On Friday 8th March 2019, De Balie spoke to Francis Fukuyama about his latest book on identity politics.
About the debate:
26 years after the publication of his groundbreaking book, The End of History, Francis Fukuyama revisits his analysis that Western liberal democracies could represent the endpoint of humanity’s sociocultural evolution and the ultimate form of governance.
Since his famous work was published, world politics has experienced a dramatic transformation. In recent years, the movement towards an increasingly open and liberal world order has begun to falter and, in some cases, to display clear reactionary tendencies. Authoritarian leaders such as Trump, Duterte and Órban are on the rise and indicators for democratic development are falling.
In his latest book, Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment, Fukuyama analyses these new developments and comes to the conclusion that populist nationalism is a result not of economic motivations but of a growing demand for the recognition of what people perceive as their identities.
Identifying a rise in identity politics based on religion, ethnicity and gender, Fukuyama concludes that we must find a way to adapt in order to sustain the liberal democratic model, integrating identity in ways that support, rather than undermine, democracy.
Follow this De Balie discussion for a conversation on the upsurge in politicised Islam, identity politics, college activism and anti-immigrant populism, as Fukuyama discusses his views on the role of identity in our current world order with Yoeri Albrecht.
Participants:
Speaker:
Francis Fukuyama - Political Scientist, Senior Fellow & Director at Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute
Francis Fukuyama is the Olivier Nomellini senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) and the Mosbacher director of the FSI's Centre on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law.
Francis Fukuyama started his academic career with degrees from Cornell and Harvard and with roles in the Political Science Department of the RAND Corporation and the Policy Planning Staff of the US Department of State. He has written widely on issues in development and international politics and his book, The End of History and the Last Man, drew attention worldwide on publication in 1992. His latest book, Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment, was published in September 2018 and looks to address the growth in so-called identity politics.
Fukyama is also the chairman of the editorial board of The American Interest, a member of the Board of Governors of the Pardee RAND Graduate School, a member of the Board of Directors of the National Endowment for Democracy and a member of the advisory board for the Journal of Democracy. He is also a member of the American Political Science Association, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Pacific Council for International Affairs.
Moderation:
Yoeri Albrecht - Director of De Balie
Yoeri Albrecht is the director of the De Balie cultural centre in Amsterdam and a co-founder of the European Press Prize.
Albrecht studied politics, history and law at Leiden, Florence and Oxford universities before becoming a journalist and working as a political editor of Vrij Nederland for 11 years. He then took on a number of media, board and advisory roles before becoming the director of De Balie in 2010.
Yoeri Albrecht is also, amongst other roles, the chairman of the board at the media house Vereniging Veronica (owner of the ANP national news agency and NRC-Handelsblad), chairman of the editorial board of the Dutch Amnesty International magazine, Wordt Vervolgd, co-founder and board member of the European Press Prize, chairman of the board for the Open Society Initiative for Europe and a council member of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Debate media:
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Organisers:
This debate was organised by and took place at the De Balie cultural centre in Amsterdam.
Location:
De Balie, 10 Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen, 1017 RR Amsterdam
This debate took place in cooperation with
This discussion forms one of De Balie’s Icons series events
