The New Strongmen: The Rise of Modern Despotism and the Decline of Democracy
Dr Xavier Marquez
Thursday, 22 July 2021 7:30pm
Wairarapa
Rosewood, 417 Queen Street, Kuripuri, Masterton
Associate Professor, Political Science and International Relations Programme, at Victoria University of Wellington.
Also, Head of School in the School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations.
Dr Márquez has a PhD from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, United States and has written and lectured widely on despotism in the modern world.
Dr Márquez says: “Democracy is in crisis. After a brief wave of democratic triumphalism in the 1990s and early 2000s, a new breed of populist strongmen has learned to undermine – with varying degrees of success – the norms and institutions that sustain democracy around the world.
They range from Chávez in Venezuela to Trump in the USA to Orbán in Hungary to Modi in India.”
These new strongmen are, Xavier Márquez says, very different from the dictators of the 20th century.
“They win elections, skilfully use social media, and exploit populist resentment of elites to shore up their positions.”
In his talk, Xavier Márquez will document the rise of what the historian John Keane has labelled ‘the new despotism’, discuss what makes it ‘new’, and provide reasons for the causes of its rise.
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Associate Professor, Political Science and International Relations Programme, at Victoria University of Wellington.
Also, Head of School in the School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations.
Dr Márquez has a PhD from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, United States and has written and lectured widely on despotism in the modern world.
Dr Márquez says: “Democracy is in crisis. After a brief wave of democratic triumphalism in the 1990s and early 2000s, a new breed of populist strongmen has learned to undermine – with varying degrees of success – the norms and institutions that sustain democracy around the world.
They range from Chávez in Venezuela to Trump in the USA to Orbán in Hungary to Modi in India.”
These new strongmen are, Xavier Márquez says, very different from the dictators of the 20th century.
“They win elections, skilfully use social media, and exploit populist resentment of elites to shore up their positions.”
In his talk, Xavier Márquez will document the rise of what the historian John Keane has labelled ‘the new despotism’, discuss what makes it ‘new’, and provide reasons for the causes of its rise.
DOWNLOAD FLYER
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