What India's free speech crackdown means for democracy
The pulping of a controversial book is indicative of a global trend against liberal ideals


News that Penguin Books India has capitulated to demands that it remove from Indian bookshops a controversial history of Hinduism should trouble and sadden liberals around the world. India is the world’s largest (as well as arguably its most diverse and religious) democracy — and it has managed to build and sustain democratic institutions for decades. That’s an extraordinary accomplishment. But with the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party poised to win sweeping victories in upcoming elections, and parent company Penguin Random House buckling to public pressure about an unpopular book, we have reason to worry about the future of liberalism in India.
And not only in India. The details of the situation undoubtedly have their roots in circumstances unique to the subcontinent, but what’s happening in India is part of a much broader trend. A little more than 20 years ago, in the wake of the West’s victory in the Cold War, Americans seriously entertained the idea that liberal ideals and institutions were on the verge of taking over the world. Two decades later, that prediction appears even more naïve than it did at the time.
The world did go through a period in the 1990s when democratic institutions spread into regions that had never known them. But those institutions have been in retreat for several years now. In Russia and some of the other post-Soviet republics, in China, Egypt, Libya, and sub-Saharan Africa, countries are increasingly turning away from democracy — either by refusing to adopt democratic norms in the first place, or by rejecting them once they’ve been tried.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Perhaps even more troubling than the rollback of democratic institutions (free and fair elections, civilian control of the military, etc.) has been the failure of liberal habits of citizenship to take root in other countries and cultures as deeply as they have throughout the West. Americans take it for granted that, with only certain very rare exceptions, people are allowed to write and say anything they please — and that their fellow citizens will not respond to provocation by resorting to violence. We enact John Stuart Mill’s liberal ideal every day, allowing ideas to be aired and do battle with one another in the open, assuming that the bad ideas will die a natural death in the course of discussion and debate.
But other countries struggle to achieve such institutionalized, habitual toleration for differences. Sure, some of the anti-liberal developments are driven by authoritarian leaders out to quell dissent and consolidate their own power. Others, as in India, are encouraged by factions seeking to use jingoistic and sectarian sentiment for electoral gain.
But that’s not all that’s going on. The first function of government — liberal or not — is to secure order. Growing numbers of people across the globe appear to believe that liberalism is incompatible with maintaining that basic level of order — that liberalism will inspire violence within polities with sharp and deep ethnic, religious, and partisan divisions. They fear that instead of provoking a sharply argued response, a criticized group will take up arms or resort to terrorism.
Liberalism is only possible when citizens from every group in society implicitly vow to forgo violence as a way of settling disputes. We take this for granted, but many in other countries increasingly feel they can’t afford to do so.
Are they right to be worried? In some cases, the answer is clearly yes. Until more nations solve the riddle of how to transform liberalism from an ideal into a habit of mind and behavior, its global prospects will remain precarious.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.
-
5 immersive books to read this April for a brief escape
The Week Recommends A dystopian tale takes us to the library, a journalist's ode to her refugee parents and more
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
'The winners and losers of AI may not be where we expect'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Shingles vaccine cuts dementia risk, study finds
Speed Read Getting vaccinated appears to significantly reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
By The Week Staff Published
-
'Seriously, not literally': how should the world take Donald Trump?
Today's big question White House rhetoric and reality look likely to become increasingly blurred
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will Trump's 'madman' strategy pay off?
Today's Big Question Incoming US president likes to seem unpredictable but, this time round, world leaders could be wise to his playbook
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Democrats vs. Republicans: who are the billionaires backing?
The Explainer Younger tech titans join 'boys' club throwing money and support' behind President Trump, while older plutocrats quietly rebuke new administration
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
US election: where things stand with one week to go
The Explainer Harris' lead in the polls has been narrowing in Trump's favour, but her campaign remains 'cautiously optimistic'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Trump okay?
Today's Big Question Former president's mental fitness and alleged cognitive decline firmly back in the spotlight after 'bizarre' town hall event
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The life and times of Kamala Harris
The Explainer The vice-president is narrowly leading the race to become the next US president. How did she get to where she is now?
By The Week UK Published
-
Will 'weirdly civil' VP debate move dial in US election?
Today's Big Question 'Diametrically opposed' candidates showed 'a lot of commonality' on some issues, but offered competing visions for America's future and democracy
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published