Alex King on the paradoxes of nationalism and globalism in the digital age - and a conference discount offer
We are great pals with The Fourth Group - the “fourth” of their title is the fourth industrial revolution, and the politics that might match those conditions, which involve “merging the physical, digital and biological worlds in ways that create both huge promise and potential peril”.
They are running a conference next week on Globalism vs Nationalism in the Digital Age - and we have a discount offer on tickets (see at the bottom of this post).
But to introduce it, here’s a thoughtful piece from the Fourth Group’s head of research, Alex King:
Nationalism ‘Trending’ Worldwide: Unpacking Paradox Politics in the Digital Age
By Alex King
The pithy slogan, ‘think locally, act globally’ – or is it the other way around? – happens to hinge delicately upon one of the central paradoxes of our time: how nation-states can best represent their people’s interests while operating within a globalised and hyper-connected world.
In the UK, the tension between these apparently polar loyalties has led Brexit deep into ‘have your cake and eat it’ paralysis. Across the pond, national self-interest has seen the US pull out of the global climate accord it was instrumental in orchestrating.
And, despite his party’s anti-semitic campaigning, Viktor Orbán can share a stage with Benjamin Netanyahu, displaying international solidarity at what the Washington Post called a ‘summit of illiberal nationalists’.
Look closely, and from Brazil to India you’ll see the globalism-nationalism paradigm being manipulated, stretched and folded in increasingly intricate and inventive ways. Sometimes ugly, sometimes consciously constructive – as with the ‘cosmopolitan nationalists’ Paul Mason identifies in Catalonia, the SNP and Plaid Cymru – nationalist politics is rising just as our globalised epoch reaches its zenith.
Paradox politics is nothing new, of course – and nor are nationalism or globalism, which have been with us since the conception of sovereignty and the expansion of international, sea-faring trade. But the creation of a ‘Global Village’ online, only for it to separate into hostile tribal units, many founded upon an explicitly xenophobic loyalty to national identities, feels like a new phenomenon unique to the fourth industrial revolution.
That’s not to say we should read Trump, Brexit and right-wing extremism as products of the internet age. In perplexing political moments, blanket, panacea explanations for the trends that alarm us are largely unhelpful – seductive as it has been to prefix revolutions, from Tunisia to Ukraine, with the names of social media companies.
Equally, nationalism must be viewed historically, and in the context of previous industrial revolutions and their resultant political schisms, if we’re to understand its present-day mutations. When we do, it’s clear that politics has historically remained a force independent from advances in technology, not subsumed by them.
Yet it is also clear, from the Cambridge Analytica scandal through to Twitter’s recent decision to ban all political advertising from its platform, that politics and digital technology are interacting, forming distinct and mutually impactful relationships that are changing how platforms operate and how parties campaign.
These new relationships are contributing to a shift in politics’ centre of gravity, leaving analysts, commentators - and politicians themselves - in a state of stumbling inertia. To regain our collective balance, we urgently need to understand the interaction between tech and politics in the context of rising nationalism, to formulate a response that shapes new technologies for the good of society, leaving nobody behind.
Doubtless, analysing technology’s impact on the politics of our time is a daunting task. Technology rides daily with us in our pockets, listens to us in our homes, and manages the information from which we form our views and bolster our beliefs. Nevertheless, the very fact that tech is so ubiquitous helps us make some sweeping, generalised observations to better inform our perspective on nationalism, globalism and technology in the UK and beyond.
Let’s take digital media as an exploratory example. On the whole, it’s the people that put politicians in power, and the people are increasingly reading their news on digital platforms that don’t fact-check, target swing voters with provocative adverts, and push extremist content through algorithms designed to addict.
In the fourth industrial revolution, the fourth estate – the media that informs the electorate – is changing rapidly, creating the space for new narratives that often denounce globalism and support populist and authoritarian ideologies, which drape themselves in the cloak of ‘illiberal nationalism’.
Why this is happening, and whether this is the most profound disruption to politics that digital technology has brought about, is difficult to say. Is the business model of journalism in the digital sphere creating more sensationalist misinformation? Are tech companies illegally harvesting big data to give paying customers distinct political advantages? Does social media protect extremists and provide a home for disgruntled populist ideologues of every stripe?
Meanwhile, where and when did globalism go wrong – and has digital media had an impact on this side of the spectrum, too? It’s clear that for some people the promise of prosperity through international economic cooperation has failed to deliver, and that some communities - including national communities - feel left behind, betrayed and ignored by the state governance systems they elect to represent their needs.
Economic stagnation certainly appears to link the high Brexit vote in Boston with Trump’s strong support in the Rust Belt – but this largely fails to account for the jingoistic brand of identitarian nationalism peddled online. The realignment of economic borders may be ‘trending’ for policymakers and trade negotiators, but online, it’s the perceived erosion of cultural borders – and ethnocultural identities they appear to protect - that’s provoking the right-wing into action.
Digital media have given rise to the phenomena of Twitter mobs and trolls – some of them automated bots or digital agents provocateurs – that fight a pitched culture war across all major social media platforms. Online anonymity, combined with sophisticated grooming techniques, have been shown to tempt the disillusioned into extremist groups where vitriol and division bounce convincingly in soiled-off echo chambers. However you choose to look at it, there’s something distinctly unpleasant about discourse mediated in the digital world.
We urgently need to gather together, as concerned citizens, to better understand these issues. And it’s The Fourth Group, set up to respond to the changes brought about by the fourth industrial revolution, which is setting out to do just that at Politics Summit 2019: Globalism vs Nationalism in the Digital Age, taking place in London’s Tabernacle on the 19th of November.
With contributions from the leading thinkers in global politics and technology, Politics Summit 2019 aims to push the debate forwards, helping us unpick politics in the digital age.
Alex King is Head of Research at the Fourth Group, and is writing in a personal capacity
The Fourth Group's next Summit is Politics Summit 2019: Globalism vs Nationalism in the Digital Age [eventbrite link] on Tue, November 19, 2019, 9:45 AM – 5:00 PM GMT, at The Tabernacle W11 34-35 Powis Square London W11 2AY, featuring keynote speeches, panel discussions and networking sessions
We have a special offer for A/UK readers on tickets for the event, at **£29.96**. This is £55 (65%) off General Admission tickets!
To get the discount, it's really simple.
1. Go to the Eventbrite ticket site
2. Click on the "Tickets" button.
3. Click "Enter promo code".
4. Enter your discount code (AUK), then click "Apply".
5. You will now notice that the discount has been applied to the "General Admission" ticket.
6. Choose how many discounted tickets you want.
7. Click the "Checkout" box.
8. Fill in your details and click "Place Order".
9. Done! Easy