Authoritarianism and Patriarchy from Ancient Egypt to the Present: A Conversation with Kara Cooney

Then & Now

Recent years have witnessed a stark rise across the globe in populist leaders whose policies are implicitly, or even explicitly, authoritarian. The policies of these leaders are sometimes at odds with their populist rhetoric in that they reward the elite few at the expense of the masses. Yet this trend is not new. As far back as ancient Egypt, we see authoritarian leaders collecting and retaining wealth and power in the hands of the elite. What are the parallels between the authoritarian governments of the past and the present? How can we use the past to cast a critical eye on our own social patterns and willingness to hand over power to the few? This episode of Then & Now explores how and why authoritarian, populist leaders, from ancient Egypt, to the present, gain and maintain power, and seeks to understand why the many so often choose to give up power to the few.