The bacterial roots of the new autocracies: An essay on "Biopolitics"

A new wave of autocratic nationalisms has at least ten nations in its grip, and growing. Does this new impulse of authoritarianism have roots in a deep evolutionary past? The answer goes back to two algorithms roughly 3.85 billion years old. These two algorithms explain the social dynamics of life-forms as diverse as bacteria, clams, bees, whales, chimpanzees and human beings. We argue that the fission-fusion search strategy of social groups, which goes hand in hand with the r/K dynamics of ecological relationships, work together to shift mass moods and to drive social cycles. Their interactive combination provides a stunning view of social dynamics and of contemporary political processes -indeed the combination produces a 'biopolitical' picture of our societies.