Abstract
This introductory chapter argues that the term illiberal(ism) provides a new frame for understanding societal change. In contrast to existing concepts, illiberalism recenters our focus on liberalism and can therefore fruitfully account for different dimensions usually not taken into account. This chapter first advances a definition of illiberalism—in contradistinction to other concepts such as populism, conservatism, and authoritarianism—before exploring five main contentions related to this definition. It then moves to a broader discussion on the entanglements between liberalism and illiberalism, looking at liberalism’s own spaces of contention, its multiple scripts, its encapsulation of Western metamodernity, and how illiberalism contributes to the ongoing deconstruction of liberal hegemony. Finally, it delves into the “amplifying feedback loop” effect of illiberalism, which is both a by-product of the contradictions of liberalism and an amplification of liberalism’s challenges.
Marlene Laruelle. “Introduction: Illiberalism Studies as a Field.” in The Oxford Handbook of Illiberalism, edited by Marlene Laruelle. Oxford University Press, 2024.
Read Chapter
Illiberalism: a conceptual introduction
by Marlene Laruelle
Abstract
Illiberalism is an emerging concept in social sciences that remains to be tested by different disciplines and approaches. Here, I advance a fine-grained frame that should help to “stabilize” the concept by stating that we should 1/ look at illiberalism as an ideology and dissociate it from the literature on regime types, 2/ consider illiberalism to be in permanent situational relation to liberalism. To make that demonstration, I advance a pilot definition of illiberalism as a new ideological universe that, even if doctrinally fluid and context-based, is to some degree coherent.
Marlene Laruelle (2022): “Illiberalism: a conceptual introduction.” East European Politics. 38(2) 303-327. DOI: 10.1080/21599165.2022.2037079
Download PDF
Harnessing illiberalism’s analytical leverage
by Julian Waller
Excerpt
Some contemporary political developments take inspiration from the fascist experience. But analogies between modern anti-liberal reaction and earlier totalitarian ideologies tend to obscure more than enlighten. Instead, the concept of illiberalism offers a better way to make cross-national, ideational comparisons – especially transhistorical ones.
Julian Waller. “🌊 Harnessing illiberalism’s analytical leverage.” The Loop. August 27, 2021. https://theloop.ecpr.eu/harnessing-illiberalisms-analytical-leverage/.
Read article
