Soft Authoritarianism, a concept that appears contradictory, aims to capture the current fuzziness of democracies sliding into authoritarian rule the world over. Formal elections bolster the power of strongmen, majoritarian democracies undermine the rights of minorities, the rule of law is hollowed out using the constitution, and discourses of freedom of expression are deployed to dismantle fundamental human rights.
Our Research Group studies in comparative perspective the fluid and flexible political, juridical, social and discursive configurations which blur the line between democratic and authoritarian practices of rule. It examines how soft authoritarianisms of various varieties are established and contested in different contexts. How are these new forms of rule legitimized discursively, implemented institutionally? How are responsibilities and accountability watered down, power centralized and its transfer impeded? What forms of mobilization and action by citizens attempt to stem the slow and systematic erosion of liberal democratic institutions? In what ways has the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated authoritarian tendencies and are they here to stay?
Our three contrastive case studies linking ethnography with discourse analysis and documentary research focus on Poland, France and Turkey/the Turkish-European diaspora.
Brazil between the first and second rounds of general elections
On October 2, Brazilians went to the ballots to vote for president, state governors, senators, as well as federal and state representatives. In the presidential race, the center-left-wing former president…
The Future Meloni Government and the Long Drift of Italian Democracy
“Rome wasn’t build in a day” – and neither is a radical right-wing government like the one now forming in Italy following the elections held in September 2022. The result…
Zwischen Apathie und Hoffnung
Zum „sanften“ Autoritarismus in der Türkei. Die strategische und flexible Verflechtung von demokratischen und nicht-demokratischen Praktiken ist ein Charakterzug ‚sanfter‘ Formen autoritärer Regierung. Ein Verständnis von der Produktion von Affekten wie…
The Weaponization of Republican Values in France
There is an ongoing battle for cultural hegemony in France. Far-right ideologies are being normalized, their stigmatizing vocabulary thus not only gains public acceptance but also comes to shape the…
Introducing Podcast Series: Democracy in Question
S06E05: Mukulika Banerjee on the Cultivation of Democracy in India
This episode explores what makes republican values and practices important to the survival of any democracy, as well as the role of sociality in cultivating of a common sense of…
S06E04: Ken Opalo on the Prospects of Democracy Across Africa
This episode explores the current state of democracy across Africa. What are the main achievements since the 1990s and what are the biggest internal threats to consolidation of democracy? Why…
S06E03: Ron Daniels on the Role of Universities in Strengthening Democracy
This episode explores the role universities play in upholding and deepening democracy. How does university education foster civic engagement and a democratic spirit? How do universities cultivate interactive diversity? And…
S06E02: Shaharzad Akbar on Afghanistan after Democracy
This episode explores the political mistakes which prevented human rights and the rule of law from taking root in Afghan society. What understandings of democracy prevailed following the U.S. invasion and…
Anti-Genderism in France and Germany - a Transnational Illiberal Practice?
A talk by Jonas Trochemowitz and Hagen Steinhauer at the International Conference “Tracing Forms of De/Marginalization”
Anti-genderism denotes discourses and movements that present gender and sexuality within feminist and lgbtqia+ contexts as dangerous ideologies (see Hark and Villa 2017). In France, one of the main political actors that tries to implement an anti-genderist agenda is the Manif pour Tous. Established in 2013, this movement aims at preventing the legalization of same-sex marriage and adoption rights. They also oppose what they call ‘gender ideology’. In 2014, the German equivalent Demo für Alle came into existence, adopting the political practices of Manif pour Tous.
Examining these two case studies from France and Germany, we present a comparative discourse analysis of both movements. More specifically, we highlight the differences and similarities in their self-positioning with respect to sexuality and gender. To this end, we use corpus analytic methods to analyze the organizations’ topoi and argumentative strategies (see Wengeler 2003). We argue that both movements instrumentalize the natural and social sciences (especially biology) to disqualify gender studies as a threat to traditional family values and the integrity of the nation. In this respect, they conflate illiberal reproductive politics and anti-intellectualism with racist stances on issues of migration (see Fassin 2020).
This collusion is a key characteristic of current soft authoritarian attacks on liberal democracy. For instance, the illiberal transformation of several European states is marked by an inherently gendered modus operandi where anti-genderism plays a vital role in uniting far-right, conservative and clerical actors behind one umbrella term (Grzebalska & Pető 2018).