James Lotter is an LGBTQ activist, MA & South African Research Chairs initiative: Gender Politics scholar in the Department of Political Science at Stellenbosch University

Shifting geopolitical dynamics and a surge of right-wing populism have exposed notable shifts in the political behaviour of a growing number of women, LGBTQ and people of colour.

In the past three years, the Western world witnessed the coming out of a rumoured “shift” in the Liberal Democratic world order. This manifested in an array of consecutive presidential and national elections that took place in some of the world’s most prominent Liberal Democracies; namely the US, Holland, France, Germany and more recently, Italy. As such, each case carried a unique set of circumstances and contexts that influenced their internal political climates, however, a shared hegemonic positioning within the global order along with a history of multilateral relationships, made the consequences of such electoral outcomes far-reaching and inherently global.

Such dynamics, along with similar geopolitical foundations and shared implications of prominent global events, including the War on Terror, the Global Financial Crisis, and the EU Crisis, among others, have resulted in a popular backlash against the Liberal-Internationalist status quo that emerged post-World War II. The consequential rise of populist-nationalist (right-wing) movements throughout Europe and the United States have manifested into significant electoral inroads and victories that have had, and could continue to have, radical implications for the globe and broader societal relations. Read more via Daily Maverick