u00adtition and free flow of capital needs to be urgently addressed. The growing inequality of wealth, income and oppor\u00adtunity within our societies is no longer polit\u00adi\u00adcally sustainable.<\/p>\n

The founding fathers of the social market economy recog\u00adnised the impor\u00adtance of a regulatory framework for the free interplay of forces. As the reach of national policies is reduced, more pan-European and global regulation is needed: on economics, immigration, climate, and host of other issues that can neither be dealt with by the nation state alone, nor be left to the forces of the market.<\/p>\n

We also need to equip individuals with the ability to keep pace with techno\u00adlogical and social changes. Education and occupa\u00adtional quali\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtions are no longer a guarantee of a successful career path, but they remain the best option for ensuring a productive and stable society.<\/p>\n

Counter\u00adacting the dichotomy between winners and losers is core to the defence of liberal democracy.<\/p>\n

Between Freedom and Belonging<\/h2>\n

When growing uncer\u00adtainty meets growing inequality, an explosive situation results. Populism\u200a\u2014\u200afrom the left and right\u200a\u2014\u200awarns that something is brewing in Western societies that we must address.<\/p>\n

The freedom of the individual is both the starting point and the objective of political liber\u00adalism. But liberals should not ignore the need for a sense of belonging either. We must show that we can success\u00adfully combine liberty with community; diversity with societal cohesion; change with stability.<\/p>\n

One of Emmanuel Macron\u2019s key campaign slogans was \u201ca Europe that protects\u201d: no one should left to bear the brunt of economic and social upheaval without protection, everyone has a right to solidarity and participation.<\/p>\n

Jeremy Corbyn, the unexpected star of the British Labour Party, taps into the same sentiment with his slogan \u201ca society for the many not the few\u201d. While Corbyn\u2019s is a retro-socialism of the 70s rather than a new departure, the younger gener\u00adation flocks to his banner. He embodies the left-wing version of a longing for a cohesive, caring community, a progressive alter\u00adnative to the vision of the nation\u00adalist community from the right.<\/p>\n

And so, what are liberals to do?<\/h2>\n

Those who seek to defend liberal democracy must think again about what the concept of \u201cwell-fortified democracy\u201d means.<\/p>\n

First, there is the state\u2019s classic function of protection against violence and arbitrary acts, whether internal or external. In an era of ideolog\u00adi\u00adcally charged terrorism, the return of political extremism, and organised crime, the issue of internal security has taken on new relevance.<\/p>\n

Second is the issue of what psychol\u00ado\u00adgists call \u201cego-strength\u201d: the ability of individuals to act with confi\u00addence. The rapidity of compre\u00adhensive techno\u00adlogical, social, and cultural change presents a challenge to individual\u2019s identities and their sense of worth in a community. Ego-strength is fostered through the experience of self-efficacy. Education and upbringing play a key role here. It is imper\u00adative that our education system be geared towards strength\u00adening the internal security of children and young people so that they are able to meet change with confi\u00addence rather than fear.<\/p>\n

Third, freedom from fear is a key requirement for the freedom of the individual. What kinds of safety nets do people need if they are to meet occupa\u00adtional and cultural changes? Will our current social security systems suffice, or do we need new concepts of social partic\u00adi\u00adpation for the digital society?<\/p>\n

We should not restrict our imagi\u00adnation to the pros and cons of an uncon\u00addi\u00adtional basic income, the policy response that seems to have dominated discourse in this area. Equally important is a right to education and training; partic\u00adi\u00adpation of broad sections of the population in productive capacity, and raising the status of non-commercial work.<\/p>\n

Fourth, we need a new perspective on the central role of public insti\u00adtu\u00adtions as stabi\u00adlizers in times of radical funda\u00admental change. The \u201cprovision of public services\u201d is not the only purpose served by the public education system, the vast network of museums, theaters, libraries and concert halls, the public-service broad\u00adcasters, the public utilities or public transit operators. They are also repub\u00adlican insti\u00adtu\u00adtions, symbolic repre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtions of the democ\u00adratic polity, which convey a sense of having a part and being a part of something.<\/p>\n

Over the past 25 years, the consol\u00adi\u00addation of public budgets has been effected primarily through curtailment of investment. The conse\u00adquences are now palpable every\u00adwhere, from the dismal state of many schools to disin\u00adte\u00adgrating bridges. This trend must be reversed. Invest\u00adments in public insti\u00adtu\u00adtions are invest\u00adments in democracy.<\/p>\n

\n

This article was published at Out of Order<\/a>, an outlet of the platform of The German Marshall Fund of the United States.<\/p>\n

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