Illiberalism Studies Program

The New Anti-Managerial Caesarism: How Two Concepts from James Burnham Came to Define the New Right illiberalism.org | Joshua Tait on the New Right's embrace of Caesarism and their proximity to the Trump administration, plus the theoretical antecedents of the trend.

New piece! Joshua Tait on the New Right's embrace of Caesarism, their proximity to the Trump administration, and the theoretical antecedents of the trend. Check it out!

@joshuatait.bsky.social @lkatfield.bsky.social

Alison Brysk on Abortion Rights Backlash, Globalization and Nationalism, and Illiberalism illiberalism.org | Alison Brysk discusses her book Abortion Rights Backlash, globalization, nationalism, and humanitarianism.

New interview! Alison Brysk discusses her book Abortion Rights Backlash, plus globalization, nationalism, and humanitarianism. Give it a read!

YouTube video by Le Monde Trump, Orban, Le Pen : le point commun dans leur stratégie politique

Last week, our director Marlene Laruelle was interviewed as part of Le Monde's investigation into illiberal leaders around the globe and the foundations of their success. Check it out!

@lemonde.fr

Strange Bedfellows: Antisemitism and the European Far Right Today illiberalism.org | Elisabeth Zerofsky on the European far right's relationship to antisemitism and Israel today, and how it squares with their xenophobic politics.

New piece! Elisabeth Zerofsky on the European far right's relationship to antisemitism and Israel today, and how it squares with their xenophobic politics. Check it out!

Nietzsche and Heidegger’s Critique of Liberalism and its Meaning Today illiberalism.org | Matthew McManus on the radical philosophies and politics of Nietzsche and Heidegger, their critique of liberalism, and countering their progeny today.

New piece! Matthew McManus on the radical philosophies and politics of Nietzsche and Heidegger, their critique of liberalism, and countering their intellectual progeny today. Check it out!

@mattpolprof.bsky.social

Romania’s Presidential Elections: A Defensive Victory Against Illiberalism and What This Pro-European Win Means for Moldova illiberalism.org | Laurențiu Pleșca on Romania's recent elections, the resilience and fragility of liberalism in Eastern Europe, and geopolitical continuity and rupture.

New piece! Laurențiu Pleșca on Romania's recent elections, the fragility and resilience of liberalism in Eastern Europe, and geopolitical continuity and rupture. Check it out!

@gmfus.bsky.social

Trump’s Final Frontier? Emil Bove, the Conservative Legal Movement, and the MAGA New Right illiberalism.org | Laura K. Field on the tensions between traditionally conservative jurisprudence and the Trumpist New Right's legal philosophy.

New post! We republish Laura K Field's article in Verfassungsblog, which explores the tensions between traditionally conservative jurisprudence and the Trumpist New Right's legal philosophy. Check it out!

@lkatfield.bsky.social
@verfassungsblog.de

Italian Neofascism and Global Networks Erik Piccoli on the transnational dimensions of Italian neofascism during the Cold War, and how the same foreign-domestic dynamics are shaping the Italian far right today.

New paper! Erik Piccoli on the transnational dimensions of Italian neofascism during the Cold War, and how the same foreign-domestic dynamics are shaping the Italian far right today. Check it out!

Not as Fringe as We’d Like to Think: Building Broad Resistance to Far-right Mobilization illiberalism.org | Mario Peucker on the social drivers and embeddedness of far-right attitudes in our societies, and strategies to counter the far right's appeal.

New piece! Mario Peucker on the social drivers and embeddedness of far-right attitudes in our societies, and strategies to counter the far right's appeal. Check it out!

@mariopeucker.bsky.social

Understanding Neoreaction: A Focus on Curtis Yarvin illiberalism.org | Arnaud Miranda on the origins and features of Curtis Yarvin's neoreactionary political theory.

New piece! Arnaud Miranda on the origins and features of Curtis Yarvin's neoreactionary political theory, and its relationship to the Trump administration. Check it out!

Alt Higher Ed and the American Right illiberalism.org | Charles U. Zug on the right wing's "alternative higher education" programs, their historical antecedents, and their function today.

New piece! Charles U. Zug on the right wing's "alternative higher education" programs, their historical antecedents, and their function today. Check it out!

@lkatfield.bsky.social

The ‘Dark Enlightenment’ as a Bridge Between the US and Russia Historian and political scientist Marlene Laruelle writes about the recent “Forum 2050: Image of the Future” in Moscow, which combined traditionalism with techno-futurism. She argues that as a PR stun...

Our director Marlene Laruelle is in Russia.Post with an article on the "Dark Enlightenment," related historical movements in Russia, and the ideological bridges being built between the U.S. and Russia. Check it out! @ieres-gwu.bsky.social

Atreju: The Italian Far Right’s Yearly Celebration illiberalism.org | Alberto Polimeni on the characteristics, purposes served, and paradoxes of Atreju, the Italian far-right's annual gathering.

New piece! Alberto Polimeni on the characteristics, purposes served by, and paradoxes of Atreju, the Italian far-right's annual gathering. Check it out!

Trump, Harvard, and the Future of Higher Education in Politically Divided America illiberalism.org | Geoffrey Kabaservice on the problems in higher education today, universities' relationship to the public, and reciprocity and civic responsibility.

New piece! Geoffrey Kabaservice on the problems in higher education today, universities' relationship to the public, and reciprocity and civic responsibility. Check it out! @lkatfield.bsky.social

Why Illiberalism Explains Changes in Today’s Social Order Scholarship on populism has dominated the last two decades but is now retreating in the face of a new concept : that of illiberalism.

Today, our director Marlene Laruelle is in Politics and Rights Review with an article on illiberalism, its utility as an analytical category, and how it helps us understand our world today. Check it out!

@polrightsrev.bsky.social

Postliberalism and the 2024 Election illiberalism.org | Julian G. Waller on the postliberal ecosystem, its features, and its influence today and in years to come.

Online first: Julian Waller in the Journal of Illiberalism Studies on the postliberal ecosystem, its features and development since 2016, and its influence today and in the years to come. Check it out!

Liberalism’s Best Enemy: A Tribute to Alasdair MacIntyre illiberalism.org | Matthew McManus on the late critic of liberalism and capitalism Alasdair MacIntyre, his reception on the left and the right, and why contemporary thinkers should learn from his work.

New piece! @mattpolprof.bsky.social on the late critic of liberalism and capitalism, Alasdair MacIntyre, his reception on the left and the right, and why contemporary thinkers should take his work to heart. Check it out!

Fascism in the English World: A Review of It Can’t Happen Here and Prophet Song | illiberalism.org Jacob Ware reviews Sinclair Lewis's It Can't Happen Here and Paul Lynch's Prophet Song and addresses the question of authoritarianism's rise in the Anglo world.

New piece! @jacobware.bsky.social reviews Sinclair Lewis's It Can't Happen Here and Paul Lynch's Prophet Song and addresses the question of authoritarianism's rise in the Anglo world.

@ieres-gwu.bsky.social

Modern Monarchists and the Roots of American Illiberalism illiberalism.org | Christian Ruth on the past and present of monarchical thinking in the United States and its contemporary influence among the tech right and its allies.

New piece! Christian Ruth on the past and present of monarchical thinking in the United States and its contemporary influence among the tech right and its allies.

@ieres-gwu.bsky.social

Good Liberals, Bad Cave: A Review of Liberalism as a Way of Life illiberalism.org | Laura K. Field reviews Alexandre Lefebvre's Liberalism as a Way of Life and discusses meaning-making and pluralism under liberalism.

New piece! Laura K. Field reviews Alexandre Lefebvre's Liberalism as a Way of Life and discusses meaning-making and pluralism under liberalism. Check it out!

@lkatfield.bsky.social @lefebvrealex.bsky.social

Socratizing Politics: A Review of Agnes Callard’s Open Socrates illiberalism.org | Jonathan Marks on the merits and limits of Agnes Callard's new book, Open Socrates, and the meaning of politics.

New piece! Jonathan Marks on the merits and limits of Agnes Callard's new book, Open Socrates, and the meaning of politics. Check it out!

@marksjo1.bsky.social @lkatfield.bsky.social

Beyond Anti-Populism? The Right Reaffirms Its Political Dominance in Ecuador illiberalism.org | Felipe Burbano de Lara on the context for and results of the Ecuadorian election, and the possibility of the victorious right wing moving beyond a politics of mere anti-populism and toward a construct...

New piece! Felipe Burbano de Lara on the context for and results of the Ecuadorian election, and the possibility of the victorious right wing moving beyond a politics of mere anti-populism and toward a constructive project. Check it out!

@flacsoecuador.bsky.social

One Nation Under Privatization: The Right-Wing Assault on Public Democracy illiberalism.org | John S. Huntington on the longstanding political consensus around privatization, and how the illiberal right has come to wield it as a weapon.

New piece! @johnshuntington.bsky.social on the longstanding political consensus around privatization, and how the illiberal right has come to wield it as a weapon. Check it out!

@ieres-gwu.bsky.social @lkatfield.bsky.social

This piece is a translation of a piece that originally appeared in @grandcontinent.bsky.social

Reinventing the Right: How Trumpism is Crystallizing a New Canon between Saint Thomas and Silicon Valley | illiberalism.org Olivier Roy on the realignment of right wing politics in the United States and Europe around novel values and the contradictions between different camps on the right.

New piece! Olivier Roy on the realignment of right wing politics in the #UnitedStates and #Europe around novel values and the contradictions between different camps on the right.
@ieres-gwu.bsky.social

Evola in Space: The Fascist Fandom of Frank Herbert's Dune illiberalism.org | Jason Roberts on Frank Herbert's Dune and its reception by the far-right inheritors of Julius Evola's Traditionalist "philosophy."

New piece! Jason Roberts on Frank Herbert's Dune and its reception by the far-right inheritors of Julius Evola's Traditionalist "philosophy." Check it out!

@ieres-gwu.bsky.social

JIS Spring 2025 | illiberalism.org Journal of Illiberalism Studies | Volume 5 No. 1 (Spring 2025)

Check out the full issue at the link below!

Is There a Russian Version of US Christian Nationalism? | illiberalism.org Marlene Laruelle on mapping the framing of American Christian Nationalism onto Russia and the paradoxical mirror games between the the two countries.

Lastly, Marlene Laruelle on mapping the framing of American Christian Nationalism onto #Russia and the paradoxical mirror games between the the two countries.

Embattled Majorities and Ascendant Minorities: The Shifting Landscape of Religion and Politics in Brazil | illiberalism.org Andre Pagliarini on the role of religion in the changing political environment of Brazil focusing on the 2022 presidential contest between Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Jair Bolsonaro.

@apagliar.bsky.social rounds us out with a piece on the role of religion in the changing political environment of #Brazil focusing on the 2022 presidential contest between Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Jair #Bolsonaro.

Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism | illiberalism.org Katherine Stewart on Christian nationalism as a key feature of the anti-democratic coalition, and as one that has always been a top-down movement, driven by a leadership cadre that has transformed Chr...

@katherinestewart.bsky.social on Christian nationalism as a key feature of the anti-democratic coalition, and as one that has always been a top-down movement, driven by a leadership cadre that has transformed Christian nationalism into an anti-democratic, pro-oligarchic force