Defensive nationalism: explaining the rise of populism and fascism in the 21st century
In: Oxford scholarship online
In: Political Science
Today we find in the most technologically advanced societies, wild conspiracy theories and a broad distrust of science and expertise have created deep political divisions that are splitting nations in two. This book explains this paradox, using history as a guide. B.S. Rabinowitz finds that the turn-of-the 19th century was also a period of exceptional technological innovation that ended with toxic political upheavals. To investigate why, the author combines Karl Polanyi's concept of the 'double movement' with Joseph Schumpeter's theory of innovation. Weaving together a narrative that spans two centuries, the book traces how the rapid transformation of transportation and communications during the Industrial Revolution and the Digital Revolution created economic interdependence and capital flows that induced radical economic, social, and political disruptions.