Authoritarian Populism and the Rural World

Abstract

Right-wing authoritarian populist movements, parties, and governments arise in great part from the discontents fueled by the iniquities of neoliberal capitalist globalisation. This book breaks new ground in searching for the usually neglected rural roots behind and consequences of such authoritarian populisms. The book is comparative in scope, so that its central argument about the significance of the agrarian and rural order is adequately tested and confirmed. The book is also a call for further global research and study with the aim of identifying possibilities -a 'rural politics' and agential sources -that respectively can be articulated and mobilised to combat such populisms. The remarkable upsurge of farmers and rural workers against the Hindu nationalist Modi regime in India is a powerful testimony to the truth of the very politics that this book seeks to underscore. "

Rural/Urban Differences: Persistence or Decline☆

“…Overwhelming rural support played a vital role in Trump's 2016 victory and his near victory in 2020 (Albrecht 2019; Bor 2017; Gimpel et al 2020; Goetz et al 2018; Monnat and Brown 2017). In seeking to understand Trump's overwhelming support among rural voters, a wide array of articles and books (e.g., Cramer 2016; Hochschild 2016; Scoones et al 2022; Smarsh 2018; Vance 2016; Wuthnow 2019) have appeared largely seeking to help urban readers understand modern rural America, and in some cases overcome stereotypes of rural residents as backward and even outright bigoted (Sherman 2009, 2021).…”

“…Combined with the economic stress that many people are feeling, rural America has become a breeding ground for racial hatred and regressive authoritarian politics (Edelman 2019; Jardina 2019). Some scholars argue that an important part of the authoritarian populism that is emerging around the world has rural origins (Roman‐Alcala et al 2021; Scoones et al 2022). These factors combined may result in rural attitudes and behaviors remaining unique, even from urban people otherwise similar in race/ethnicity, social class, or industry of employment.…”

Contemporary agrarian, rural and rural–urban movements and alliances

“…Peasant, indigenous, feminist, environmental and human rights movements were immediately excluded from policymaking. 15 The ERPI's main objective is to open new paths in academic research and encourage comradely and productive conversations around the 'rural' in discussions about authoritarianism and regressive populism (Scoones et al, 2018;Scoones et al, 2022). The regional conversations spawned by this international initiative have produced deep and rich studies addressing the ERPI agenda, as exemplified by the special issues in Sociologia Ruralis (Mamonova & Franquesa, 2020) and Journal of Rural Studies (Roman-Alcalá et al, 2021), and a forum in Latin American Perspectives (Alonso-Fradejas, 2021;McKay & Colque, 2021).…”

Towards Just Food Futures:

“…Because the food system sits at the juncture of multiple social, environmental, and economic crises, food movements must confront wider crises: the climate crisis and the sixth mass extinction; the continuing dispossession, displacement, and genocide of Indigenous peoples; the unprecedented concentration of corporate wealth and exacerbation of inequality; and the rise of zoonotic pandemics are all challenges of growing global concern that impact and are impacted by the food system (Akram-Lodhi, 2020; Rosol & Rosol, 2022). Even the rise of rightwing nationalism, authoritarian populism, and proto-fascism is an issue for food-growing and rural communities (Scoones et al, 2021;Akram-Lodhi, 2021).…”