The AUTHLIB team participated with three panels at the 30th International Conference of Europeanists in Lyon, France, where our researchers had the opportunity to discuss their research on various challenges to liberal democracy in Europe. The conference also provided an opportunity for a consortium meeting to discuss the progress made in AUTHLIB’s work packages in person and review our plans for the coming months.
On July 4, we started with a panel on the transnational diffusion of illiberal politics. The panel started with Dimitry Kochenov and Elena Basheska (Central European University) presenting their work on the illiberal challenge to immigration in the EU and member states. Next, Piotr Zagórski (Uniwersytet SWPS) presented a joint paper co-authored with Bálint Mikola (CEU Democracy Institute) and Tomas Cirhan (Charles University) about illiberal cultural policies in Central and Eastern Europe. Liliia Sablina (Central European University) presented findings on how Russian narratives appear in the discourse of the far right in Austria and Hungary based on a joint paper with Bálint Mikola. Finally, the panel concluded with an assessment of the transnationalization of the radical right via ideas, frames, ties, and events, conducted by Manuela Caiani, and presented by Ivan Tranfic (Scuola Normale Superiore).
On July 5, the next AUTHLIB panel explored autocratic attitudes and discourse. First, Marta Vukovic presented a joint paper written with Sylvia Kritzinger (Universität Wien) on what drives revisionist attitudes in Europe. Next, Dean Schafer (CEU Democracy Institute) discussed how politicians’ speeches may contain early warning signs of democratic decline presenting a joint paper with Carsten Q. Schneider (Central European University) and Seraphine Maerz (The University of Melbourne). Finally, Mehmet Yavuz presented a paper written with Franziska Wagner (Central European University) and Dean Schafer using text analysis to assess changes in parties’ positions when under pressure by illiberal parties. To kick off the discussion, comments were provided by Jan Rovny (Sciences Po).
To conclude the day, our final panel covered various illiberal challenges in Central and Eastern Europe. Kicking off the panel, Radosław Markowski (Uniwersytet SWPS) presented on the theoretical challenges and the empirical contradictions of the terms populism, illiberalism, and authoritarianism. Next, Daniel Hegedus (The German Marshall Fund of the United States) discussed two geopolitical models of autocratization in the western world on the examples of Hungary and Poland. Marta Zerkowska-Balas (Uniwersytet SWPS) discussed how polarization affected the election outcomes in Poland’s 2023 parliamentary elections. Concluding the presentations, Jan Rovny (Sciences Po) explained how voters choose whom to vote for in presidential elections. Zsolt Enyedi (CEU Democracy Institute) provided comments to all papers to open the discussion.
