The old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear,” these famous words of Antonio Gramsci from almost a century ago is today relevant more than ever. In war scenes such as Palestine and Ukraine, and consistently in many countries from Poland to India, in spectacular or ordinary forms, as part of ruling blocs or social movements, different forms of authoritarian, radical nationalist, fascist, or post-fascist politics are on the rise and have not lost their force.
This panel invites papers to develop a critical, non-reductive, Marxian understanding of today’s “morbid symptoms” and forces from a socially and historically grounded, internationalist perspective. To this extent, we wish to revisit the classical Marxist theories of fascism and the theories from the global South. That is why, the theories of microfascism and subjection, interpellation, and desire are among the themes we look forward to discussing. It can be seen that all of the authoritarian tendencies mentioned above rest on various kinds of affective politics. Many irrational elements, like masculinity, xenophobia, and hatred against queer individuals, can be traced within this contentment of class subjectivity. We also seek to understand not only the logic and fantasies of authoritarian rules, wars, and colonial and imperialist violence, but also the ways in which international anti-colonial or decolonial, and anti-capitalist solidarity and peace can be envisioned and put into practice.
We wish to invite our friends from Latin America to discuss the experience derived from rising authoritarianisms and left alternatives. We also desire to open these authoritarian themes from Balkans and the Middle East regions to debate. The papers discussing the future of Western ‘democracies’ are also welcome.
Thus conceived, we invite papers that engage the following themes and examples:
— Marxist Theories of Fascism: Luxemburg, Lenin, Gramsci, Trotsky, Thalheimer, Poulantzas, CLR James, and alike.
— Rightwing authoritarian populism: everyday politics; legal, illegal, and extra-legal aspects of these regimes.
— Neoliberal and liberal authoritarianism: Neoliberal capitalism, the dictates of capital, and the prerogatives of corporations; Political condition in the EU.
— War making: The analyses of wars in Palestine and Ukraine and Syria; Imperialism(s) and Armament.
— Migration, displacement, and the ongoing refugee crisis.
— Ideologies of Authoritarian movements: Irrational elements of bourgeois worldview; appropriation of anti-imperialist discourse by right-wing ideologues.
— Affective politics of authoritarianism and class subjectivity.
— Micro-fascisms, authoritarian personality, masculinity, fear and hatred.
— Anti-fascist struggles including labor, feminist, ecological, queer, and peace struggles and movements.
We are, as always, open to multiplying the themes with your contributions.
Historical Materialism Istanbul 2024 