DAFF 27A27 - Illiberalism in East-Central Europe

This course offers a comprehensive and multidisciplinary analysis of illiberal and populist appeals in East Central Europe. A shift from a post-Cold War normative order based on principles of liberalism to an illiberal, inward-looking and largely anti-globalist ideas affects the entire West, but it is particularly meaningful and consequential for this part of Europe in a wider sense regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which comprises both the European Union and its neighbors in the post-Soviet space. This nationalist U-turn takes different cultural, social and political forms – from the resurgence of far-right parties to the nostalgia for Communism and rallies supporting Putin’s regime in the EU members’ countries. The present course displays a spectrum these manifestations in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Estonia and other countries that leave much room for cross-national comparisons and useful generalizations. Deploying these cases in a broad spectrum of academic schools and approaches (from British cultural studies, history of ideas, popular geopolitics, and political philosophy) with each one having its merits, the course specifically focuses on interpretations of nationalism, conservatism, populism, and liberalism both as concepts and practices that are produced, transferred and consumed as parts of continuous nation-building East-Central Europe

Assessment includes the following parts:

• In-class discussion 10%
• In-class activities (prepared) group works 25%
• Learning diary 15%
• Final paper 50%