Illiberalism(s)

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

Liberalism traces itself back to the promise of liberation from very particular kinds of dependence, oppression, and state intervention (although it has relied on other kinds). Illiberalism is today emerging as a more and more coherent set of ideologies that promise liberation from liberalism’s (or, rather, neoliberalism’s) global expansion (Laruelle 2022). But this coherence is tenuous and possibly unachievable. Is there more to illiberalism than the seemingly endless diversity of anti-liberal, nonliberal or aliberal ways of escaping regimentation by liberal economic, political and discursive forms? If so, how did illiberalism’s coherence develop historically, and what significance does it have in the context of contemporary geopolitical transformations? This round table, which includes speakers from across the social sciences, will focus on differences among ways of being ‘not liberal,’ and what these mean for political theory and empirical studies. Panelists’ contributions to the discussion will be informed by their fieldwork and research experience with activists, counter-cultural communities and media and bureaucratic hierarchies that are actively organizing for or against liberalism. How do these disparate actors interpret the Putin regime’s newly sharpened anti-liberal, imperialist vision—as well as articulations of illiberalism beyond Russia?

Sub Unit

• Anthropology, Cultural Studies

Chair

• Maria Sidorkina, U of Texas at Austin

Roundtable Members

• Xenia A. Cherkaev, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology (Germany)

• Taras Fedirko, U of Glasgow (UK)

• Marlene Laruelle, George Washington U

• Ilia Matveev, UC Berkeley

• Aleksandra Simonova, Brown U