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Seminar: Populism and Fascism in Today’s Europe: Italy and Germany in Comparative Perspective - Details
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Veranstaltungsname Seminar: Populism and Fascism in Today’s Europe: Italy and Germany in Comparative Perspective
Semester SS 2024
Aktuelle Anzahl der Teilnehmenden 10
Heimat-Einrichtung Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft
Veranstaltungstyp Seminar in der Kategorie Lehre
Nächster Termin Dienstag, 09.07.2024 08:15 - 09:45, Ort: 2117 Geb. D (35 Pl.) [PhilSoz]
Voraussetzungen Students are expected to carry out their reading assignments in preparation for the next class and to actively participate in class discussions.
Leistungsnachweis Portfolio examination including:
- 3x short (1-page) written essays/debate protocols
- short individual/collective presentations
- 1x short (ca. 10-page) term paper due Mon, September 30, 2024, 23:59.

The short presentations will be held in English, the essays/debate protocols and the term paper may be written in English or in German.
Online/Digitale Veranstaltung Veranstaltung wird in Präsenz abgehalten.
Hauptunterrichtssprache englisch

Modulzuordnungen

Kommentar/Beschreibung

Western-style liberal democracies have experienced several crises in the last two decades, leading to the almost ubiquitous rise of political actors generally classified as “populists”: the Republican Party under Donald Trump in the US, Victor Orbán’s Fidesz in Hungary, Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d’Italia – FdI), Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (Rassemblement National – RN) in France, or the Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland – AfD), to name but a few. Populists, especially right-wing populists, are widely seen as a threat to liberal democracies because of their anti-pluralist and exclusionary, and thus illiberal, understanding of politics. And yet, for some, the term populism fails to assess this threat with the necessary urgency. Instead, they argue, the word "fascism" better describes some of these actors and the mortal danger they are perceived to pose. Others, however, argue that the term should not be misused and point to the fundamental differences between the anti-democratic nature of inter-war fascism and the often strong insistence on democratic renewal and popular sovereignty of today's anti-establishment Right.

In recent years, this populist wave has reached new heights, including in European countries that have traditionally been part of the established liberal core of the European Union (EU): In France, the RN is expected to win the most votes in the upcoming European Parliament (EP) elections for the third consecutive time; in Italy, Giorgia Meloni has been elected head of the most right-wing government in post-war history in 2022; in Germany, the AfD now regularly polls at around 20%. Now, more than ever, social scientists face the crucial task of analysing these phenomena and providing an assessment of these developments: Is fascism making a strong comeback? Or are populists a democratic corrective in post-democratic times? Will the establishment co-opt the newcomers and steer them towards more moderate positions? Or will the opposite happen? After a historical-theoretical introduction and contextualisation, students will familiarise themselves with central currents in populism and fascism theory, asking critical questions about the analytical value of these concepts for social science research and their suitability for understanding and explaining our contemporary reality. Students will then use the conceptual tools acquired to analyse and compare the empirical reality of illiberal politics in Italy and Germany today, focusing mainly on FdI and AfD respectively.

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