The neoliberal roots of authoritarian protectionism

Abstract

Luke Cooper’s Authoritarian Contagion draws attention to the politics of protection proffered by contemporary ethno-nationalist authoritarian rulers. This article argues that the origins of this protectionist politics lies in neoliberal projects, which promoted conservative social hierarchies, such as those associated with gender, race and class, to further capital accumulation. These neoliberal projects led to anti-democratic governance and the concentration of wealth and power, trends that contemporary authoritarian leaders claim to challenge but, in fact, consolidate and intensify in the name of protecting an ethnically-defined people.