Talk by CITY Director Harris Ali on "Social Media and the Democratic Crisis in North America"
This talk examines how mis/disinformation and conspiracy theories spread through social media have transformed at an unprecedented rate, the very nature of culture and politics in contemporary society. What is involved in these transformations? What are the implications of these transformations for the development of an impending democratic crisis in North America? We will discuss how this crisis in democracy is evident in terms of the polarization of society and the development of a crisis politics; enhanced conditions for encouraging the expression of political violence; the development of a post-truth society, and the dominance of politics by a small number of business and technical elites (that is, oligarchy), as well as the rise of authoritarian tendencies.