Far Right and Islamist Populism: How They Disrupt the Hegemonic Order undertakes the challenging task of bringing dialectical logic together with the empirical study of discursive and ideological... Show moreFar Right and Islamist Populism: How They Disrupt the Hegemonic Order undertakes the challenging task of bringing dialectical logic together with the empirical study of discursive and ideological antagonisms. Examining the European far right, as represented by Geert Wilders and his Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, and Hizb ut-Tahrir as the Islamic interlocutor, the book demonstrates the inner logic by which two opposing political ideologies create a single populist front. In their shared practice of opposing and disrupting the hegemonic order, they draw on each other to encapsulate the contradictory desires and discontents of people in a mutually constituted Muslim Other. These cleavages and dissonances are reconciled in a bipolar identification of the ‘people’ versus the ‘ummah’ to establish a new hegemonic formation. The book demonstrates the reality and seriousness of this symbiotic relationship for pluralist democracies and harmonious coexistence. It explores how different, alternative formulations of populism drawing on the works of Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe, Slavoj Žižek, among others, can function as a counter-movement to the influence of far right and Islamist populist politics. Show less
Recent developments at the international level reveal that there is an increasing number of political resistances against international courts and tribunals as part of wide criticism of the basic... Show moreRecent developments at the international level reveal that there is an increasing number of political resistances against international courts and tribunals as part of wide criticism of the basic principles of international law such as the rule of law, global governance, multilateralism and democratic liberalism. In this respect, the future and impact of the judicialisation of international law, which refers to the uneven increase in the jurisdiction and judicial activity of international courts, are questioned. Similarly, whether dejudicialisation which expresses the removal of the international courts’ power as a reverse movement, constitutes a new trend and will continue increasingly in the future has become relevant. There are certain assertions to defend the existence of international courts and the continuation of judicialisation –albeit at a slower pace– in the future despite the increasing incidence of dejudicialisation. Examples of extraordinary resistance which can trigger the dejudicialisation process are still exceptional and cannot completely eliminate judicialisation in current conditions. This argument has been reached by examining three recent backlash examples, including the withdrawals from the International Criminal Court (ICC), the paralysis of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body, and the limitation of the jurisdiction of the South African Development Community Tribunal(SADC) Tribunal. Clearly, the displacement of international courts, which have become inseparable actors of international law, cannot be achieved by a few examples of extraordinary resistance, both in the present and in the near future. Show less
This article examines the relationship between populism and crisis and highlights its symbiotic character. It outlines some of the debates around the conception of crisis and populism and discusses... Show moreThis article examines the relationship between populism and crisis and highlights its symbiotic character. It outlines some of the debates around the conception of crisis and populism and discusses the critical role of crisis management and exploitation, as an internal strategy for populist actor to interest and attain support. While external causal mechanism could explain the emergence and performance of populist actors in a crisis framed environment, what this article argues is that populism and crisis are overarching, placing crisis management and exploitation as essential theoretical contribution to understanding further populism. Show less
Albrecht, H.; Bishara, D.; Bufano, M.; Koehler, K. 2021
Popular attitudes in support of authoritarian alternatives and weak party systems constitute important threats to democratic consolidation and the stability of new democracies. This article... Show morePopular attitudes in support of authoritarian alternatives and weak party systems constitute important threats to democratic consolidation and the stability of new democracies. This article explores popular alienation from established political actors in Tunisia. Under what conditions do citizens support alternatives to the elites in power and the institutional infrastructure of a new democracy? Drawing on an original, nationally representative survey in Tunisia administered in 2017, this article examines three categories of popular attitudes in support of political outsiders.Military interventionism appears in people’s preferences for anti-system politics—the most immediate challenge to the country’s stability and democratic transition. Anti-political establishment sentiments are shown in people’s preferences for an enhanced role of the country’s main trade union as a civil-society alternative to political party elites. Finally, outsider eclecticism is the seemingly incoherent phenomenon of concurrent support for a civil society actor and the military as an ‘authoritarian alternative.’ Anti-establishment sentiments will continue to be an important element in Tunisian post-authoritarian politics, evidenced by the rise to power of Kais Said in the 2019 presidential elections and his 2021 decision to dismiss parliament. In turn, popular support for military intervention may have implications for the country’s domestic security and peaceful transition. Show less
This study goes beyond the analysis of the causes of the emergence of populist actors in the party system, focusing instead on those cases in which populism and its counterpart anti-populism,... Show moreThis study goes beyond the analysis of the causes of the emergence of populist actors in the party system, focusing instead on those cases in which populism and its counterpart anti-populism, translate into an ideological and discursive divide that contributes to structuring a certain party system. When populism/anti-populism emerges as a political cleavage, the factors behind parties’ political choices in general, and electoral coalition preferences in particular, can be affected. For this new cleavage to start to polarize, a change in the political opportunity structure is needed. In fact, when the political opportunity structure opens as a consequence of events external to the party system new actors may enter the system, producing a change in the dynamic of competition. Moreover, considering also the organizational density of the parties in the system, defined as the power of penetration of a given party, both in terms of intensity and reach, this dissertation can shed light on the likely duration not only of the parties but also of the cleavage. Show less
The last ten years has seen the rise of populist forces across the globe from both the right and the left. While often read in the context of the perceived rise of, and reactions to populist and... Show moreThe last ten years has seen the rise of populist forces across the globe from both the right and the left. While often read in the context of the perceived rise of, and reactions to populist and potentially violent Islam, this analysis is excessively focused on observations of the right, and ignores similarities between the populist right and the populist left. By way of an alternative, this article draws together political theology, original ethnography and observations of contemporary politics in the United Kingdom (and to a lesser extent the United States and Canada) to offer a broader lens involving: the rise of liberalism, the consequent construction of politics as technocratic management, and the neglect and resultant disillusionment of ordinary people. In particular, the paper draws on my recent research on the role of myths of solidarity in developing civic engagement. It argues that myths of solidarity have been undermined by the rise of liberalism, and that restoring such myths to the center of contemporary politics is vital to challenging the myths of division that fuel populist politics. Finally, it explores possibilities for restoring myths to the center of contemporary politics, suggesting that while avenues for such reform are emerging, politics as technocratic management remains the dominant paradigm. Show less
