Destroying Democracy Neoliberal capitalism and the rise of authoritarian politics

A history of the erosion of democracy across the globe. Democracy is being destroyed. This is a crisis that expresses itself in the rising authoritarianism visible in divisive and exclusionary politics, populist political parties and movements, increased distrust in fact-based information and news, and the withering accountability of state institutions. Over the last four decades, democracy has radically shifted to a market democracy in which all aspects of human, non-human and planetary life are commodified, with corporations becoming more powerful than states and their citizens. This is how neoliberal capitalism functions at a systemic level and if left unchecked, is the greatest threat to democracy and a sustainable planet. Volume six of the Democratic Marxism series focuses on how decades of neoliberal capitalism have eroded the global democratic project and how, in the process, authoritarian politics are gaining ground. Scholars and activists from the political left focus on four country cases – India, Brazil, South Africa and the United States of America – in which the COVID-19 pandemic has fuelled and highlighted the pre-existing crisis. They interrogate issues of politics, ecology, state security, media, access to information and political parties, and affirm the need to reclaim and re-build an expansive and inclusive democracy. Destroying Democracy is an invaluable resource for the general public, activists, scholars and students who are interested in understanding the threats to democracy and the rising tide of authoritarianism in the global south and the global north. Title Contents Acknowledgements PREFACE: Neoliberal capitalism in the time of Covid-19: Destroying democracy and rising authoritarianism Part one Neoliberal Capitalisms' Destruction Of Democracy Chapter 1 The Crisis of Democracy: Neoliberal Capitalism, Authoritarianism and Reclaiming Democracy Chapter 2 The Rise of Eco-Fascism Part Two Neoliberal Capitalism Against Democracy Globally Chapter 3 Populism and Fascism: Lessons from the 1920s Ku Klux Klan Chapter 4 What do ‘Unruly’ Right-Wing Authoritarian Nationalists do when they Rule? The us under Donald Trump Chapter 5 Brazilian Democracy Facing Authoritarian Neoliberalism Chapter 6 Indias' Trajectories of Change, 2004–2019 Part three Neoliberal Capitalism Against Democracy in South Africa Chapter 7 The Dialectic of Democracy: Capitalism, Populism and Working-Class Politics Chapter 8 Democracy and the Right to know in South Africas' Capitalist Transition Chapter 9 South Africas' Post-Apartheid Media and Democracy Chapter 10 The Enemy within: Securitising Protests as Domestic Instability in South Africa Chapter 11 Prospects for a Left Renewal in South Africa Conclusion Contributors Index