The lecture analyzed the current conjuncture in Western liberal democracies and the reasons for the increasing success of right-wing populist movements. It elaborated the thesis that the only way to fight against those movements is to develop left populist alternatives. Specifically, it shall be argued that it is a lack of understanding for the dynamics of politics and the role of affects in the formation of collective identities that explains the failure of social democratic parties in offering an appropriate answer to the right-wing populist challenge.
Chantal Mouffe is Professor of Political Theory at the University of Westminster in London, where she is also the module leader of the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD). She has taught at many universities in Europe, North America and Latin America, and has held research positions at Harvard, Cornell, the University of California, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris. From May to July 2019 Chantal Mouffe is a Visiting Fellow at the IWM, Vienna.
Discussant: Pavel Barša (Professor, Faculty of Arts, Charles University)
Moderator: Ondřej Ditrych (Director, Institute of International Relations Prague)
This event was organized by the Institute of International Relations in cooperation with the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague and IWM, Vienna.
Further details: www.iir.cz
