In this talk, Professor Lindberg lays out the evidence for an accelerating wave of autocratization spanning all world regions, discusses its nature and the common patterns of change when leaders and governments dismantle democracy in countries from Philippines and India, to Hungary, Poland, and Brazil, and details how freedom of expression and civil society are typically the most, and often first, affected in these contemporary processes. He will also discuss the consequences of autocratization based on a range of studies in human health, medicine, climatology, economics, and conflict studies.

Bio:

Staffan I. Lindberg is Professor of political science and Director of the V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg, founding Principal Investigator of Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem), founding Director of the national research infrastructure DEMSCORE, ERC Consolidator, and Wallenberg Academy Fellow. Lindberg is currently leading several large research projects, including “Failing and Successful Sequences of Democratization”, “Varieties of Autocratization”, and “The Case for Democracy”, and also has extensive experience as consultant on development and democracy, and as advisor to international organizations, ministries, and state authorities.