Beware the populist politics of fear and resentment that pave the path to authoritarianism

The anti-democratic events that unfolded in Brazil’s capital on Sunday, 8 January 2023 serve as a stern warning of the dangers and pitfalls of “strongman” populist politics the world over.

More than 3,000 supporters of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro invaded and vandalised the supreme court, presidential palace and congress to try to reverse the democratic outcomes of the elections held on 30 October 2022. 

We are reminded that ardent populism — whether on the far left or far right — appeals to the worst aspects of humanity. Former US president Barack Obama, in a speech in Johannesburg in July 2018 honouring Nelson Mandela, was acutely correct when he stated that the rise of populist movements had helped spark a global boom for the “politics of fear and resentment and retrenchment” that pave a path to authoritarianism. 

“I am not being alarmist. I am just stating facts,” he said. His warning should have run loudly through the halls of power. Instead, we’ve seen attacks on the basic fundamental tenets of democracy and the rule of law. 

What happened in Brasilia was preceded in the US Capitol riots of 6 January 2021, where extremist groupings and conspiracy-driven movements felt emboldened and empowered to take the law into their own hands.

It is hardly surprising as the similarities between Bolsonaro and Donald Trump are many. Both are proto-fascist fanatics and populists who won elections on the promise to transition their societies from socially liberal into a deeply conservative state — the romanticisation of a bygone era where the nation-state was supreme, where globalisation didn’t exist, and where international trade deals and socioeconomic blocs were but a distant dream.