2. The Loss of Anchors

“In a liquid modern life there are no permanent bonds, and any that we take up for a time must be tied loosely so that they can be untied again, as quickly and as effortlessly as possible, when circumstances change — as they surely will in our liquid modern society, over and over again.”

This is how Zygmunt Bauman described the uncertainty of social life in a post-globalization world. The transformation that our societies underwent has wreaked particular havoc with our sense of identity. Systems of belonging that had existed for centuries have eroded, or even disappeared. The meaning and structure of community — be it religious, national, or even the family — have transformed deeply. We went from extended families to nuclear families to the post-nuclear family, often in the space of no more than two generations.

In many places, new generations are growing up with values starkly different and even opposed to those of their parents. This shift in values is perhaps most stark in the most insular societies, which modernity crashed against in wave after wave over the past few decades — the American “Bible Belt” for example, or the Arabian desert plateau of Najd. Would a Saudi mother in the 1970s even imagine that her daughter would not only demand the repeal of the traditional male guardianship system, but make a music video about it? What was a generation ago “normal”, is today not only challenged, but often mocked.

What’s fueling the worldwide rise of identity politics is, then, a worldwide identity crisis. Much of the conservative backlash that is expressed by religious fanatics, or the nativist backlash that is expressed by ethnic hate groups, is at its core a reaction to this loss of traditional anchors. And identity politics, with its emphasis on differences and otherness, happens to lend itself more to an authoritarian, top-down structure than a flat, bottom-up structure.

In times of fear and uncertainty, people tend to fall back on their group identity for security.

Let’s not go too far, though — this sense of uncertainty is widespread, but these “radicals”, who embrace what they perceive to be “original” values and seek a return to an “authentic” social state, stand out precisely because of the stark contrast against their own peers who seem to be comfortable in their own skin. Let’s not forget that, had the young had their way, then Trump wouldn’t have won and the Brexit vote wouldn’t have passed. And the Arab Spring, perhaps, would have succeeded.

Menu:
Introduction
#1 The Triumph of Globalization (Previous Section)
#2 The Loss of Anchors (You are here)
#3 Economic Transformation
#4 Obsolete Nationalism
#5 Political Failure
#6 Social Media Broke our Public Sphere
#7 The Unravelling of the Middle-East
Conclusion: The Trump Effect

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