Acca Larentia - 2024

Interview #61 – Mainstreaming Authoritarianism

In this interview we talk with Giorgos Katsambekis about the process of mainstreaming of authoritarianism. The topics approached in this conversation are extremely relevant given the current Zeitgeist. In these days Donald Trump is trying a comeback after the 2021 failed coup, in Italy 1000 fascists gathered in Rome to commemorate their dead camerati, with a great display of fascist salutes and Celtic crosses, while the French ‘moderate Right’ approved a controversial anti-immigration bill that the radical Right considers a victory.

Katsambekis offers a lucid account of the processes that make it possible for authoritarian ideas, values, and discourses to move from the margins of the public debate to its very centre, combining a profound theoretical reflection with concrete examples from France, Greece, the United States, and the European Parliament.

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Interview #54 — Radical Right Between Stigma and Normalization

Individuals with radical-right ideas who feel comfortable voting for radical-right parties, might not feel comfortable publicly disclosing their support. What are the causes and consequences of this mechanism?

In this interview, Vicente Valentim discusses the ongoing normalization of previously stigmatized radical-right parties. With a focus on social norms and their evolution over time, we discuss how radical-right parties break these norms, and try to understand how the perception of what is acceptable and what is stigmatized in a certain social group changes across time and space.

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