Destroying Democracy: Neoliberal Capitalism and the Rise of Authoritarian Politics

Jane Duncan, Linda Gordon, Gunnett Kaaf, Dale T McKinley, Alf Gunvald Nilsen, Devan Pillay, Mandla J Radebe, Alfredo Saad-Filho, Ingar Solty, Michelle Williams, Vishwas Satgar

ISBN 10: 1776146999 / ISBN 13: 9781776146994

Published by Wits University Press 2021-08-01, 2021

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 6666-IUK-9781776146994

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Destroying Democracy: Neoliberal Capitalism and the Rise of Authoritarian Politics
• Publisher: Wits University Press 2021-08-01
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1776146999
• ISBN 13: 9781776146994
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

A history of the erosion of democracy across the globe

Democracy is being destroyed. This is a crisis that expresses itself in the rising authoritarianism visible in divisive and exclusionary politics, populist political parties and movements, increased distrust in fact-based information and news, and the withering accountability of state institutions. Over the last four decades, democracy has radically shifted to a market democracy in which all aspects of human, non-human and planetary life are commodified, with corporations becoming more powerful than states and their citizens. This is how neoliberal capitalism functions at a systemic level and if left unchecked, is the greatest threat to democracy and a sustainable planet.

Volume six of the Democratic Marxism series focuses on how decades of neoliberal capitalism have eroded the global democratic project and how, in the process, authoritarian politics are gaining ground. Scholars and activists from the political left focus on four country cases – India, Brazil, South Africa and the United States of America – in which the COVID-19 pandemic has fuelled and highlighted the pre-existing crisis. They interrogate issues of politics, ecology, state security, media, access to information and political parties, and affirm the need to reclaim and re-build an expansive and inclusive democracy.

Destroying Democracy is an invaluable resource for the general public, activists, scholars and students who are interested in understanding the threats to democracy and the rising tide of authoritarianism in the global south and the global north.

About the Authors

Jane Duncan is Professor of Digital Society at the University of Glasgow, holds a British Academy Global Professorship and is Visiting Professor in the Department of Communication and Media, University of Johannesburg. She is the author of The Rise of the Securocrats (2014) and Stopping the Spies (2018).

Linda Gordon is a professor of History and University Professor of the Humanities at New York University.

Gunnett Kaaf is a fiscal policy research manager in the Free State Provincial Treasury, and a Marxist activist and writer based in Bloemfontein.

Dale T McKinley is an independent writer, researcher and lecturer as well as research and education officer for the International Labour, Research and Information Group.

Alf Gunvald Nilsen is a professor of Sociology at the University of Pretoria.