Are we ready to tackle 'sadopopulism'?

Students clash over 'indigenous' graffiti in textbook in front of NCTB building in Motijheel, Dhaka, on 15 January 2025. The intolerance and hatred towards minorities are telltale signs of sadopoulism. Photo: Collected

Have you heard those in and with power talk about how, in ancient times, people and communities were doing better, and how modern-day liberal ideologies and practices are corrupting the once 'moral' order that we used to have? To reinstate that order, instead of a policy change, they basically instigate the revival of animosity, enmity, and division of communities that existed in earlier times, and that is what we call 'sadopopulism'.

Timothy Snyder first coined this term and explained that unlike populism, which offers some sort of redistribution of something taken from the state and given to its people, sadopopulism creates this illusion in people where they themselves are in agony but feel better if they see someone else being inflicted with more pain. Sadopopulism covers up the realities of the great heist that is being perpetrated on ordinary working- and middle-class people.

It thrives on 'scapegoating,' and in the process, almost always, it is the vulnerable and minority groups that bear the brunt of it. As Snyder puts it, "Sadopopulism bargains, in other words, not by granting resources but by offering relative degrees of pain and permission to enjoy the suffering of others."

One does not need to go far to realise how this phenomenon is taking a firm place in our country too. The destruction of religious institutions, intolerance and hatred towards minorities, misogyny, suppressing women's rights in every form possible, and the us vs them debate — all these are gaining traction. Such violence and intolerance are breeding a toxic poison that is poured into the ears and minds of disaffected young people around the country and the world.

These are scapegoating tactics where it is being implied that indigenous rights, gender equality, and secular ideologies are the main culprits behind our struggles and collective pain. Because such ideas are gaining a strong foothold, you will notice how our cyberspace has also become toxic, which is known as the manosphere. In simple terms, the manosphere encompasses a range of misogynistic and hateful communities that vary from anti-feminism to more explicit, violent narratives towards women and minorities.

These people are not only hiding behind a screen and spewing hatred; the scariest part is it seems like they believe in what they utter virtually, and these people are like you and I, fellow commoners. Such groups operate both online and offline, distort facts, resort to creating further division, and incite violence, and these can lead to (and are leading to) extremist behaviour with dangerous and fatal real-world consequences. So, if you connect the dots, you will see how sadopopulism is creating such toxic spaces and then mining energies from such spaces to thrive more. The more pain generated in the population, the more energy available to breed hate of selected targets.

Let's take the modern age mystique question, 'Why are relationships falling apart? Why is the rate of women seeking divorce on the rise?' for example. Often, we hear people boast about how their grandparents or great-grandparents hardly had such issues, and they practically refer to that time as less complicated and more of a golden-age era. 

What sadopopulism does is it loops people back in time, making them believe that to create that 'ideal' haven, we have to bring back those customs, values and systems. The twist here is that sadopopulists do not bring any (policy) change to address the root causes; rather, they create hierarchies and intensify the divide among people and groups.

Thus, according to them, what is the solution? Confine women, bash feminist ideologies, do not let women take part in sports or public affairs, and initiate smear campaigns against gender equality, child rights, etc. in the name of safeguarding culture and beliefs. Hence, people who are already hurting due to, say, unemployment, faulty medical services, uneven tax charges, and a notorious legal system, find comfort by attacking fragile targets, i.e., women and minorities, because their suffering is visibly more than theirs. 

The people in power hurt you, and then that makes you hurt others to feel better about yourself. Consequently, instead of thinking of how we can do better together and build a better future, we are thinking about our differences and how we can hurt others who are different from us in the name of gender, ethnicity, religion, etc.

Powerful nations like the US, Russia, and India are also thriving on this tactic where sadopopulists teach white and privileged people that it is not about formulating better policies, but it is about hierarchies where they are better than Black people, immigrants, or any minorities. 

Let's say in a certain corner of the world, some constituents were experiencing public health care discrimination, so a potential candidate promised to serve with better health care policies if they came into power. People believed in the vision and voted for them. 

After coming to power, what they did was, instead of making any better health care policies, impose an abortion ban (along with other health care access restrictions to minorities). What this move did is that the core agenda got deflected (i.e., a faulty healthcare system); it made people think life in general is full of struggles, but at least we have consolation: there are people who are doing worse than us. 

So, in reality, instead of offering policy change, such people and systems offer grievances to their people and followers and offer reinforcements to people to think that they are doing better than others. This status quo takes over. The saddest part about this system is it jeopardises the future because it creates an illusive reward where you aim your frustration towards the weak, forget about the issue at hand, and thrive in chaos and hatred.

To put it in Aldous Huxley's words, "To be able to destroy with good conscience, to be able to behave badly and call your bad behaviour 'righteous indignation' — this is the height of psychological luxury, the most delicious of moral treats."

Where is the hope then? What could be the possible solution? First and foremost, 'I am not into politics' is not the solution, not anymore. Turning a blind eye is not going to give you peace. Rather, more than ever, it is time to initiate political discussions, get connected with grassroots politics, and form networks and alternative poles of power. Educate yourself and your inner and intimate circles, and then move outwards where sadopopulists and their vicious ideologies cannot intrude.

At times people become sceptics; we are made to believe that only a handful cannot bring about any positive changes but rather will get labelled with derogatory tags. 

Words of Clarissa Pinkola Estes might work as a salve of encouragement, "Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor, suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good."

Sketch: TBS

S Arzooman Chowdhury is an Alumnus of the University of Cambridge. She is a Human Rights and Research Specialist.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.