(2017-05-07) Florida The Real Roots Of Populism

Richard Florida: The Real Roots of Populism. Political theorist Cas Mudde in defining populists has sharing three key characteristics. They are anti-establishment, having faith in “plain talkers” and “ordinary people” as opposed to the “corrupt establishment” of business, government, academia, and media. They are authoritarian, favoring strong leaders over democratic institutions and traditions. They are nativist, putting their nation first.

The conventional wisdom, propagated by punditry, is that populism is the product of the deteriorating economic conditions.

But that’s not the story Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris advance. They argue that populism is the result of a burgeoning cultural backlash against modern values of globalism, multicultural tolerance, and openness to diversity.

Echoing themes political theorist Benjamin Barber outlined three decades ago in his 1992 Atlantic story “Jihad versus McWorld,” this is a cultural recoil against the “cosmopolitan” globalist one-two punch of “open societies” and “open borders.” (Open Society)

Populism is driven by the reaction against two groups in particular—affluent and educated urban cosmopolitans who are the bearers of liberal or progressive values, and immigrants who speak different languages and have different religions.

While populists may tend to be majority white, but do not need to be: Cultural backlash can cut across racial and ethnic lines. Rob Ford in Toronto for example, drew his support from a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, and multi-racial coalition of working-class whites and new immigrants who were also angered by the cosmopolitan values of an urban elite.

The surge in global populism is not reducible to economics. It is about racism, sexism, homophobia, and cultural backwardness. It is revenge—not of the economically insecure, but of the cultural left-behinds

The solutions that progressives and pundits are fixated on, such as reducing inequality or creating more middle-class jobs, will be insufficient to stem its rising tide.

Cultural values, combined with certain demographic characteristics, best explain the rise and extent of populism in Europe. Indeed, the rise in populist support tracks five key cultural values, according to their research: anti-immigrant sentiment, authoritarianism, mistrust of global national governance, and right-wing ideological self-placement.

Support for populism is much stronger among relatively more affluent and educated groups, particularly the petite bourgeoisie of small business owners.