Najam Keynotes at Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities
Prof. Adil Najam, Inaugural Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was invited to present a keynote address at the international conference on Social Sciences and Humanities in the New Millenium: Challenges and Prospects, held in Lahore, Pakistan, in December 2017. The three-day conference was co-hosted by the Virtual Univeristy of Pakistan, and the Lahore College for Women Univeristy.
Najam’s keynote address elaborated on his concept of a “New World Disorder.” The idea of the “new world disorder” is based on Najam’s essay of the same title, published earlier this year. Using evidence from current political trends and developments, Najam presented the argument that the rise of Donald Trump in the United States, Brexit in the United Kingdom, ultra-nationalism in India, and strongman politics in Russia and China are best understood in the context of a much larger global trend – or a New World Disorder – which was exemplified by what he called the ‘politics of anti-politics.’ He argued that the so-called ‘post-truth’ politics is also a global phenomenon and has been aided by technologies, especially social media, that foster “communitarian echo chambers.”
Najam suggested that there is a global public “demand” for strongman leaders and not just politicians but the very idea of politics has come under universal attack. Much of this, according to Najam, reflects the failures of governance by politicians themselves. The result, however, is that “today about half the world’s population, two-thirds the world economy, and three-fourths the world military is being ruled by strongmen.”
In particular, Najam linked the emergence of this new “global disorder” with severe crises of democracy in a new age. He suggested that understanding and engaging in this evolution of democracy is one of the greatest challenges confronting scholars of the social sciences and the humanities.
Najam has been elaborating on this concept at multiple international forums, including at the 2017 Annual Kleh Distinguished Lecture in London this last November. During the visit, Najam was also interviewed on Pakistan’s Capital TV on the lecture and the concept in the show BayLaag (December 16, 2017).
Adil Najam is the inaugural dean of the Pardee School and was a former Vice Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences in Lahore Pakistan. Learn more about him here