Thomas Main, a professor of public affairs at Baruch College in New York, has been tracking illiberalism in American politics for years. He spoke with Greg Berman, the Distinguished Fellow of Practice at The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, about the roots of polarization in America. While he acknowledges the existence of some movements on the left of the political spectrum that meet the definition of “illiberalism,” most of Main’s energies are devoted to studying extremist right-wing political thinking. What he finds is sobering.
“The roots of racism run deep in this country. This means that the potential audience for illiberal racialist movements is much deeper than the potential audience for anarchism and communism.’” – Thomas Main