A brash politician tells voters they’ve been sidelined by special interests, casting himself as a strongman who can solve the nation’s ills. He attacks urban elites and appeals to rural residents who feel left behind, claiming he will fix what ails their communities and restore national greatness.
That’s the case study Keough School professor Rose Luminiello and her students have gathered to discuss in their policy lab on the ideas, ideologies and realities of nationalism. They’re analyzing how Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán led his party to power in 2010 by using a selective vision of national identity that marginalizes those outside it.
At a time when nationalism is having a global resurgence, the class offers an opportunity to examine what it promises and how it persuades — and what that means for who belongs, who is excluded and what policy looks like. Luminiello leads students to synthesize the readings and articulate what Orbán’s example reveals about this broader trend and how it might shape the future.
Dr. Luminiello is a faculty fellow with the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion. Read the full story here.