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Ariel Dorfman’s article, A Taxonomy of Tyrants, while a review of Ruth Ben-Ghiat recent book, Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, provides important insights into the strongmen of our times and their capacity to come to power in democracy and then meticulously undermine and erode democratic institutions and practices. It is a reflection on the characteristics of such men, the socio-economic and political context, and how the growth of populist approaches rooted in fear and demonizing enemies leads to political repression and the degradation and destruction of democracy. Think Putin, Trump, Bolsonaro, Modi, Erdogan. It contributes to our understanding and assessment of the present in all its complexity and guides our steps to guarantee human rights, equity, and strong democratic practices. – Joey Edwardh
“If we are to defeat the rabid anti-democratic forces in our midst and prevent the rise of new Trumps, we must discover new concepts that take into account today’s distinctive features:the ubiquity of social media and how they can twist the truth; the overwhelming surveillance and data-collection apparatus… the ways in which the increasing inequities and tensions of globalization create a sense of victimhood among vast constituencies. This intellectual task can be developed only in conjunction with a massive resistance movement […]”
