Politics in India and the U.S. in an age of global illiberalism

Being born, raised and educated in Kolkata could make anyone a political junkie. Shyama Venkateswar, who calls her birthplace “the most political city in the entire country,” began the journey there that led to an Ivy League Ph.D in politics and a successful American career in cross-cultural political analysis.

Given the current larger-than-life stories of Donald Trump and Narendra Modi, there is a lot to analyze and question as national elections in both their countries loom over the next two years.

Venkateswar, director of the public policy program at Roosevelt House and a distinguished lecturer at Hunter College, has almost twenty years of experience in research, policy and advocacy focusing on social justice issues as director of programs at the Asia Society and the National Council for Research on Women, while writing for various publications and giving briefings to members of the U.S. Congress. In India, she served as a strategic consultant to the Observer Research Foundation. The list goes on and on.

In a recent conversation, Venkateswar talked about a global trend toward “illiberalism,” how it has taken root in both India and the United States, and what sustains it.

“Trump and Modi (and of course Putin, Erdogan, and Orban) represent autocratic or authoritarian consolidations fed by a muscular nationalism,” she said. “Their supporters believe that these leaders will deliver economic promises, and also take action against those who are seen as not deserving — immigrants, Muslims, minorities, and all other variations of difference.

“Illiberal and exclusionary politics rest on the vast amount of money and power at stake, mainly sourced from the defense and energy sectors across the world. In this sense, the state is an end in itself. Acquiring power or having close access to those in power is a guarantee of personal enrichment. We are seeing this again and again in Western democracies as well as in countries without formal democracies. The threads of illiberalism and corruption are ties that bind.”

It isn’t just the leaders who are to blame – or the populations that fear a loss of identity or an economic foothold in society, she said. Opposition political parties, the Democrats in the U.S. and Congress in India, are failing to offer a broad vision and a compelling narrative to counter the lure of the Right.

“What to me is the tragedy that where there could be a narrative around social justice, that narrative does not exist,” she said.

“The Democratic party hasn’t advanced,” she said. “OK, we need health care. Yes, we need to fix our broken immigration system. Yes, we need more jobs. But there is no master narrative, no vision that this is what I want for my child, for my grandchildren, for my country.

“Same thing in India. Modi has mastered the narrative around nationalism — making India great again through muscular Hindu nationalism. The Muslims get too much: That’s how the narrative goes — communalism at the expense of a very diverse country. There’s no counter-narrative from Congress.”

Social media is also not necessarily the culprit, she said, adding that it can actually be a source of positive developments. “I think at the end of the day there is hope because there is a questioning of leadership.” It is occurring in both the U.S. and India at a time when nationalist, illiberal movements are getting official support, she noted. “There has to be hope.”

Venkateswar said she is “seeing a very vibrant resistance and civil society reaction across the world. It’s not always safe and it’s not always well led. Sometimes it is covert and sometimes it has to be done in a way that can avoid detection. But I am seeing the rise of movements.”

As movements against illiberalism emerge, social media has an important and positive role. “We get to know what’s going on in the other side of the world,” she said. “People sharing — women’s marches or [campaigns for ] transgender rights — people got together. The social media piece is huge. Dalit women in India can communicate through that. Social media will be part of the arsenal of tools movements use to resist.”

Venkateswar, a graduate of Smith College with a doctorate in political science from Columbia University, grew up in an English-speaking family in Kolkata. Her father had studied engineering in Iowa and turned down jobs in the West to help in building a new India after independence. Her mother, retired from years as a school principal, traveled extensively abroad, but still lives in the city that Shyama always calls Calcutta. She takes her teenage American children, Rohan and Naina, there to ride buses, rickshaws and the subway, sample street-vendor food and be immersed in the richness an urban Indian neighborhood.

In her work in New York, Venkateswar sees among her students a younger generation interested in greater engagement with other cultures. But among the young people she teaches at Hunter College are also undocumented immigrants who face immense hurdles to reach their dream of just staying where they are, preparing for careers, she said. They feel safe in New York, but are wary of the rest of America. She recalls how some of them did not want to join a field trip to Washington and how she felt afraid for them.

Just as Muslims may feel hostility in India, Latin Americans sense they are being singled out as unwelcome in the U.S., and all that implies. Violence follows strident nationalism, in the view of Venkateswar.

“The run-up to every election in South Asia is always marred by violence — assassinations, all kinds of horrible things,” she said. “People are always on edge. I’m looking at the United States right now and thinking of the attempted assassination of political leaders with bombs and the violence in places of worship. Are we looking at another country going into the next elections with the political landscape blanketed by fear?

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Barbara Crossette was formerly the New York Times chief correspondent in Southeast Asia and South Asia, and the paper’s UN bureau chief from 1994 to 2001.