{"id":1998,"date":"2021-03-24T17:56:32","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T17:56:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/mancept\/?page_id=1998"},"modified":"2021-07-16T17:52:50","modified_gmt":"2021-07-16T16:52:50","slug":"authoritarian-moments-configurations-forms-and-practices-of-authoritarianism","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/mancept\/authoritarian-moments-configurations-forms-and-practices-of-authoritarianism\/","title":{"rendered":"Authoritarian Moments: Configurations, Forms, and Practices of Authoritarianism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Convenors:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Verena Frick<\/strong>, University of Goettingen (verena.frick@uni-goettingen.de<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Dr. Felix Petersen<\/strong>, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (petersen.felix@gmail.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\n

Confirmed Key Note Speakers:\u00a0<\/strong>Jan-Werner M\u00fcller<\/em>\u00a0(Princeton University),\u00a0Annelien De Dijn<\/em>\u00a0(Utrecht University),\u00a0William Scheuerman<\/em>\u00a0(Indiana University)
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

*All times are British Summer Time (BST)<\/p>\n

Tuesday 09\/07\/2021<\/h4>\n

10:00-10:30<\/strong><\/p>\n

Introduction \u2013 Verena Frick<\/strong> (University of Goettingen) & Felix Petersen (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)<\/p>\n

Session 1: Authoritarian Ideas and Traditions<\/em><\/h6>\n

10:45 \u2013 12:15<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cCentralization, Secrecy and Technique: The Pre-imperial Legalist School of Thought and its Authoritarian Legacy in China\u201d \u2013 Federico Brusadelli<\/strong> (Univ. di Napoli “L’Orientale)<\/p>\n

\u201cMontesquieu in Pyongyang, 1949\u201d \u2013 Ria Roy <\/strong>(Cambridge University)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

12:30 \u2013 14:00<\/strong><\/p>\n

Keynote: \u201cPolitical Resistance and the Authoritarian Revival\u201d \u2013 William Scheuerman<\/strong> (Indiana University)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

14:30 \u2013 16:00<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAuthoritarianism in 19th C Traditionalist Political Philosophy\u201d \u2013 Felix Steilen<\/strong> (Freie Universit\u00e4t Berlin)<\/p>\n

\u201cSelective Authoritarianism in Ordoliberal Political Thought\u201d \u2013 Tobias Schottdorf<\/strong> (University of Goettingen)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wednesday 09\/08\/2021<\/h4>\n
Session 2: Authoritarian Politics in Comparative Perspective<\/em><\/h6>\n

10:00 \u2013 11:30<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIlliberal Democracy and Media Populism in Serbia\u201d \u2013 Dejan Guzina <\/strong>(Wilfrid Laurier Univ.)<\/p>\n

\u201cAuthoritarian Populism in Patronage-Based Democracies: An Indian Perspective\u201d \u2013 Yashaswini Prasad<\/strong> (tba)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

12:00 \u2013 14:00<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAuthoritarian Practices in a Global Age: The Politics of Accountability\u201d \u2013 Marlies Glasius<\/strong> (University of Amsterdam)<\/p>\n

\u201cLegitimate Opposition, Populism and the Spectre of Electoral Autocracy\u201d \u2013 Alexander Kirshner<\/strong> (Duke University)<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the New German Ideology\u201d \u2013 Michael Wilkinson<\/strong> (London School of Economics)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

14:15 \u2013 15:45<\/strong><\/p>\n

Keynote: \u201cOn Authoritarian Arts of Governance.\u201d \u2013 Jan-Werner M\u00fcller<\/strong> (Princeton University)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thursday 09\/09\/2021<\/h4>\n

10:00 \u2013 11:30<\/strong><\/p>\n

Keynote: \u201cThe Phantom of Populism\u201d \u2013 Annelien DeDjin (Utrecht University)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Session 3: Authoritarianism and Populism<\/em><\/h6>\n

11:45 \u2013 13:45<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cPopulism, Democratic Hybridization and the Creation of Authoritarian Situations\u201d \u2013 Enrique Peruzzotti<\/strong> (Universidad Torcuato Di Tella)<\/p>\n

\u201cOld Recipes for New Problems? Evaluating Democratic Responses to Populism\u201d \u2013 Anthoula Malkopoulou <\/strong>(Lund University)\/Benjamin Moffitt (Australian Catholic University)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Session 4: Authoritarianism and Constitutionalism<\/em><\/h6>\n

14:00 \u2013 15:30<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cConstitutionalism and the Rule of Law beyond Liberalism: The Singaporean Experiment\u201d \u2013 Eug\u00e9nie Merieu<\/strong> (National University of Singapore)<\/p>\n

The Constitutional Vocabulary of Modern-day Autocrats\u201d \u2013 Kriszta Kov\u00e1s<\/strong> (WZB Berlin)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Friday 09\/10\/2021<\/h4>\n
Session 5: Authoritarian Practices in Democratic Contexts<\/em><\/h6>\n

10:00 \u2013 11:30<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHow to Theorize Liberalism and Authoritarianism in a Single Framework\u201d \u2013 Detlef von Daniels<\/strong> (Freie Universit\u00e4t Berlin)<\/p>\n

\u201cState (Re-)Building and Civic Obligations in Authoritarian and Democratic Contexts \u2013 Germany and America, c. 1890-1990\u201d \u2013 Sven Altenburger<\/strong> (University of Goettingen)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

12:00 \u2013 14:00<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAuthoritarianism and Academic Freedom\u201d \u2013 Karsten Schubert <\/strong>(Universit\u00e4t Freiburg)<\/p>\n

\u201cCultural War and Freedom: Strategies of Hegemonization and Individual Dilemmas\u201d \u2013 Szilvia Horv\u00e1th<\/strong> (E\u00f6tv\u00f6s Lor\u00e1nd University)<\/p>\n

\u201cAssociating Terrorism with Islam: Securitization and the French La\u00efcit\u00e9 as Tools of Cultural Domination\u201d \u2013 Roman Zinigrad \/Stephen Sawyer <\/strong>(both: The American University Paris)<\/p>\n

14:05 \u2013 14:45<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wrap-Up \u2013 Verena Frick <\/strong>(University of Goettingen) & Felix Petersen (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)<\/p>\n

Twentieth-century political thought was built on the fundamental consensus of a deep ideological and systematic opposition between democracy and authoritarianism. Thinkers from different theoretical backgrounds, including Karl Popper, Judith Shklar, Isaiah Berlin, Hannah Arendt, or Karl Loewenstein, agreed on the basic assumption that liberal society can be defined ex negativo from its confrontation with authoritarianism. By contrast, recent diagnoses surrounding the ubiquitous crisis of democracy \u2013 for instance, concepts such as illiberal democracy, authoritarian liberalism, authoritarian constitutionalism or electoral authoritarianism \u2013 nurture the impression that this demarcation line becomes increasingly blurred.<\/p>\n

For the purpose of illustration, take the following three examples: (1) Constitutionalism was for a long time considered a genuine feature of democratic regimes. Recent scholarship on authoritarian constitutionalism, however, argues that constitutions can matter under non-democratic government as well (Frankenberg\/Alivar Garcia 2019; Ginsburg\/Simpser 2013). (2) The example of Hungary, once the paragon of post-socialist transitions and now a self-declared illiberal democracy, shows that before a democracy will become fully authoritarian, it might turn into an illiberal regime that limits basic rights and political pluralism, while free elections are still held and certain elements of democratic government are intact (Scheppele 2018; Pap 2018; Buzogany 2017). (3) Critics of european austerity politics frequently refer to the European Union as being a liberal authoritarian regime enhancing individual rights and economic prosperity at the expense of democratic self-government (Wilkinson 2019; Somek 2015; Streeck 2015).<\/p>\n

In view of these developments, political theory should not collapse into epistemological relativism or draw the conclusion that every political regime is a hybrid regime. Rather, these observations underscore, first, that authoritarian configurations, forms and practices occur in democratic and non-democratic contexts, and, secondly, that institutional constructions and practices that are meant to facilitate political legitimacy under democracy can serve undemocratic regimes as well. The workshop builds on this diagnosis and explores possibilities of theorising and analysing contemporary and historical \u201cauthoritarian moments\u201d within and beyond liberal democracy.<\/p>\n

Contributions are invited to examine the current authoritarian challenge to political theory and to question the usefulness and adequacy of its inherited conceptual framework for capturing the complex configuration of authoritarianism and democracy. For instance, what distinguishes current authoritarianism from its historical predecessors and in how far do we need new theories and concepts to capture current authoritarian moments? Which narratives occur in order to justify authoritarian politics and how do they relate to established notions of democracy? Does the current institutional shape of liberal democracy itself give rise to authoritarian politics? And which authoritarian traits exist already within democracy? In asking such and related questions, the workshop seeks to move the important debate on democracy and its (inherent) relation to authoritarianism onto a new terrain. Workshop contributions from a range of disciplines are welcome, including political theory and philosophy, political science, law, economics, sociology, and cultural studies.<\/p>\n

They can address (but are not limited to) the following dimensions:<\/p>\n