Democracy Bulletin, December 2021

Democracy Bulletin, December 2021

December 13, 2021

DEMOCRACY BULLETIN

News From the Democracy Institute

The third issue of the Democracy Bulletin, the quarterly newsletter of the CEU Democracy Institute, focuses on our most important achievements and publications in the previous months. If you don’t want to miss any of our news items, events, articles, podcasts or videos, then please follow us on 

, 

, and 

 as well.

HIGHLIGHTS

Inaugural Conference Showcases DI’s Scholarly Work

Our “Probing Democracy” conference was a two-day hybrid, online and offline event on October 7 and 8. The roundtables allowed prominent experts to engage in fresh dialogue with colleagues hailing from different disciplinary backgrounds to reflect collectively on shared scientific and policy relevant research themes. Furthermore, three book launch events presented recently published works by DI scholars to foster a dialogue between the authors, expert discussants and the attending public.If you missed the event, you can watch the panels or read the summaries here.

Dorottya Redai Named Among 100 Most Influential People in the World

TIME named our Research Fellow Dorottya Redai to the 2021 TIME100, its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Redai is the coordinator of the Hungarian book project "Fairyland is for Everyone" (“Meseország mindenkié”), published by Labrisz Lesbian Association in 2020. After receiving extreme negative reactions from far right and governmental politicians in Hungary, the book became a great success and a symbol for protest against oppression, discrimination and against governmental policies discriminating LGBT+ people. “It means international acknowledgement of the enormous work devoted to this project,” said Redai.Learn more about the book and what the recognition means to her here.

Eva Fodor: The Gender Regime of Anti-Liberal Hungary

In her new, open access book, our Co-Director, Eva Fodor analyzes the gender regime of anti-liberal Hungary. Based on a review of Hungary's recently passed policies and the related political and media discourse on gender she argues that a new form of welfare state is emerging, one she calls "carefare". The book's last chapter describes changes in the conceptualization and regulation of the work of foster parents as a case study of a carefare regime. Download the book from here.

Andras Sajo, Renata Uitz, Stephen Holmes (Eds.): The Routledge Handbook of Illiberalism

The volume, edited by our Senior Research Fellow Andras Sajo, Research Affiliate Renata Uitz and Stephen Holmes (New York University) is the first authoritative reference work dedicated to illiberalism as a complex social, political, cultural, legal, and mental phenomenon. Although illiberalism is most often discussed in political and constitutional terms, its study cannot be limited to such narrow frames. The handbook comprises sixty individual chapters authored by an internationally recognized group of experts who present perspectives and viewpoints from a wide range of academic disciplines. Learn more about it here.

, Lead Researcher of our 

 talks about his book co-authored with 

 (University of Nottingham).

Andrea Krizsan, Conny Roggeband: Politicizing Gender and Democracy in the Context of the Istanbul Convention

The new book of our Senior Research Fellow Andrea Krizsan and Conny Roggeband (University of Amsterdam), examines opposition to the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention and its consequences for the politics of violence against women in four countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The authors discuss why and how successful anti-gender mobilizations managed to obstruct ratification of the Convention or push for withdrawal from it. “We wanted to understand how the politicization of gender changes the policy field of women’s rights, what are the consequences of more confrontative activism for women’s rights advocacy and protection from violence,” Andrea Krizsan said. Learn more about the book here.

OPPORTUNITIES

Lead Researcher, Inequalities and Democracy WorkgroupThe chosen candidate will be appointed as a (Senior) Research Fellow at the Democracy Institute in Budapest and visiting professor at a relevant department at CEU in Vienna. Details and application

 here.

Research Development Small Grants

We invite applications from external scholars for small research grants of up to 15,000 Euros to be spent over a maximum of 12 months. Details and application here.

CEU Budapest – OSUN Doctoral and Postdoctoral FellowshipsThe fellowships provide an opportunity for doctoral students and junior scholars to spend time in Budapest at the 

Post-Doctoral Fellowship, De-/Re-Democratization Workgroup

We also invite applications for a Post-doctoral Fellow position within our workgroup, focusing on the challenges of modern democracies. Details and application here.

RESEARCH

DEMOCRACY IN HISTORY

Memory Politics and Democracy

In the

of the public series “History 

as

 Democracy?”, three specialists took a comparative look at the civil wars in Austria (1934), Spain (1936–39), and Greece (1946–49). They also discussed how history as an academic discipline and public discourse may contribute to open and democratic societies.

New Project on Illiberal Constitutionalism

The Institute has joined a multidisciplinary team of scholars in a new

"Towards Illiberal Constitutionalism in East Central Europe: Historical Analysis in Comparative and Transnational Perspectives," funded by the 

.

DE-/RE-DEMOCRATIZATION

The Rise of Authoritarianism in the European Union

The

of 

 and

focuses on “the widening grey zone between liberal democracy and dictatorship.” They argue that “the issue of democracy and dictatorship is not an ‘either-or’ problem; rather it is one that can be best described along a continuum.”

Populist Argumentation in Foreign Policy

“In foreign policy populism serves as a political argument to enable status elevation on the international stage,”

 and Peter Visnovitz argue in their 

, which analyzes the foreign policy rhetoric, government organization and behavior of the 2010–2020 governments in Hungary.

ENVIRONMENT AND DEMOCRACY

Interventions in the UN

Researchers of the workgroup have made interventions in the preparatory meetings for the United Nations Environment Assembly about the project on global civil society input to the commemoration of the United Nations Environment Program's (UNEP) first 50 years. The

 received the interest of several UN delegations and researchers were asked to present an update to them in the preparatory meeting (Subcommittee of the Committee of Permanent Representatives). 

INEQUALITIES

New Project: Roma Civil Monitor 2021-2025

Over the next 48 months, the

aims at empowering and capacitating Roma and pro-Roma civil society organizations and individual activists to monitor the implementation of national strategic frameworks for Roma equality, inclusion and participation and other relevant policies.

Dorottya Szikra Joins EC High-Level Group 

Our Research Fellow 

 joined the European Commission's High-level Group on the Future of Social Protection and of the Welfare State, aimed at reflecting on how to make social protection systems and the welfare state fit for the future. The Group

on the lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic.

MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY

The Sorry State of State Media

In their new

, 

 and Astrid Söderström introduced a brand new tool to assess the editorial independence of the world’s state media and finds that nearly 80% of them lack editorial independence, and government control in the state media has reached extremely high levels.

Key Input in Creation of Investment Fund

A 

written by

 was used to

the investment strategy of a newly launched fund,

, aimed at combating media capture and supporting plurality of news sources across Europe.

RULE OF LAW

SLAPPs: A Comparative Study

Upon the invitation of the European Commission Petra Bard co-authored a comparative

including policy recommendations on the legal environment of Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation (SLAPPs) in the European Union and its Member States.

Rule of Law Backsliding in Poland

Barbara Grabowska-Moroz co-authored the

"The Role of Civil Society in Protecting Judicial Independence in Times of Rule of Law Backsliding in Poland," published by Utrecht Law Review. It discusses approaches to defending the independence of the judiciary adopted by CSOs.

PODCASTS

The Hard Compromises Behind Academic Innovation

In conversation with Ferenc Laczo, Emily Levine (Stanford University) discusses key ideas in her new book Allies and Rivals: German-American Exchange and the Rise of the Modern Research University.

Democracy’s Least Appreciated Strength Is Its Ability to Reform Itself

Dean Starkman (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists) talks with Robert Nemeth about the Pandora Papers and how tax avoidance and secrecy endangers democracy.

History as Democracy?

Bence Bari interviews Laszlo Kontler, lead researcher of the project “History as Democracy.” They address questions like how did history become more democratic in recent decades.

Ruling by Cheating?

Teodora Miljojkovic talks with Andras Sajo about his book, Ruling by Cheating, the tactics of illiberal regimes, their relationship to the rule of law, and shortfalls in the EU’s reaction.

REVIEW OF DEMOCRACY

The 

 (RevDem) is an open platform to discuss, analyze, reflect on, and develop possible solutions to the challenges to democracy across the globe today. The journal is published by the CEU Democracy Institute. Read its most important publications from recent weeks: 

What After the Pandemic?

Luuk van Middelaar has written a book that summarizes the crisis within the EU he deems as most important in decades: the coronavirus pandemic.

Read its review by Katarzyna Krzyzanowska

.

Ideas of Freedom Across a Historical Rupture

In a wide-ranging conversation with Ferenc Laczo, Lea Ypi discusses her new memoir 

Free

: 

Coming of Age at the End of History

 and how the people who populate its pages help her connect historical experiences with philosophical ones.

Read or listen to it

.

Thinking Like Hannah Arendt

Katarzyna Krzyzanowska talks with Samantha Rose Hill (Brooklyn Institute for Social Research) about her recently published biography of Hannah Arendt. 

Read or listen to it

.

MEET THE DILearn more about our colleagues! Click on the image below to watch their videos, in which they introduce themselves, and talk about their work. Stay tuned, a new video is coming every week.

Learn more about the CEU Democracy Institute