The people vs. democracy, Yascha Mounk, Harvard University Press; Rs.2,220, Pages 400

In 1944 economic historian Karl Polanyi wrote The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. Troubled by the collapse of European peace twice in a quarter of a century, Polanyi sought an explanation in his unique, yet intuitive, understanding of the co-dependence between market and society. Although his work found much purchase only when The Great Transformation found its way into the syllabi of political economy courses in American universities, it is one of those strange facts of historical coincidence that at the time Polanyi was writing this work, representatives of 44 countries convened in Bretton Woods, USA to sign into existence international institutions that would, in later decades, herald neoliberalism across the world as the economic system most commensurate with liberal democracy.

But in this book under review, Yascha Mounk says that even as the Bretton Woods system was being crafted to champion free markets, the gravest warning about its dangers was being crafted by Polanyi’s pen. There is a powerful connection between neoliberal economic policies and the rise of populism and illiberal democracies in many parts of the world — the US, UK, Poland, Hungary, India, Turkey, France, Austria and Italy.

A political theorist at Harvard, Mounk begins by trying to explain what has happened in the contemporary West, i.e, democracy and its institutions are under suspicion of the popular mass of people. This lack of trust in democratic institutions has led, in his argument, to the “rise of illiberal democracy, or democracy without rights, and undemocratic liberalism, or rights without democracy”.

Mounk locates this crisis of democracy and liberalism in recent historical events, viz, increased migration of people from the global south into western countries, the strain on European welfarism and the idea that immigrants are free-loading off citizens’ tax monies, distrust of immigrants who are racially and culturally dissimilar from the group that originally constituted the mono-ethnic bases of European nation-states, and the general idea of protecting the ‘nation’ from ‘outsiders’.

Mounk also finds that in all countries where populist leaders have emerged — Greece, Poland, Austria, Hungary, the US, Sweden and so on — common traits are found in chosen leaders. Donald Trump in the US, Narendra Modi in India, Erdogan in Turkey, young Sebastian Kurz in Austria, Le Penn in France, Alexis Tsipras in Greece, are all cut from the same fabric inasmuch as they are self-styled strongmen committed to protecting the nation from its cultural and economic enemies, reviving its greatness, and articulating the anxieties of non-elite voters.

In an excellent review of the literature, well-crafted country case studies, and convincing data on the rising vote share of right-wing parties in Europe, Mounk successfully demonstrates the deconsolidation of democracy. He also dedicates an entire chapter to social media and its polarising effect on democratic discourse and how instrumental it has been in the Right’s political campaigns around the world.

While Mounk stresses that the lack of trust in democracy is linked to its failure to deliver promises of economic equality and social mobility, his solutions are problematic. He wants civic education for young people, a commitment from the political class to change the status quo and to work towards genuine economic equality. He advocates controlled immigration and raises the idea of inclusiveness as the basis of new forms of nationalism. He also wants to see more welfare measures to protect people.

However, upon setting the book down one is left with an overwhelming sense of disquiet. Something is not right in the states of democracy and Mounk’s prescriptions for its preservation seem insufficient. While this book is a lucid, gripping and engagingly written account of democratic de-consolidation in some countries, it does not zealously prosecute the neoliberal market for its role in creating the conditions that have dragged many countries to this point. This is the book’s biggest drawback. While donning the mantle of criticism, People vs. Democracy essentially props up the very same system of democracy combined with neo-liberalism that has led to widespread discontent.

In short, economic transformation also meant societal transformation in ways that were (and remain) unpredictable.
This is why Polanyi is relevant to this discussion. He argued that markets in human history have always been “embedded” in social relations. The curious thing about the free market, according to Polanyi is that it becomes “disembedded” or suspended over society, especially in late developing countries, and gives rise to countermovements that arise because people instinctively know and find the need to be protected from the excesses of the free market. The mistake made by economic theorists has been to underestimate the extent of this countermovement or societal backlash against the neoliberal market.

The expansion of the market has been constantly checked by societies over time — seen in the rise of labour unions, the call for state provision of welfare. “Yet, as Polanyi puts it, vital though such countermovements are for the protection of society, in the last analysis it is incompatible with the self-regulation of the market, and thus with the market system itself”.

So while Mounk, to his credit, does attribute much of the current troubles to how democracy and neoliberalism have failed to deliver on their promises of economic equality, the crucial analysis that he has missed is this: there is a basic incompatibility between the neoliberal market and attempts to regulate it. He also fails to highlight how control over politics and state institutions by the same elites that also control the economy, instead of helping society arrive at a consensus, has led to a deadlock between vested interests out of which the new wave of illiberalism has emerged.
Mounk’s prescription for managing discontent is to develop almost uncritical appreciation of liberalism and democracy. He does not advocate an alternative system where financial capitalism doesn’t destroy labour, the environment, and the very institutions that keep it afloat. He does not demonstrate that liberalism while espousing individual rights for ethnic, racial and sexual minorities also creates a deeply unequal and economically polarising economic structure that Nancy Fraser describes as ‘progressive neoliberalism’.

Mounk’s book while greatly useful, errs in shifting the blame for the rise of illiberalism from the shoulders of the free market to the shoulders of immigrant-hating, illiberal voters saturated on a social media diet and reared on racist and economic resentment against outsiders.

Vasundhara Sirnate Drennan (The Book Review, September 2018)

 

Fulfilling life of Daisy Khan

Born with wings — the spiritual journey of a modern muslim woman, Daisy Khan, Penguin Viking; Rs.599, Pages 351

Memoirs of individuals who have done interesting things in their lives contribute more than the sum of their struggles and achievements. Their contribution to society is that they highlight a slice of the human condition and inspire similarly circumstanced people to learn from their example and perhaps enrich their own lives. From this perspective this book is a real gem. It recounts the life and story of a woman who has become an inspiration for many. Although, not every reader will agree with the viewpoints expressed in this book, and every claim that it makes, it recounts the history of an interesting, well lived life.

Currently resident in New York, Daisy Khan was born into a well-off Muslim family in Kashmir. Her childhood and family life were rooted in a liberal understanding of Islam which was open to other traditions. “At home with our families and at school, we were not afraid of other religions, and it was unimaginable that any group would be made to feel unwelcome,” writes Khan. “What I understood from school and home was that there was only one God and that God created us in many communities so that we might get to know one another.”

Primary education in a school run by Catholic missionaries and the presence of strong women in her family played a major role in shaping Khan for the many roles that she went on to play in later life. Her parents’ decision to send her to the US at a relatively young age to attend high school, where she lived with relatives in a predominantly Jewish suburb was also a strong formative experience.

Khan writes poignantly about the culture shock she experienced when she landed in America. But talented and determined, she overcame her circumstances and quickly climbed the corporate ladder after qualifying and working as an architectural designer in New York.

However this wasn’t destined to be her major vocation in life. Even as she loved the freedom she enjoyed as a woman professional, she felt a void. One day, on the suggestion of a friend she visited a Sufi mosque, and there she discovered a warm and welcoming home. Khan provides interesting glimpses of her immersion into Sufism culminating in her marriage with the mosque’s imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, an internationally reputed Egyptian American Sufi scholar, noted for his advocacy of women’s rights and propagation of religious harmony and peace-building.

As the wife of a socially-progressive imam, Khan assumed new roles, guiding women who turned to her for advice — much of it pertaining to gender-related issues within their families. In the process, she evolved into a strong champion of gender justice. She employed her knowledge of the holy Quran and familiarity with gender-friendly understandings of Islam to defend Muslim women’s rights, combating patriarchal interpretations of Islam and opposing practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation.

Furthermore, for Muslim women to build lives of value for themselves, Khan narrates interesting anecdotes of her efforts to right gender imbalances in the home, society and workplace. She also founded the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE) which works for the rights of Muslim women worldwide.

Born with Wings also traces the author’s evolution and involvement in several significant debates centred on Islam and Muslims. One of these issues which she believes is of vital import is to promote harmony and dialogue between Muslims and people of other religious persuasions. Well suited for this critical mission because as she says she is able “to embrace all cultures and religions”. Another area where she has made major contributions by way of peace-building is getting Muslims to oppose terrorism in the name of their faith.

This book is a highly readable recitation of an eventful life, rooted in faith but remarkably open to diverse traditions and cultures. It narrates the story of a life invested with meaning and purpose.

Khan creatively and sensitively provides valuable insights about some practical things ordinary people can do to address global issues related to peace and harmony.

Roshan Shah