Oxford Handbook of Illiberalism

From the rise of populist leaders and the threat of democratic backsliding to polarizing culture wars and the return of great power competition, the backlash against the political, economic, and social liberalism is increasingly labeled "illiberal." Yet, despite the increasing importance of these phenomena, scholars still lack a firm grasp on illiberalism as a conceptual tool for understanding societal transformations. The Oxford Handbook of Illiberalism addresses this gap by establishing a theoretical foundation for the study of illiberalism and showcasing state-of-the-art research on this phenomenon in its varied scripts-political, economic, cultural, and geopolitical. Bringing together the expertise of dozens of scholars, the Oxford Handbook of Illiberalism offers a thorough overview that characterizes the current state of the field and charts a path forward for future scholarship on this critical and quickly developing concept.

List of contents

• Acknowledgments


• About the Volume Editor


• List of Contributors


• Introduction


• Section I: Conceptualizing Illiberalism and Its Companions


• 1. Illiberalism and Conservatism


• Edmund Fawcett


• 2. Illiberalism and Authoritarianism


• Julian G. Waller


• 3. Populism as Democratic Illiberalism


• Takis S. Pappas


• 4. Genealogies of Illiberalism


• Mihai Varga and Aron Buzogány


• 5. Illiberalism as a Culture


• Jan Kubik


• Section II: The False Dichotomy: Liberalism's Entanglement with Illiberalism


• 6. Illiberalism of Their Own Making? A Post-Liberal Critique of Illiberalism Research


• Philipp Lottholz


• 7. Ghosts of Liberalism Past: Authoritarianism and Nationalism in the Liberal Tradition


• Anatol Lieven


• 8. Neoliberalism and Its Others


• Reijer Hendrikse


• 9. Illiberalism and Fear: The Crisis of Political Legitimacy in Western Liberal Democracies


• Natalie Doyle


• 10. Illiberalism in Liberal Democracies


• Jasper Theodor Kauth


• 11. Corona and the Left: Toward a Post-Ideological Totalitarianism


• Tove Soiland


• 12. Is There a Left-Wing Illiberalism?


• Emmy Eklundh


• 13. An Illiberal Left? Assessing Current Anti-Pluralist Political Practices in the West


• Eszter Kováts


• Section III: Illiberal Intersectionalities: Religion, Gender, Identity


• 14. Magical Thinking and Political Myths: Great Replacement versus Creolization


• Pierre-André Taguieff


• 15. Christianity and Illiberal Politics


• Anja Hennig


• 16. Gendering Illiberal Politics


• Agnieszka Graff and Elzbieta Korolczuk


• 17. Illiberalism and Islam


• Gulnaz Sibgatullina


• 18. Illiberal Memory Politics


• Maria Mälksoo


• Section IV: Illiberalism and the Economy: Globalization and Backlash


• 19. Political Economy of Illiberalism


• Maria Snegovaya


• 20. Consuming the State: Illiberalism, Protests, and Demands for Redistribution in Kazakhstan


• Diana Kudaibergenova


• 21. The Trajectory of Illiberal Backlash


• Marco Garrido


• 22. The Illiberalism of Fox News: Theorizing Nationalism and Populism Through the Case of Conservative America's Number One News Source


• Reece Peck


• 23. Illiberalism, Left-Wing Populism, and Popular Sovereignty in Latin America


• Julio F. Carrión


• Section V: Illiberalism in Power: Regimes and Ideology


• 24. Autocratization-Not an "Illiberal Turn"


• Matthew C. Wilson, Amanda B. Edgell, Yuko Sato, Vanessa Boese-Schlosser, and Staffan I. Lindberg


• 25. Illiberal Constitutionalism in Central and Eastern European States


• Tímea Drinóczi and Agnieszka Bien-Kacala


• 26. From Backsliding to Illiberalism and Beyond: Law and Regressive Political Change in Brazil, India, and South Africa


• Fabio de Sa e Silva


• 27. Illiberalism as a Key to De-Democratization: The Case of Turkey


• Elise Massicard


• 28. Facets of India's Illiberalism


• Christophe Jaffrelot


• 29. Contending Illiberalisms in the People's Republic of China


• Eva Pils


• 30. Biopolitics and Illiberalism: A Critical Approach to Putin's Russia


• Alexandra Yatsyk


• Section VI: Illiberalism and the World: The Global (Dis)Order


• 31. The International Politics of Illiberalism


• Hadas Aron and Jack Snyder


• 32. The Illiberal Global Politics of Religions and Civilizations


• Gregorio Bettiza


• 33. Illiberal Peace? Illiberalism in Peacebuilding, Mediation, and Conflict Resolution


• David Lewis


• 34. Illiberalism in the Global South and the Rise of China and Russia


• Erica Marat


• Section VII: Beyond the Strong Leader: The Grassroots Actors of Illiberalism


• 35. Illiberal Revolts: On Grassroots Theorizing and Practicing of Illiberalism


• Agniezska Pasieka and David C. Petruccelli


• 36. Grassroots Origins of Russia's Illiberalism


• Ivan Grek


• 37. Illiberal Think Tanks


• Katarzyna Jezierska


• 38. Transnational Illiberal Networks


• Kristina Stoeckl and Phillip Ayoub


• 39. Media and Illiberalism


• Václav Stetka and Sabina Mihelj


• Section VIII: Thinking Illiberalism: Intellectual Traditions and Renaissances


• 40. Illiberalism in the Doctrine of the Catholic Church and in the Works of Catholic Authors (19th-20th Centuries)


• Jean-Yves Camus


• 41. Three Faces of Postliberalism


• Adrian Pabst


• 42. American Illiberal Thinkers


• Joshua (Josh) Tait


• 43. The Role of Éric Zemmour in the "Right-Wingization" of France


• Périne Schir


• 44. The Illiberalism(s) of Polish Conservative Intellectuals


• Valentin Behr


• 45. Russia's Illiberal Conservatism


• Katharina Bluhm

About the author

Marlene Laruelle, Ph.D., is Research Professor of International Affairs and Political Science at the Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University. She is also Director of the Illiberalism Studies Program at GW and the former director of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES). Trained in political philosophy, she explores the notion of illiberalism and how nationalism and conservative values are becoming mainstream in different cultural contexts. She has been working on Russia's ideological landscape and its outreach abroad for more than two decades. She is now working on the grassroots mechanisms underpinning the popular support given to illiberal projects, as well as the cultural products and social practices that structure illiberal communities in Europe and in the United States.

Summary

From the rise of populist leaders and the threat of democratic backsliding to the rejection of open markets and the return of great power competition, the backlash against the political, economic, and social status quo is increasingly labeled "illiberal." Yet, despite the increasing importance of these phenomena, scholars still lack a firm grasp on "illiberalism" as a conceptual tool for understanding contemporary trends.

The Oxford Handbook of Illiberalism addresses this gap by establishing a theoretical foundation for the study of illiberalism and showcasing state-of-the-art research on this phenomenon in its varied scripts-political, economic, cultural, geopolitical, and civilizational. To do so, the Handbook is organized in eight parts. The first develops the concept of illiberalism by delineating it from other "isms," such as conservatism and authoritarianism. The second highlights the historical and contemporary entanglements between illiberalism and liberalism. The third explores how illiberalism intersects with various political and social identities, such as religion and gender. The fourth examines the political economy of illiberalism. The fifth unpacks the presence of illiberalism in regimes and countries around the world, including Brazil, China, Hungary, India, Poland, Russia, South Africa, and Turkey. The sixth identifies how illiberalism manifests in international relations. The seventh analyzes grassroots expressions of illiberalism. And the eighth probes the theoretical foundations of illiberal thought, linking it to conservatism, postliberalism, and religious doctrines.

Bringing together the expertise of dozens of scholars, The Oxford Handbook of Illiberalism offers a thorough overview that characterizes the current state of the field and charts a path forward for future scholarship on this critical and quickly developing concept.

Product details

• Authors: Marlene (Professor Laruelle
• Assisted by: Marlene Laruelle (Editor), Marlene (Professor Laruelle (Editor)
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 27.02.2025
• EAN: 9780197639108
• ISBN: 978-0-19-763910-8
• No. of pages: 1048
• Series: Oxford Handbooks
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Ideologies / Democracy, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Comparative Politics, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, Political structure & processes, Comparative Politics, Political structure and processes