Perry World House hosted an event with more than 80 attendees on Feb. 26.
Credit: Chenyao LiuOn Wednesday, professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University Ruth Ben-Ghiat spoke to more than 80 attendees at Perry World House’s “Autocracy in the World” event about the recent increase in autocratic regimes and democratic backsliding.
Ben-Ghiat is “a historian of authoritarianism" and testified before the House of Representatives Jan. 6 Committee on alleged attempts made by the administration of 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump to "stifle press freedoms." At the event, which was moderated by the Walter H. Annenberg Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication Sarah Banet-Weiser, Ben-Ghiat gave a 25-minute lecture on how authoritarian movements have historically operated, drawing connections between the past and the present.
She began by sharing a personal story on how her mother became "radicalized" and "extremist" due to Russian propaganda and went on to discuss other historical authoritarian movements.
“Going back to Mussolini, [authoritarian leaders] want to be seen as efficient,” she said. “They might even have founded a Department of Government Efficiency. But behind this, often, corruption, is incompetence.”
Throughout the discussion, Ben-Ghiat focused on the media's role in information manipulation and propaganda distribution.
“Propaganda requires noise and silence with equal measure,” Ben-Ghiat said. “You have to blare the lies, get as many people involved in the lies, ideally repeating the lies. But you also have to have silence … today's authoritarians, like those of the past, remove and eliminate people, but they also remove and limit access to entire fields of knowledge that conflict with their goals."
Throughout the lecture, Ben-Ghiat and Banet-Weiser also emphasized that authoritarian governments not only put democracy at risk but also "weaken populations" through anti-science rhetoric and decreased access to information.
“The combination of plunder of human resources, economic resources, natural resources, the murderous wars many [authoritarian leaders] wage or plan to wage, adds up to an awful truth that strong men don't just endanger democracy, but they pose an existential threat to humanity,” Ben-Ghiat added.
In an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian, Executive Director of Perry World House Marie Harf reflected on Ben-Ghiat's optimism.
“It was interesting to me that she is hopeful, even though she studies authoritarianism, that she is hopeful looking around the world," Harf said.
Harf also appreciated Ben-Ghiat’s breakdown of an authoritarian personality and emphasis on the value of understanding the motivations behind authoritarian actions.
“I think we read these newspaper articles every day about what's happening around the world, and being able to put words to what's happening, to put definitions, to put them into a framework of how to look at them, makes it feel less overwhelming," she added.
Predoctoral fellow Ezgi Ecem Yilmaz, echoed Harf's sentiment, telling the DP that she appreciated the optimistic outlook Ben-Ghiat ended the conversation with.
“She merged three big topics: authoritarianism, resistance, and the use of media, which are the three essential things that have to be talked about to combat authoritarianism,” she said. “It's always nice to get the historical perspective because things keep happening. It's a vicious cycle, and we need to learn from it.”
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