A Powerful Theory of Why the Far Right Is Thriving Across the Globe
About this episode
Political scientist Pippa Norris explains her cultural-backlash theory, developed with Ronald Inglehart: postwar prosperity produced generations with postmaterialist values — on gender equality, the environment, secularism, and cosmopolitanism — which displaced economics as the main axis of political conflict. In response, older voters holding traditional values have fueled authoritarian-populist parties worldwide, from Trump and Brexit to leaders in India, Brazil, and Hungary. She argues economic explanations of this wave are insufficient — class divides are flat while age and ethnicity matter more — and that social media amplifies rather than drives the backlash. Generational replacement may eventually favor liberal values, she says, but politics can block that trajectory. The episode closes with her book recommendations on dictatorship and the new 'spin' authoritarianism.