Novara Media Downstream: We Are Witnessing the Return of Empires & the End of Nations w/ Rana Dasgupta
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Mar 9, 2026 Rana Dasgupta, author and essayist known for long-form historical and political analysis, explores the rise and possible fall of the nation-state. He traces origins from medieval relic politics to capitalist statecraft. The conversation covers deindustrialization, Asia’s resurgence, American imperial strategies, China’s global tactics, and bold futures for liberalism and democracy.
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Louis IX Bought The Crown Of Thorns To Legitimize The State
- Louis IX purchased the Crown of Thorns and sacralized the French monarchy to create quasi-religious authority for the emerging state.
- Dasgupta uses this 13th-century relic purchase to show how the French state borrowed religious legitimacy to bind citizens.
Liberal State Inherits Religious Authority
- Liberalism itself repurposed religious authority into the mortal 'sovereign' of the state (Hobbes' mortal god), retaining quasi-religious claims.
- This explains why religious critiques like Sayyid Qutb's view the state as idolatrous and reject its moral claim.
Glorious Revolution Created Capitalist State Architecture
- The 1688 Glorious Revolution shifted Britain toward a bourgeois-capitalist state protecting property and finance, enabling global empire and capital flows.
- Dasgupta links this legal-financial turn to Britain's role as the political apparatus for capitalism.
