The new Right: Europe and Asia's neoliberal shift
NARENDRA Modi's ascension to power has brought with it volumes of articles and opinions published about the fate of India under the BJP's leadership (a party with clear links to RSS, which many view as its puppet-master). While the hardliner, nationalist image of Narendra Modi might just have to be daubed in a dash of diplomacy, there is no denying the shift from the left of centre UPA-led government under Congress to the right of centre government in place today. Qualms have been raised about the nationalist fervour which Modi brings with him and whether India's secular nature, long perceived by many as ailing, is about to erode away completely. But, in line with the rampant spread of free-market ideologies throughout the world, economic goals are increasingly becoming the number one priority of good governance.
What Modi brings with him is the Gujarat-model of development, meant to provide a red carpet for corporations to take roots throughout India. A move that will no doubt coincide with not only widespread infrastructure growth and development, but also a bulking up of the wealth of the 1%. Congress's failure in this case was a stuttering economy and weak governance.
Globally, though, Modi's victory should hardly come as a surprise. We need only to look as far as South Korea and Japan to see a trend emerging. Geun-Hye Park, the current South Korean president, leads a strong right wing party which focuses on mobilising civic organisations. Japan's Shinzo Abe is another example of the right-wing shift in the continent. Abe, Park and Modi all get substantial backing from large globalised corporations. Their mantra mixes economic liberalism with a nationalist fervour which is supported strongly by the middle-classes dreaming of economic emancipation along with a vision of propelling their respective cultures to the forefront in the age of globalisation. The civic organisations that have been mobilised include the New Right movement and the Liberty Union in South Korea and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in India. These organisations run on neoconservative ideals which often have close ties to the dominant religion and culture of the respective countries.
The recently concluded EU polls also indicate that Europe is set to undergo a right-wing catharsis sooner or later. France's far-right National Front Party was the outright winner in France, seen by many as the political epicentre of Europe. A France that has long lived on its republican ideals liberté, égalité and fraternité is now entrenched with the rightist claim that its Muslim population is incompatible with the French republic. Fuelled by the Eurozone crisis and widespread immigration throughout the EU, the European nations have propelled ultra-nationalist and often anti-Islamic and anti-Semitic political parties from the fringes to the mainstream. In France, Marine Le Pen has taken the National Front to the summit, as shown by recent surveys. In the UK, Nigel Farage, leader of the fiercely anti-EU UKIP party, looks set to gain a historic win over both the Conservatives and the Labour parties. The anti-immigration and anti-EU Danish People's Party snatched victory in Denmark and, although they did not win, Greece's Golden Dawn, a party with past ties to neo-Nazi sentiments, came in third with about 10% of the votes.
Although established pro-EU parties have been backed to retain majority of the Parliament, the sudden shift towards the right points to the growing disillusionment in Europe with the economic cost of a single currency and the free movement of cultures within the EU. It would be naïve to draw parallels between the economic or political situations of the countries in Asia and those in Europe but in both cases a new right is on the rise. One that amalgamates neoliberal ideals of development with that of nationalist pride.
To understand the link between neoliberalism and nationalism we must delve into the psyche of capitalist states. Capitalist competition provides a self-interested desire by each capitalist to use non-economic means to gain an edge. On a micro level the competition exists between competing firms and on a macro level the nation states. It is very much a marriage of convenience between neoliberal capitalism and nationalism which creates defined states of people that can benefit more than others. Without a nationalist state and with free movement and mixing the gains from neoliberal capitalism would be spread out over all states -- the very antithesis of competition which follows the rule of 'survival of the fittest.' The drawbacks of the neoliberal school of thought have been there for all to see for a long time now. It has created an underclass stuck with low wages and welfare payments, a middle class burgeoning with debt and insecurity, and a small percentage of the upper class who are given the economic freedom to dictate the terms of a country's governance.
But the marriage of neoliberalism with nationalism presents an even graver danger to the people of the world. It stands to not only benefit the rich and suppress the poor, but to segregate communities and derive them of opportunities based on race, religion and culture. Economic oppression due to cultural differences is not an alien concept but it might evolve into a new monster entirely with the recent developments.
The rise of the right in Europe and Asia is something that has been in the pipelines for a long time now. The insecurity over the merging of cultures due to globalisation has no doubt played its part in this, and the 'invisible hand' of the market has swooped in to take advantage. We might soon see mega-cities and sparkling infrastructure being contrasted by the destitute state of the poor and the oppressed minorities who have made the heinous mistake of choosing a different religion, or being born on the wrong side of the border.
The writer is Editorial Assistant, The Daily Star.
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