Pratap Metha

From Democracy in Question? by Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy

May 13, 2026 · 53 min · Season 11 · Episode 9

About this episode

Shalini Randeria speaks with Pratap Bhanu Mehta about the rise of civilizational narratives and their implications for democracy and identity.

In this episode, Shalini Randeria speaks with political theorist Pratap Bhanu Mehta about the global rise of civilizational narratives — from India and China to Russia, Turkey, and parts of the U.S. They explore why governments increasingly invoke ancient civilizational identities, how this shift fuels soft authoritarianism, and what it reveals about the deeper crisis of liberal democracy. They also discuss how civilizational thinking erodes the historicity of the modern nationstate, replaces democratic negotiation with pregiven identity, and licenses new forms of exclusion and political violence. Mehta contrasts today’s nostalgic, essentialist civilizational claims with earlier Indian thinkers like Gandhi and Tagore, whose visions were futureoriented and emancipatory. A wideranging conversation on democracy, identity, and the dangerous seductions of civilizational politics.

People in this episode

Host: Shalini Randeria

Guest: Pratap Bhanu Mehta

Topics covered

civilizational narratives
soft authoritarianism
liberal democracy
political violence
identity politics

Keywords

civilization
authoritarianism
democracy
identity
politics
India
China
Russia
Turkey

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Gandhi, Tagore