Pod­cast

This episode explores Aus­tri­an his­to­ry and pol­i­tics, look­ing to lessons of the past to under­stand the future of democ­ra­cy in the coun­try. What might grow­ing sup­port for right wing nation­al­ism mean for Aus­tria? And how does the coun­try’s neu­tral­i­ty play a role in rela­tion­ships with exter­nal pow­er in the EU…

This episode explores Poland’s recent elec­tion results and their sig­nif­i­cance as a turn­ing point in democ­ra­cy in Poland. Will this elec­tion mark the end of an illib­er­al peri­od in the coun­try? And might it be the start of a pro­gres­sive wave sweep­ing across Europe? Lis­ten to hear an analy­sis of…

This episode explores grass­roots utopi­an prac­tices and the Demo­c­ra­t­ic Odyssey project, which recent­ly con­vened in Athens. Build­ing upon the notion of “demo­icra­cy” in the Euro­pean Union – the ide­al of a union of peo­ple that gov­ern togeth­er, but not as one – the con­ver­sa­tion inves­ti­gates col­lec­tive access to polit­i­cal decision-making…

This episode explores the notion of “demo­icra­cy” in the Euro­pean Union – the ide­al of a union of peo­ple that gov­ern togeth­er, but not as one. What might plu­ral­iz­ing democ­ra­cy look like? And do recent exper­i­ments war­rant opti­mism in cit­i­zen assem­blies? Lis­ten to hear about emer­gent new mod­els of transnational…

This episode explores Chi­na’s thin­ly veiled projects of expand­ing glob­al influ­ence. Does Chi­nese con­trol of crit­i­cal infra­struc­ture and eco­nom­ic sup­ply chains threat­en Europe’s auton­o­my? And how can democ­ra­cies counter the glob­al spread of Chi­nese Com­mu­nist Par­ty ide­ol­o­gy? Lis­ten to hear about Chi­na’s vul­ner­a­bil­i­ties to polit­i­cal protest and why many Chinese…

This episode, record­ed live at the 2023 Alp­bach Forum in Tirol, Aus­tria, explores why eco­nom­ic inequal­i­ties have increased over recent years and how such strat­i­fi­ca­tion is detri­men­tal to democ­ra­cy. What has been learned through past and cur­rent crises? And how might the green tran­si­tion play a role in the future?…

This episode explores illu­sions about Chi­na’s ambi­tions relat­ed to expand­ing mil­i­tary and eco­nom­ic pow­er. How have such illu­sions been per­pet­u­at­ed by Ger­mans and Euro­peans in order to main­tain prof­it for com­pa­nies? And what does a real­is­tic assess­ment of Chi­na’s cur­rent ambi­tions of glob­al eco­nom­ic dom­i­nance, mil­i­tary might and tech­no­log­i­cal supremacy,…

This episode explores for­mer Peru­vian Pres­i­dent Alber­to Fuji­mori’s pop­u­la­tion con­trol pro­grams and how eugenic prin­ci­ples have led to the force­ful ster­il­iza­tion of women belong­ing to var­i­ous indige­nous com­mu­ni­ties. What role do for­eign gov­ern­ments and inter­na­tion­al donors play in the racial­ized pol­i­tics of pop­u­la­tion con­trol, and how have vio­la­tions of women’s…

This episode focus­es on com­par­isons of soft author­i­tar­i­an regimes and the phe­nom­e­non of auto­crat­ic legal­ism. How do the uses and abus­es of law play a role in dis­man­tling lib­er­al democ­ra­cy from with­in and cement­ing author­i­tar­i­an rule? Lis­ten to hear how coun­tries includ­ing Turkey, Hun­gary and the Unit­ed States are using…

This episode explores the far-reach­ing impli­ca­tions of the recent Turk­ish elec­tions. In a close­ly con­test­ed elec­tion, Pres­i­dent Erdoğan has won a third term in office, dash­ing hopes of a return to a lib­er­al, sec­u­lar, pro-Euro­­pean gov­ern­ment in Turkey. What led to this result espe­cial­ly after the impact of the devastating…

This episode explores cur­rent dilem­mas faced by the Euro­pean Union and the pur­suit of strate­gic auton­o­my. How has a reliance on soft pow­er, mul­ti­lat­er­al coop­er­a­tion and eco­nom­ic inte­gra­tion cre­at­ed the cur­rent con­di­tions of secu­ri­ty and sov­er­eign­ty in the EU? And what have the cur­rent and mul­ti­ple crises brought to the forefront?…

This episode explores the chal­lenges and stakes in the pur­suit of strate­gic auton­o­my for the Euro­pean Union. How has the war in Ukraine rewrit­ten the rules of transat­lantic rela­tions and geopol­i­tics for the EU? And what does the inter­nal cohe­sion and uni­ty of the EU look like today? Lis­ten to hear fundamental…

This episode explores how pop­ulists effec­tive­ly use con­sti­tu­tions to under­mine and abol­ish con­sti­tu­tion­al­ism. What legal­is­tic tac­tics are often hid­ing behind cul­tur­al­ist argu­ments to sub­vert the rule of law? And how can law be bet­ter used in the ser­vice of lib­er­al democ­ra­cy? Guests fea­tured in this episode: Mar­tin Kry­gi­er is a pro­fes­sor of…

This episode explores what kind of democ­ra­cy is being defend­ed in Israel today. Who are the sup­port­ers of the rul­ing coali­tion and what explains the pop­u­lar appeal of the right-wing par­ties? Lis­ten to a dis­cus­sion with a wide his­tor­i­cal con­text about the present polit­i­cal cri­sis, which many schol­ars have called…

This episode explores the main dif­fer­ences between con­tem­po­rary, qua­si-dic­­ta­­to­r­i­al regimes based on spin, and old­er 20th-cen­­tu­ry dic­ta­tor­ships based on overt repres­sion and fear. Why do spin dic­ta­tors demon­strate a com­mit­ment to demo­c­ra­t­ic elec­tions and how do their actions under­mine democ­ra­cy from with­in? Lis­ten to find out what such regimes teach…