New Right Thinkers and the Challenge to Liberal Democracy in Europe and the United States
Academic Conference and Workshops
New Right Thinkers and the Challenge to Liberal Democracy in Europe and the United States Over the past decade, the surge in right-wing populist movements in Europe and America has been accompanied by a proliferation of New Right thinkers. Although the study of populism has been a virtual growth industry in recent years, scholars have paid surprisingly little attention to these figures. This conference seeks to fill this gap by bringing internationally prominent scholars to Notre Dame to give papers on distinct thinkers and discuss the challenges of comparing them systematically. In particular, the participants will address three questions: What do we mean by New Right thinking? How has New Right thinking emerged out of developed democracies? To what extent is New Right thinking a lasting threat to liberal democracy? This conference proposal relates directly to the Kellogg Institute’s long focus on democracy and democratization. It is the product of a very successful Kellogg-supported workshop (“Taking New Right Thinkers Seriously”) that took place on May 1. In this application, I will also respond to some questions raised by the Grants Committee when I submitted a preliminary proposal in May.
The conference will take place on Friday, February 7 – Saturday, February 8, 2020
