With the re-election of Donald as the President of America, and his symbol of MAGA, lies the most vocal and apparent example of the recent trend in global politics. This trend, shouldn’t be confused with conservatism, as firstly, it is not just opposing change, it is actively advocating for it, but in the direction of the past, and secondly, its does not just talk about the effectiveness of classical liberal thought, rather it is the tendency to view the past as the perfect society, in every dimension- from social, political as well as economical.
The notion of ‘Make America Great Again’, refers to the Reagan era of politics, of a golden period of economy (as per the conservatives), as well as societal structures and discourse (as the major conflict of the American Right with the left is against the tirade of the right against the LGBTQIA+ movement). The revivalism can be best understood as the extension of the conservative and traditional thought, yet distinct from it, to completely transform the society in the image of its past, engage actors who hold a historical value for the nation or at least take the necessary actions to achieve that.
This trend of revivalism is not restricted to America, but rather it is now visible in almost all the countries, in some form or the other. In Russia, the state has repeatedly emphasised its dream of extending its control over the old borders of the Soviet Union, their dream of reviving their glorious past of unchallenged authority (except the US).
The State has increasingly involved itself with the orthodox Church, both formally and informally. Putin spearheaded this engagement with his stint in power, and has subsequently continued to do so. This can be seen as a bid to arouse/link the cultural and religious sentiments of the people with the Russian State, and gain the legitimacy of the people in these turbulent times. The involvement of Putin in major Orthodox Church ceremonies is a bid to close in the distance created between the state and Orthodoxy, due to suppression in the Soviet Era.
This engagement can also be seen as a bid to arouse the feeling of cultural nationalism among the citizens, of recognizing the particular heritage of their nation, which the youth need to protect. Thus, with the example of Russia, we find out two more uses of revivalism, i.e. public legitimacy and cultural nationalism.
As seen in the example of Russia, the trend of revivalism is nation-specific, rather than restricted or organised on the lines of only religion. This assertion is also supported by the example of Turkiye (the decision to change the name itself is an example of revivalist policies).
Turkiye, in recent times, has undertaken significant efforts to distance itself from the ‘Arabic’ heritage and highlight its own unique heritage and cultural tradition. This bid to assert their own distinct identity, may be a revolt against the universalizing tendency of liberal polity, to break free from the tag of the Middle East, and to emphasize that the wants and needs of each nation is different.
This idea of a golden past is directly contradictory to the Western Civilisation and its idea of linear flow of time. Linear flow of time refers to the gradual advancement of Human kind from primitive living to modern times. The western belief is that with time, the situation has steadily improved (through scientific achievements and evolution and adaptation of humankind).
The phenomenon of revivalism is thus of Eastern origin, with their circular flow of time. For the Eastern civilisations, time flows in a cyclical pattern from a period of golden age (satyug), to the gradual decline of every sphere of the society. This golden age is once again regained after the point of utmost degradation.
This is further substantiated by the fact that revivalism was first evident in Eastern civilisations- from the ideal of Ram Rajya during the freedom struggle as well as the concept of Hindavi Swarajya of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, to the policies of CCP (revival of mandarin, and their aim of socialism with Chinese characterstics). Thus, revivalism in global politics has its origin in the Asian continent and Values.
Another question which arises is that why, in this particular moment of time do we see such revivalism all over the world? Contradictory to popular belief, the major factor behind the rise of Revivalism is the failure of the present economic structure and policies. The world has seen a global stagnation. The increasing cost of living, growth rate stagnation, inflation (majorly due to Russia-Ukrain War) has all contributed to the feeling of distrust among the people for the exixsting economic structures, and thus has forced to ‘look for better opportunities’. Revivalism is nothing more than a particular stream of ‘look for better opportunities;’ who believe that the past holds the answer for the answer of the present.
In the modern era, the tool of revivalism has considerable leverage from achieving public legitimacy to contributing to igniting the feeling of cultural nationalism. This concept is currently used to make the nation-states, more nation than states. It has led to formation of what I call ‘empires’, who each have an imperial dream of expansionism and are based on their own unique culture.
Some of the examples of these empires are- China, Turkiye, Russia, India, Iran etc. Thus, the world is now seeing an exodus from the secular and multicultural notion of nation-states, to a much more crude, emotional and a type of cultural distinctions between the people.
-Anagh Savarnya
