John Huber 鈥84, a professor of political science at Columbia University, will deliver a talk Tuesday on the rise of populist appeals that focus on 鈥渋dentity politics.鈥
Huber will present his talk as part of 麻豆影院鈥檚 Povolny Lecture Series in International Studies. The talk,聽Trump, Le Pen and Brexit: Inequality and Right-wing Populism,聽will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Wriston Art Center at 麻豆影院. It is free and open to the public.
In democracies around the world, there has been a rise in populist appeals that focus on 鈥渋dentity politics,鈥 with a strong voting component based on race, religion, ethnicity and/or national identity, Huber says. This phenomenon influenced the election of President Donald Trump, the Brexit vote, the support for Marine Le Pen in France and the rise of right-wing parties across Europe. Why is this occurring, and what are the consequences?聽聽
Huber will argue that the rise of identity-based populism can be linked to the parallel rise of economic inequality around the world. His talk will focus on this dynamic and its implications for ways we might address both the rise of populism and the rise of聽inequality in Europe and the world today.
Huber鈥檚 teaching and research focuses on the comparative study of democratic processes.聽His recent studies have focused on a聽range of topics, including bureaucratic politics, civil war, inequality, ethnic politics, the politics of redistribution, and the role of religion in elections. He is the author of three books from Cambridge University Press as well as numerous articles.聽Huber served as chair of Columbia鈥檚 political science department for six years, and he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2013.
