National populist movements are on the rise across the United States and Europe – two moments this year were critical for this phenomenon. This was the election of former real estate tycoon and reality TV star Donald Trump to the White House, and the United Kingdom’s exit of the European Union. Both Donald Trump’s campaign team, and the alliance of right wing politicians pushing for Brexit, framed complex social issues in easily accessible ways to appeal to large swathes of the population, and mobilize them to the ballot box. This veer towards populism is not confined to the English speaking world with various established liberal European democracies and fledgling Eastern European democracies witnessing a rise in populist movements.

On December 8, the Ralph Bunche Institute and the European Union Studies Center will be holding a discussion between Branko Milanovic, Marla Stone and Richard Wolin on this topic. As experts on income inequality, the rise of fascism and intellectual history, the discussion will compare and contrast the roots of populist movements and chart some of their impacts.