Latest Articles
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Slumdogs and the Millionaire: What a Project to Transform Mumbai Says About India’s Democracy
This report investigates why a mega slum redevelopment executed by Narendra Modi’s key business ally has triggered political opposition and charges of opacity, arbitrariness, and cronyism. The development threatens to uproot people from the city and banish them to its peripheries as Mumbai’s turn to capitalist urbanism intensifies along with the suppression of its discontents.…
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Modi’s Mexicans
‘Bangladeshis’ are to Modi what Mexicans are to Trump. Both are proxies that help dress up naked identitarian hate with the logic of nationalism. But Modi isn’t just constructing the fear of the ‘other’, he’s constructing the ‘other’ as well, and using it to remake the citizenry.
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From Words to Violence: Countering Extremist Rhetoric in Democratic Societies
This policy brief examines how sophisticated rhetorical strategies—combining overt divisive messaging with coded extremist language—operate across multiple communication levels to legitimise violence and undermine democratic institutions. Drawing on recent research in political psychology, comparative analysis of global democratic backsliding, and evidence from successful counter-messaging initiatives, it proposes a comprehensive framework for protecting democratic discourse. Traditional…
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Democracy Lighthouse Digest #2
The Democracy Lighthouse Digest is a monthly newsletter that provides updates on our group’s work and information about the important worldwide contributions of the many organisations, activists and scholars currently engaged in the defence and reimagining of the past, present, and future of democracy. Read the Democracy Lighthouse below or subscribe to receive it by email.
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Squaring the Circle
The US president’s erratic tariff policy is disrupting global political relations. Long-standing alliances are being called into question, and new, unexpected alliances appear possible. Today’s geopolitical environment is worse than during the past decades. The entanglement of economics calls into question established geopolitical logics. US president Donald Trump’s fixation on tariffs has sparked a trade…
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