Chris Hedges and Author Pankaj Mishra on Global Shift to Authoritarianism (Video)

In the year since the election of Donald Trump, many have attempted to answer why modern societies are increasingly turning to “strongmen” and explain why authoritarian movements are increasing in popularity. Author Pankaj Mishra examines this problem in depth in his latest book, “Age of Anger: A History of the Present,” and shares his theories with Truthdig columnist Chris Hedges.

Mishra explains that resentment is taking many different forms around the world, from jihadism in the Middle East to the rise of white supremacist movements in America. “We have to look at the underlying sources of [this resentment], which is this enormous process of dispossession, of dislocation, and psychological and spiritual disorientation,” Mishra says. “People who, now desperate for meaning, bond together in these forms of negative solidarity.”

The two go on to discuss how modernization and globalization have negatively impacted people around the world.

“You have all the makings here of social and political calamity,” Mishra argues. “This is a situation of large numbers of people who feel trapped, who feel powerless, who are full of fear. And out of these feelings, they find themselves compelled to invest their fate in various strongmen.”

Watch the full interview, which includes a segment on the New Deal by correspondent Anya Parampil, in the video above.

–Posted by Emma Niles.