Far-Right Politics in Austria, Europe, and the United States: Recent Trends and Transatlantic Connections

Organized by the UC Berkeley Austrian Studies Program in cooperation with the Botstiber Institute for Austrian-American Studies and the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation. Co-sponsored by the UC Berkeley Department of German; the UC Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Studies; the UC Berkeley Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies; the Austria’s Agency for Education and Internationalisation; and the Department of Political Science, University of Vienna.

University of California, Berkeley
April 20, 2022, 10am-5pm PT
Zoom

Keynote Adress by Ambassador Wolgang Petritsch
President, Austrian Marshall Plan FoundatioN

Description

Against the background of the recent rise of far-right ideology, authoritarian political thinking and corresponding politics across Europe and the United States the conference sheds light on both country case studies and transnational exchange and collaboration between relevant groups and political actors.

The contributions focus on relevant developments in Austria and other European countries. Special attention is given to parallels and differences between national political contexts and trends, on the one hand, and transnational/transatlantic influences, connections and co-operations, but also differences, on the other.

Pertinent topics comprise the rejection of pluralistic political concepts, the role of antisemitism, racism and xenophobia, hostility towards ethnic and social minorities, appeals to stereotypes and scapegoating, the striking success of conspiracy theories which have been fueled by the Covid-19 pandemic, and last but not least the significant transnational dissemination of far-right political discourse and imagery via diverse social media. The Botstiber Lecture by Karin Liebhart explores the example of Austria and discusses why the country is an interesting case for the study of far-right movements and party politics.

Program

10:00-10:15 AM: Welcome by the conference organizers Jeroen Dewulf (UC Berkeley) and Karin Liebhart (University of Vienna) as well as Kevin McNamara and Michael Burri in representation of the Botstiber Institute for Austrian-American Studies.

10:15-11:00 AM: Keynote Lecture by Ambassador Wolfgang Petritsch (Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation): "A Watershed Moment for Europe’s Democracy - The twin-challenges of authoritarian populism and the return of weaponized power politics"

11:00 AM-12:00 PM: Session 1: Moderated by Jeroen Dewulf (UC Berkeley)

-11:00-11:15 AM: David Large (UC Berkeley): “Return of the Repressed: The Post-World War II Origins of Far-Right Politics in Europe”

-11:15-11:30 AM: Péter Krekó (Eötvös Lorand University of Science): “COVID-Skepticism, Pseudoscience and the Populist Radical Right: A Complicated Relationship”

-11:30-11:45 AM: Laura Jákli (Harvard Society of Fellows): “The European Far Right’s Campaign Strategies in Online Political Ads”

-11:45 AM-12:00 PM: Discussion

12:00 PM-1:00 PM: Session 2: Moderated by David Large (UC Berkeley)

-12:00-12:15 PM: Michal Krzyzanowski (Uppsala University): “The New Normal’ and the Recontextualisation of Crisis: Discursive Shifts in European (Right-Wing) Populist Imagination during/after the COVID-19 Pandemic”

-12:15-12:30 PM: Mitchell Orenstein (University of Pennsylvania)/Maria Snegovaya (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University): “Conservative National Populists in Eastern Europe: Is There an Economic Dimension to Their Support?”

-12:30-12:45 PM: Hannes Richter (Embassy of Austria in the United States and University of New Orleans): “The Far Right and Support for Liberal Democracy in the United States: Beyond the Generation Gap”

-12:45-1:00 PM: Discussion

1:00-2:00 PM: Lunch break

2:00 PM-3:00 PM: Session 3: Moderated by Karin Liebhart (University of Vienna)

-2:00-2:15PM: Matthew Stenberg (UC Berkeley): “When do Cities Discriminate? LGBTQ+ Discrimination in Poland”

-2:15-2:30 PM: Andreas Onnerfors (European Academy of Sciences and Arts): “’The Great Replacement’: A Transatlantic Frame of Radicalized Violence”

-2:30-2:45 PM: Johanna Schuster-Craig (Michigan State University): “Anti-Genderism and Trans*humiliation in Far-Right European Politics”

-2:45-3:00 PM: Johannes von Moltke (University of Michigan): “Media Cultures of the New Right”

-3:00-3:15 PM: Discussion

3:15-4 PM: Botstiber Lecture by Karin Liebhart (University of Vienna; 2022 Botstiber Visiting Professor, UC Berkeley): “QAnon’s Rise in Austria”