AUTHORITARIANGLOBAL · Authoritarianism in a Global Age: Controlling Information and Communication, Association and People Movement

The overarching research question of this project is: how is authoritarian rule affected by and responding to globalisation of (a) information and communication, (b) association, and (c) people movement? The wholly unpredicted series of revolts that recently spread across the Arab world suggests that the nature and sustainability of contemporary authoritarian rule are not well-understood. Openness to global ICT and media, international NGOs, and inflow and outflow of people have thrown up new challenges for authoritarian rulers in terms of how to control citizens. This project investigates changes in both the nature and the sustainability of authoritarian rule in relation to the erosion of decision-making autonomy at the state level posited by globalisation theorists.In four sub-projects, this project will investigate:1. Whether, how and to what extent globalisation of information and communication, association, and people movement affect authoritarian persistence (longitudinal quantitative study, 1970-2011)2. How, i.e. with what policy mechanisms, authoritarian states respond to globalisation of information and communication, association, and people movement (qualitative multi-sited studies relating to Belarus, China, Iran and Zimbabwe)3. How to understand the phenomenon of subnational authoritarianism in its engagement with the democratic state and the wider world in relation to information and communication, association, and people movement (mixed method subnational studies of states within India and Mexico)4. What authoritarianism is in a global age: reconsidering authoritarianism’s defining characteristics of low accountability and high coercion, and whether these still relate exclusively to statehood (theory study)The project will transcend the theoretical and empirical separation between globalisation studies (which have neglected authoritarian contexts) and authoritarianism studies(which have taken relatively little notice of effects of globalisation)