EU Views: Yascha Mounk
Name: Yascha Mounk
Nationality: Germany
Occupation(s): Lecturer on Political Theory at Harvard University, a Jeff & Cal Leonard Fellow at New Americaas well as the Founding Editor of The Utopian.
Connection to Europe: Born in Germany to Polish parents, Yascha received his BA in History and his MPhil in Political Thought from Trinity College, Cambridge. He completed his PhD dissertation, about the role of personal responsibility in contemporary politics and philosophy, at Harvard University’s Government Department under the supervision of Michael Sandel.
Date of interview: October 31, 2016
In this episode, Olya Yordanyan talks to Yascha Mounk about the emerging future in Europe and the deep crisis of liberal democracy playing out around the world from India to the United States. Mounk attributes the rise of populist forces to the erosion of the preconditions for liberal democracy. What we are seeing, as a result, are “illiberal democracies” on the one hand, and “undemocratic liberalism” on the other. The question Mounk raises is whether civil society is strong enough to resist or whether these pendulum swings are the new normal. He stresses the need to protect and further the rights of minorities without succumbing to the sort of “identity politics” that can alienate the majority.