Welcome to the Global Studies Program!
Global Studies is a challenging, interdisciplinary field of study that provides students with an understanding of processes and problems that transcend national boundaries. Global Studies majors investigate interconnections that have emerged through global historical processes, transnational mobilities and identities, supranational norms, laws, and institutions, as well as the dissemination of ideas, belief systems, literature, and arts across borders. Global studies majors also investigate global causes and consequences of division, fragmentation, and conflict.
Political Authoritarianism and Support for Populism in Europe, the United States and Latin America
Arman Azedi*, PhD
Wednesday, October 16 | 11-12:20 pm
INTN 3023 (Interdisciplinary Studies Room North, Room 3023)
Populist political parties are attracting an ever-growing share of support worldwide. This project seeks to enhance our understanding of the values and beliefs that drive ordinary citizens to back left-wing and right-wing populists by investigating the role of political authoritarianism and anti-democratic views. Some scholars propose that populist ideology inherently contains divisive and intolerant tenets that conflict with principles necessary to maintaining democracy. Focusing on three separate political contexts, Western Europe, the United States, and Latin America, the project reveals that political authoritarianism is associated with support for populists depending on the ideology of the populist in question. Citizens who support right-wing populists consistently display disproportionately high levels of political authoritarianism and disregard for democratic norms, while the left-wing populist support base does not. The findings ultimately challenge monolithic portrayals of populism as anti-democratic.
Sponsored by the University of California-Riverside Political Science and Sociology Departments, the Global Studies Program, and the Institute for Research on World Systems.
*Arman Azedi is a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Research on World Systems at UCR. He received his PhD in Sociology from the University of California-Irvine in 2024.
100% of Global Studies majors participate in experiential learning: Internship, Study Abroad, Capstone
Over half of Global Studies majors are first-generation college students.
100% of Global Studies majors work with faculty: Specialty Seminars, Honors/Capstone research, Internship
Careers in Global Studies
What Can you do with a degree in Global Studies?
The Global Studies major prepares students for careers in (international) government and politics, law, media, travel & tourism, non-governmental organizations and the non-profit sector, and education at all levels.
