Illiberalism, polarisation, resilience, and resistance: Concepts in dynamic tension

‘… articles in this thematic issue are concerned with countries where illiberalism al- ready sits in the seat of power, namely in Central and Eastern Europe, where the establish- ment and operation of illiberal regimes is conspicuous, where ‘pernicious polarisation’ that strains resilience is often striking, and where resistance is crucial to halt or reverse illiberalisation.’
illiberalism
polarisation
resilience
resistance

Zsuzsanna Vidra and Michael C. Zeller, “Illiberalism, polarisation, resilience, and resistance: Concepts in dynamic tension,” Intersections. East European Journal of Society and Politics 7, no. 4 (2021): 1-12, doi: 10.17356/ieejsp.v7i4.945

Authors
Affiliation

Central European University

Central European University

Published

January 2022

Doi

Abstract

Illiberal regimes undermine human rights norms that entail equal legal protections of citizens and social groups. Illiberal actors often intentionally drive social polarisation in hopes of bolstering their support and securing their political position. This strains liberal democratic-oriented social resilience and provokes resistance to the illiberal regime. The articles in this special issue, looking at the regimes and societies of Central and Eastern Europe—where the establishment and operation of illiberal regimes is conspicuous, where ‘pernicious polarisation’ (Somer, McCoy, & Luke, 2021) that strains social resilience is often striking, and where resistance is crucial to halt or reverse illiberalisation—address this nexus of concepts. In this introduction, we review the four key concepts that undergird the special issue’s articles.

Citation

Add to Zotero

@article{zeller2021illiberalism,
  title={Illiberalism, polarisation, resilience, and resistance: Concepts in dynamic tension},
  author={Zeller, Michael C and Vidra, Zsuzsanna},
  journal={Intersections. East European Journal of Society and Politics},
  volume={7},
  number={4},
  pages={1--12},
  year={2021}
}