Conference organized by Buket Türkmen, 2018-2019 Paris IAS fellow

Presentation

In the 2010's, we witnessed a new era in which new types of activism were emerging in societies, suggesting a new social imagination based on pluralism, autonomy, horizontality, solidarity individualism and solidarity economy. But horizontal movements, qualified as alter-activism in the literature, as soon as they appear, are confronted with the re-emergence of other types of movements, with hierarchical organization, which challenge them by promoting the return to a hierarchical society, the re-instrumentation of traditional values and the fetishization of charismatic leaders. These counter-movements promote verticality, hierarchy, submission to a charismatic leader and an almost holistic citizenship based on community nationalism. Neopopulist regimes react to these countermovements and support them. Inciting one part of the population to take to the streets while forbidding the other to do so goes hand in hand with this new type of populist authoritarianism, which tries to adorn itself with the attire of the defender of democracy through the demonstration. Erdoğanism in Turkey, Bolsonarism in Brazil, Trumpism in the United States are recent examples. They reveal an important historical turning point: they advocate a populist logic to integrate the masses into a unitary and hierarchical social imagination.

This conference aims to examine the authoritarian drift in democracies through a reflection on movements and counter-movements. It will not only be a question of reflecting on this authoritarian drift supported by counter-movements and on the processes of de-subjectification of the actors. We will also pay particular attention to power relations and interactions, to understand the relationships and passages between actors and between the various movements, as well as the construction of potential actors in new niches of resistance. The conference will start from a comparative perspective, because as in the case of the 2010 waves of revolts that affected countries in both the North and the South, there is a global dimension to this authoritarian drift of neopopulist democracies. This global dimension is, on the one hand, the consequence of the reaction of the social classes without power of action in neo-liberal regimes and, on the other hand, in continuity with the distance from democratic values and principles under the influence of necro-politics, security discourse and anti-terrorist measures.

Starting from the street, from social movements, but also from counter-movements, this conference will stimulate a common reflection on social change in neopopulist regimes and authoritarian drift in democracies.

Program

10h30 - 12h30   First part: Neopopulist democracies drifting towards authoritarianism

Moderator: Buket Türkmen, IEA de Paris

Theoretical framework: a philosophical and sociological reflection on democracies, populist regimes and social disputes.

"Néo-populisme ou néofascisme? La démocratie à l’heure du néolibéralisme illibéral”
Eric Fassin, Université Paris 8

"Iran, Russie, Turquie: penser l'anti-démocratie au 21^ème siècle"
Hamit Bozarslan, EHESS

"Du conservatisme pragmatique à l'autoritarisme exacerbé: erdoganisme"
Ahmet Insel, Université Paris Sorbonne / Université Galatasaray (en retraite)

14h30 - 16h15   Second part: The protest movements and the rise of conservative counter-movements

Moderator: Özgür Sevgi Goral, Université Paris 8

A reflection on the social challenges of the 2010's in different countries, based on sociological analyses problematizing their modes of action, their repertoires, the challenge of deliberative democracy, the functioning / dysfunction in horizontal organizations, the relationships between the street and the political sphere.

"Quelles voies pour l’alter-activisme dans un monde réactionnaire?"
Geoffrey Pleyers, Université Catholique de Louvain, FNRS

"Les femmes de la Révolte de Gezi à Istanbul et l'individualisme solidariste"
Buket Türkmen, IEA de Paris

"Sensibilités identitaires dans l'activisme russe : des sentiments spontanés aux mouvements organisés”
Alexander Bikbov, EHESS

"Le "populisme" dans les mouvements populaires d'en bas: quelques réflexions à partir des prolétaires déclassés de Russie et des Gilets jaunes en France"
Karine Clément, CERCEC / EHESS

16h45 - 18h30   Third part: Counter-movements and new political regimes

Moderator: Geoffrey Pleyers, Université Catholique de Louvain, FNRS

Reflections developed through the analysis of street actions mobilized by governments, the criminalization of the opposition, neopopulist regimes that challenge pluralist democracy. The authoritarian drift observed in the street.

"The dispute over the protests, territories and institutions: social movements, counter-movements and bolsonarism in Brazil after June 2013"
Breno Bringel, State University of Rio de Janeiro

"L'idéologie du genre" en Europe centrale et Orientale: esquisse d'une cartographie"
Camil Parvu, University of Bucharest

"Activisme du mouvement kurde en période de conflit perpétuel : témoignage, mémoire et rencontre dans les rues"
Özgür Sevgi Goral, Université Paris 8

"Digital authoritarianism in Turkey and internet trolling as new political action"
Funda Basaran, Université Paris Dauphine