Authority and Authoritarianism Revisited. Part II

How do recent events lead us to re-think authority? How have claims and challenges to authority changed? Today democracy appears challenged by both insufficient and excessive authority. On the one hand, growing distrust of government and scientific authority hampers problem solving. On the other hand, the rise of authoritarianism and ascendence of populist leaders in scores of countries threaten dissent, criticism, and political opposition. Concrete examples of these seemingly contradictory trends abound. Global cooperation among governments failed to contain Covid-19 and rising temperatures. Democratic government’s public health rules on social distancing, masks, or vaccines to contain the pandemic were cast as dictatorial infringements on individual liberty. Conspiracy theories got mass audiences. Denialism of anthropogenic climate change undermined an even overwhelming scientific consensus. Rampant devaluation of expertise blunted critiques of expertocracy. Neoliberal austerity eroded public infrastructure and political institutions. Minorities are scapegoated. Social movements challenge not only established authorities and complacency but also try to find through organizational innovation new answers to the perennial question of how to merge broadest participation and tactical efficiency. What theories can best explain these disparate phenomena and trends, and what are their implications for a renewed understanding of authority? How does authority relate to changing patterns of social trust, economic restructuring, and modulations of subjectivity? How can a revised concept of authority assist in tackling the challenges of future pandemics, planetary heating, environmental destruction, and the crisis of democracy? What kind of authority is compatible with democratic self-governance? This panel welcomes theoretical and empirical contributions.