The aporia of promises of liberal democracy and the rise of authoritarian politics

Abstract

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.