New Tales of the Golden Family. Actors, Narratives and Contestation across Resurgent Authoritarianism

Worldwide, the rise of authoritarianism is accompanied by specific discourses around the “golden family”. Blurred by nostalgic images of a somewhat timeless past, family roles (e.g. “the mother”, “the father”, “the child”, and “the grandmother/father”), spaces of family interaction, particularly the home, and rituals, namely moments of family reunion, are used to reinforce the image of a “good” and “perfect” family, able to face the many difficulties posed by nowadays society. This session aims at interrogating such discourses and the ways they are affecting our societies, but also our knowledge production. Individualisation theses, namely the work published by some social theorists who are also best-sellers for a more general audience (e.g. Anthony Giddens, Zygmunt Bauman), were responsible for imprinting ideas regarding the democracy of emotions, pure relationships, and liquid love. These ideas are in deep conflict with specific today social movements exalting the value of the home, the indissolubility of marriage, procreation, or the place of women as housewives. How does the rise of authoritarianism, often combining (extreme) nationalism and religious fervor, contribute to disseminate such values? Whose actors are giving voice to such claims and which arguments are being used? What is their power across generations? Moreover, who are the actors and what are the times and places of contestation and resistance? Ultimately, this session aims at unveiling and problematizing both visible and hidden entanglements between religions, politics, economies and families in the context of ‘multiple secularities’.