Analyzing the Links between Authoritarian Political Practices and Reactionary Ideas

In recent decades, whether in Europe, Asia or the Americas, there have been countless recourse to forms of authoritarianism among democratic regimes. At least two main types of authoritarianism can be distinguished. The first concerns modes of governance oriented towards the centralization of decision-making (bypassing parliament, states of emergency, etc.). The second refers to political actions that repress individual and collective freedoms (right to abortion, right to demonstrate, etc.). At the same time, we are witnessing a rise in strength of conservative ideas and their carriers in the public space. However, in the image of the success met by various ideologues on the media scene, this rather composite current which was carried since the 1970s by the figure of the right-wing intellectual, seems to take an increasingly reactionary turn. The aim of this session will therefore be to concretely question the relationship between reactionary ideas and the return of authoritarian political practices. How can we characterize the fields, spaces and institutions involved in these relationships? What are the trajectories and capitals of the actors who circulate in them? Is their anchorage only national or do they also access the international? Do they maintain divergences or are we dealing with homogeneous blocks? Proposals for papers should clearly specify the theoretical and empirical approaches on which their presentation will be based.