@article{ref1,
title="The aporia of promises of liberal democracy and the rise of authoritarian politics",
journal="Distinktion: journal of social theory",
year="2020",
author="Ludwig, Gundula",
volume="21",
number="2",
pages="162-177",
abstract="In light of the current crisis of democracy, political theory faces the crucial question if the democracy in crisis can bring about a severe transformation of democracy and pave the way to replacing democracy with authoritarian government. Political theory is not only called upon to analyze the multiple processes of de-democratization but also to conceptualize the relationship between democracy and the rise of authoritarian politics. In this paper, I argue that to address these pressing questions, it is neither sufficient to solely focus on the state and state politics nor to solely focus on right-wing actors. Rather, it is necessary to address the current crises of democracy as a fundamental and comprehensive de-democratization of the state and society, which correlates with a far-reaching yet subtle de-democratization of everyday forms of living and subjectification. Furthermore, drawing on hegemony theory, I argue that the current de-democratization of the state and society along with the recent authorization of politics cannot only be viewed as having been forced upon the people. Instead, I argue that despite its anti-democratic and authoritarian character, current politics are also situated within a broader consensus. Focusing on gender and sexual politics, the paper scrutinizes how gender and sexual politics of the libertarian era of neoliberalism have contributed to a de-democratizing society, albeit in a subtle way, and by doing so the related discourses have helped to enable the current increase of authoritarian politics.<p />",
language="en",
issn="1600-910X",
doi="10.1080/1600910X.2019.1669688",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1600910X.2019.1669688"
}