The Human Rights Implications of Global Right Wing Populism
Open Access
- Author:
- Darby, Ryan
- Area of Honors:
- Global and International Studies
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Raymond John Watkins, Thesis Supervisor
Jonathan Eran Abel, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Right Wing Populism
Human Rights
Populism
Politics
United States
Brazil
Philippines
United Kingdom - Abstract:
- With the elections of divisive leaders such as Donald Trump in the U.S., Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, and Boris Johnson in the United Kingdom, the past decade of global politics can be characterized by the ideology of right-wing populism. Right-wing populism is a political ideology that combines social and economic conservatism with anti-elitist rhetoric. In many countries across the world, this ideology has resonated deeply with working class populations who have felt left behind by the globalizing and diversifying nature of the modern world. This ideology also resonates with those who feel that their country needs a law and order leader to save the state from crime and corruption. While right-wing populism may not sound inherently harmful on the surface, the countries that have adopted this ideology have seen devastating human rights abuses. This is because populist leaders tend to blame the problems of a country’s majority population on minorities and other vulnerable populations, putting these populations at risk of hate crimes and discrimination through policy. This thesis will argue that the implementation of right-wing populism causes significant human rights abuses in the countries where it is present. Through comparative analysis of the U.S., Brazil, the U.K., and the Philippines, this thesis will survey the human rights abuses caused by right-wing populism in each country and analyze the conditions for why voters felt the need to support this ideology. In the conclusion, the analysis shows that right-wing populism causes significant human rights abuses because the ideology itself is based upon the blame and exclusion of outgroups. The analysis also finds that the perceived need for and implementation of this ideology contrasts between countries in the Global North (U.S. and U.K.) versus countries in the Global South (Brazil and the Philippines