New Issue of the Journal of Illiberalism Studies
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In this issue of the Journal, Günter Frankenberg writes on the topography of populism, illiberalism, and authoritarianism and whether the terms adequately differentiate between ideologies and practices.
Stéphane François and Adrien Nonjon examine the legacy of Guillaume Faye, one of the most central figures of the current Euro-American Identitarian movement, and a key inspiration for global white nationalism.
Zarina Burkadze explores the slow illiberal shift of Georgia and how the Georgian Orthodox Church and the far right contribute to it.
Jean-Yves Camus argues that the thus-far unsuccessful coalescence of the European far right is due to the two competing caucuses of radical right parties in Europe and the tactical as well as ideological issues limiting them.
Peter Kreko looks at the most recent election in Hungary and shows how Viktor Orban's construction of "informational autocracy" has helped Fidesz achieve hegemonic rule.
Finally, Baasanjav Terbish explores the entangled histories of three distinctly Russian movements: Soviet state ideology, Russian cosmism, and Eurasianism.
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Veronika Valkovičová on corporate political activism in Slovakia and the potential perils of the involvement of companies and their employees in contentious politics. |
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Rustam Muhamedov on the restrictions and prosecution faced by LGBT+ persons in Turkmenistan. |
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Gabor Scheiring on the understudied role of economic insecurity and shocks in spurring populist backlash. |
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The Illiberalism Studies Program is now on Instagram! Follow us at illiberalism.gwu or scan the QR code in the image below! |
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Andrea L. P. Pirro explores the growing links between the illiberal-democratic and the anti-democratic right-wing, arguing that their confluence necessitates using a single, umbrella term (“far right”) to describe the phenomenon. She further notes that the generality of such an umbrella term paradoxically enhances the precision of discussions of the far right phenomenon.
In this roundtable, Deepa Das Acevedo and other scholars discuss the global phenomenon of democratic backsliding, with particular attention paid to India’s challenges. The scholars hone in on the concept of “autocratic legalism,” when democratic institutions are captured and turned against democracy itself, to frame their analysis and question whether this phenomenon explains democratic backsliding in India, as well as globally, and what can be done.
In their new book Islamophobia and Securitisation: The Dutch Case, Liselotte Welten and Tahir Abbas explore how Muslim communities in the Netherlands perceive and are affected by extremism, counter-radicalization drives, and Islamophobia. Using a multi-lens analysis, the authors pinpoint the dilemma Dutch Muslims experience when they resist radicalization on their own while still being vilified and seen as a threat by Dutch media and other actors.
Pablo Castillo-Ortiz unpacks the Spanish radical right party Vox, with particular attention paid to their relationship to the Spanish Constitution. Castillo-Ortiz explains how liberal constitutionalism features in the party’s rhetoric, the extent to which Vox’s policy proposals can be seen as illiberal, and their compatibility with the Spanish Constitution. He concludes that Vox’s policy proposals are at odds with the Spanish Constitution and that the far-right party only selectively adheres to constitutionalism when it advances his own goals.
Lubomir Terziev expounds on the use of the word “sorosoid” in Bulgaria’s political discourse. By exploring the pejorative use of a word that characterizes those affiliated with George Soros’ Open Society Foundation, Terziev illuminates key ideological divides in post-Communist democracies and more specifically, the strategies of dehumanization used by those who oppose neoliberalism.
Using Mali as a case study, Alexander Thurston comments on the poor fit between Western liberal peacemaking frameworks and realities on the ground, despite a supposed ‘local turn’ in peacebuilding. By highlighting the discrepancy between a Western focus on democracy, human rights, and secularism on the one hand and a Malian focus on illiberal solutions to conflict on the other, Thurston contributes to a growing literature on ‘illiberal peace.’
Binio S. Binev unpacks the connections between economic liberalization and political illiberalism in 15 post-communist democracies, employing a “critical juncture approach” to explain why some ‘traditional’ leftist parties embraced economic positions that left them vulnerable to illiberal attacks in the long term, as illiberal parties adopted “those economic positions that were most likely to be electorally rewarded” while ‘traditional’ leftist parties became associated with their new, unpopular, orthodoxies.
Vlad Kravtsov explores why, and how, HIV/AIDS epidemics become securitized, with a particular focus on Russia. Kravtsov details the interactions between the Russian Federal anti-Narcotic Agency, the Ministry of Health, and the Russian Orthodox Church on the one hand and Putin’s illiberal regime on the other in an effort to explain why Russia’s response to HIV/AIDS focused more on eliminating ontological threats to the regime and less on dealing with a disastrous public health crisis.
Using the democratic backsliding of post-Yugoslav states as an example, Filip Milačić offers a new approach to understanding the relationship between the state and democracy. Milacic posits that a democracy can emerge without resolving matters of state and nation, but it is unlikely to flourish because unresolved issues of stateness open the door to democratic backsliding by providing fertile ground for “ethno-political entrepreneurship and national identity-based political divisions that promote polarization.” Therefore, Milacic emphasizes that democracy promotion must prioritize resolving issues of stateness as much as it prioritizes democratization itself.
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For resources on illiberal, populist, and authoritarian trends across the globe, consult our growing Resource Hub aggregating hundreds of published academic articles on illiberalism and other topics relating to illiberal movements. From security and international affairs, to democratic backsliding and public policy, this center of longstanding and recently-published literature continues to document ongoing global trends of growing illiberal movements around the world.
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Illiberalism Studies Program
Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES)
Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University
1957 E Street, NW | Suite 412 | Washington, DC | 20052
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