A Dialectical Simplicity approach to resisting authoritarianism
1. Introduction: The Authoritarian Temptation
Across the world, democracy is on the back foot.
From Hungary to India, the United States to Türkiye, and Italy to Aotearoa New Zealand, we are witnessing a resurgence of authoritarian politics—some openly fascist, others cloaked in populist language and parliamentary legitimacy. These movements promise order in a chaotic world, simplicity in a complex one, and strength in the face of decline.
They claim to speak for “the people” while attacking minorities. They claim to restore pride while concentrating power. And they often rise not in spite of democracy, but through it.
Dialectical Simplicity offers a different response to fear and confusion—one rooted not in dominance but in dialogue, not in purity but in plurality, and not in nostalgic control but in collective renewal.
2. How Authoritarianism Works
Authoritarianism rarely begins with tanks in the street. More often, it begins with stories.
The story goes like this: “You are being replaced. You are being laughed at. The elites have betrayed you. We will take back control. We will make you proud again.”
These stories are powerful because they speak to real feelings—dislocation, insecurity, loss. But they channel those feelings away from solidarity and toward scapegoating.
In Hungary, Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party used anti-immigrant rhetoric and attacks on LGBTQ+ rights to consolidate power while rewriting the constitution and controlling the media【1】. In the United States, Donald Trump rose on a wave of resentment, nostalgia, and racial backlash—fuelled by economic decline and cultural anxiety【2】. In Aotearoa, the current government has used “co-governance” as a dog-whistle to undermine Māori rights while dismantling protections for workers, women, and climate action.
The authoritarian playbook is often the same:
- Create enemies (minorities, migrants, unions, feminists, academics)
- Undermine institutions (judiciary, press, electoral oversight)
- Promise control in exchange for obedience
- Reframe resistance as disloyalty
3. The Conditions for Collapse
Authoritarianism doesn’t arise in a vacuum. It feeds on a deeper rot: when people lose faith that democracy can deliver.
When housing is unaffordable, wages are stagnant, public services are crumbling, and elites appear untouchable—people search for alternatives. If democratic institutions seem remote, self-serving, or captured by wealth, then strongmen, culture warriors, and conspiracy theorists step into the void.
This is why Dialectical Simplicity insists that political renewal must be economic and emotional. People must not only vote—they must feel heard. They must not only receive rights—they must experience dignity.
Democracy cannot survive on slogans. It must be lived.
4. Simplicity Against Cynicism
Authoritarianism thrives on confusion. Misinformation, trolling, performative outrage—these are not just tactics, they are strategies of exhaustion. If everything is corrupt, nothing can be trusted. If everyone is lying, then the biggest liar wins.
In this context, simplicity becomes radical.
But not the false simplicity of dogma or slogans. Dialectical Simplicity offers a different kind: the simplicity of values clearly held and plainly spoken.
- Everyone deserves shelter.
- Everyone deserves fair work.
- Everyone deserves to live without fear.
- No one deserves unchecked power.
These aren’t complex positions. But holding them, living them, and building systems around them—that is the real work.
5. Defending Democracy Means Expanding It
Too often, democracy is treated as a vote every three years. But voting without power is performance. We must move from representative politics to participatory democracy—where people shape the decisions that shape their lives.
This means:
- Union democracy: members electing leaders, shaping claims, voting on action
- Community-led budgeting: like in parts of Portugal and Brazil, where locals decide spending priorities
- Indigenous and devolved governance: as with Te Tiriti-based models that share power, not just consult
- Workplace democracy: co-ops, worker-owned firms, and democratic management
Authoritarians fear democratic renewal because it puts people in charge of their lives. We must make democracy not just worth defending, but worth believing in.
6. Solidarity Over Purity
In moments of crisis, there’s a temptation to seek moral purity—only the perfect allies, only the flawless messages, only the most radical programmes. But this fractures movements and weakens resistance.
Dialectical Simplicity is dialectical—it holds tension. It acknowledges contradiction. It says: you can be angry and hopeful. You can be principled and pragmatic. You can work with people you don’t fully agree with, without losing your values.
As the anti-fascist priest Don Luigi Sturzo once put it: “You must walk with whoever walks, even if they limp.”
In Poland, the recent defeat of the authoritarian PiS party was achieved not by purity, but by coalition—a broad front of liberals, leftists, centrists, and activists united by one goal: democracy must survive. That is not compromise—it is strategy【3】.
7. Art, Culture, and Joy as Resistance
Authoritarianism doesn’t just restrict politics. It shrinks the imagination. It teaches us that joy is indulgent, creativity is dangerous, and culture must conform.
But resistance is not only protest—it is also song, ritual, language, celebration, storytelling, and care. From the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish to the murals of Belfast, from Te Matatini kapa haka to queer ballroom culture in 1980s New York—creative expression has always been a way to say: we are still here.
In Hungary, grassroots theatres have resisted censorship with allegory and absurdism. In the U.S., mutual aid networks revived in the pandemic continue to operate today—not just feeding people, but building new models of collective life.
To fight authoritarianism is to insist that beauty belongs to the people.
8. Conclusion: Holding the Line, Growing the Ground
We are living in a time of turning. The path forward is not guaranteed. We may lose ground. But we are not powerless.
Dialectical Simplicity teaches that resisting authoritarianism does not mean romanticising the past. It means grounding ourselves in shared values, holding the line where we must, and growing the ground beneath our feet—slowly, patiently, together.
Authoritarianism offers certainty. We offer conversation. They offer fear. We offer care. They promise control. We build connection.
And that, in the end, is stronger.
References
- Kovács, J. (2022). Hungary’s Democratic Decline: Orbán’s System of Control. Journal of Democracy.
- Giridharadas, A. (2020). The True American: The Divide Trump Exploited.
- Szczerbiak, A. (2023). Poland’s Electoral Shift: Lessons for Europe. Open Democracy.