Politics of Harry Potter

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There are many published theories about the politics of the Harry Potter novels by J. K. Rowling, which range from them containing criticism of racism to anti-government sentiment. The books have been argued to contain both liberal and conservative themes and viewpoints. According to Inside Higher Ed, doctoral theses have been devoted to the Harry Potter books.^[1] There are also several university courses centred on analysis of the Potter series, including an upper division political science course.^[2]

Time magazine noted the political and social aspects of Harry Potter in their 2007 Person of the Year issue, where Rowling placed third behind politicians Vladimir Putin and Al Gore.^[3] Harry Potter's potential social and political impact was called similar to the 19th-century phenomenon of Harriet Beecher Stowe's popular, but critically maligned, book, Uncle Tom's Cabin, which fuelled the abolitionist movement leading up to the American Civil War.^[4]

When asked about the politics and message in Harry Potter, Rowling explained, "I wanted Harry to leave our world and find exactly the same problems in the wizarding world. So you have the intent to impose a hierarchy, you have bigotry, and this notion of purity, which is this great fallacy, but it crops up all over the world. People like to think themselves superior and that if they can pride themselves in nothing else they can pride themselves on perceived purity. [...] It wasn't really exclusively that. I think you can see in the Ministry even before it's taken over, there are parallels to regimes we all know and love."^[5] She also said, "You should question authority and you should not assume that the establishment or the press tells you all of the truth."^[6]

The Wall Street Journal compared Neville Chamberlain to Rowling's Cornelius Fudge, saying both were eager to help their constituents look the other way to avoid war. "Throughout the '30s, Chamberlain, fearing that Churchill was out for his job, conducted a campaign against his fellow Tory. Chamberlain tried evading war with Germany, and ridiculed Churchill as a 'warmonger'. He used The Times—the government's house organ—to attack Churchill and suppress dispatches from abroad about the Nazis that would have vindicated him."^[7] Rowling confirmed Chamberlain was her inspiration in the Spanish newspaper magazine XLSemanal.^[8]

Rowling also told the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant that Voldemort was modeled on Hitler and Stalin, as a megalomaniac and paranoid figure, and that she was influenced by the Second World War, which is "anchored in all our minds". Discussing Draco Malfoy, she claimed, "Draco Malfoy does indeed stand for that type of boy. He wouldn't have killed Dumbledore, he couldn't. As long as things are imaginary, okay, but once it becomes reality, the thing becomes more difficult." She also stated, "No, that I gave him that light blonde hair is not because I wanted to make him into a scary Nazi. You give your characters the appearance that you find attractive; that is why I gave my hero dark hair, green eyes and glasses. I'm married to a man who looks like that."^[9]