Progressive Politics Offer Hope Against Global Political Crisis, Says University of Bath Reader

Progressive Politics Offer Hope Against Global Political Crisis, Says University of Bath Reader
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Neil Howard, a reader at the University of Bath, argues that progressive political platforms focused on meeting people’s basic needs are gaining momentum worldwide and offer a way to break the cycle of political despair, according to an opinion piece published on Al Jazeera. Writing on July 14, 2025, Howard highlights recent successes in the United States, United Kingdom, India, and South Africa as examples of this emerging paradigm.

Howard points to Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York mayoral Democratic primary, where Mamdani campaigned on providing free public transport and childcare funded by higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy. Similarly, in the UK, Zack Polanski’s leadership bid for the Green Party has energized members with calls to curb corporate power and tax the rich.

In India, the Congress party’s promise of unconditional income support and universal health insurance reflects lessons from a large basic income trial in Hyderabad. South Africa’s movement to transform COVID-19 emergency relief into a permanent basic income, framed as citizens’ “rightful share” of national wealth, also illustrates this trend.

Howard identifies the core political questions as “who gets what and who decides,” criticizing the current global capitalist order for concentrating wealth in the hands of the few and fostering division through the false narrative of scarcity. He contends that far-right politics exploit this divide, while progressive movements reject scarcity myths by advocating unconditional policies that guarantee foundational economic security for all.

The University of Bath academic concludes that these policies resonate because they address basic needs unconditionally, affirming universal human dignity and offering a hopeful path forward in troubled times.