The Dis-Integrative Revolution: The Rise of Populism, Nationalism, and Cultural Essentialism

Dear Colleagues,

In the 1960s, Geertz heralded an "integrative revolution" in which "primordial" identities and sentiments would give way to larger, more inclusive and cohesive systems such as multinational states. Decades before that, Boas predicted and celebrated the same processes. However, these hopes seem doomed, as the twenty-first century is witnessing a dis-integrative revolution. Not only “new states”, but old and supposedly firm liberal democracies, are yielding to partisan and populist identities and politics—often understood in ethnic or racial terms—that valorize local or national cultures and vilify the previously lauded forces and processes of integration, liberalization, and globalization.

Essays for this Special Issue are invited that explore—ethnographically, comparatively, conceptually, diachronically, or critically—the worldwide phenomenon of intolerant, separatist, illiberal, and often isolationist cultures and politics operating in the world today. Much of this attitude and practice seems to flow from a disillusionment with liberal democratic politics (for instance, “human rights”), a revival of exclusivist and essentialist “nationalist” cultures and identities (accompanied by more or less invented “traditional” cultures and histories), and fears of cultural loss or racial “replacement” through immigration. Topics could include:

• Anti-globalization sentiments, policies, and activism;
• Anti-immigration policies;
• Border security, including border walls;
• Neo-traditionalism, invented tradition, and the return of cultural essentialism;
• Populist and illiberal politics and leaders;
• Neo-nationalism and isolationism;
• Disengagement from international institutions (e.g. Brexit, fraying of alliances such as NATO, withdrawal from multilateral organizations and treaties).

Dr. Jack David Eller
Guest Editor

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• anti-globalization
• disintegration
• essentialism
• illiberalism
• nationalism
• populism
• traditionalism