Podcast appearances and mentions of Cas Mudde

After many years of correspondence and phone calls, I finally met Cas Mudde in person last year at the GLOBSEC Forum in Prague. Our meeting resulted in the 235th episode of The Global Agora podcast. This year, we crossed paths again. The result? Another round of conversation. This time about the sanewashing of US President Donald Trump, the threat of the far right, the normalization of Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, but also about the cancelation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Cas Mudde is, of course, a professor at the University of Georgia and one of the world's foremost experts on populism and far-right politics. Listen to our conversation.  And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/amatisak

Today's assistant professor has spent his career studying the forces that threaten liberal democracy — the far right, populism, nationalist movements that have reshaped politics from Hungary to the United States. He's one of the most cited political scientists working on those questions, based at the University of Georgia, originally from the Netherlands, and the kind of scholar who combines rigorous theory with an unusually grounded sense of how politics actually lives in people's lives.But today we're not talking about Marine Le Pen or Viktor Orbán. We're talking about soccer.Cas Mudde has been a lifelong fan — not of modern football, as he'd put it, but of soccer as community. He's visited something like 500 teams across more than 35 countries, and he brings to the sport the same analytical eye he turns on democratic erosion and authoritarian politics. Because for him, the two aren't as separate as they might seem.In a recent chapter called "Soccer as Civil Society," Mudde argues that professional soccer is not just entertainment — it's a political space, one that sits squarely in the terrain between the state, the market, and the community. And like democracy itself, that space is under pressure: from the commodification of the game, from multiclub ownership models that strip fans of accountability, and from the slow transformation of supporters into consumers.He's also clear-eyed about the limits of resistance — skeptical of the romanticization of fan-owned "punk football" clubs, even as he takes them seriously.It's a conversation about soccer, yes — but also about power, community, and what it means to fight for something when the odds are stacked against you.HELPFUL LINKS TO TODAY's EPISODE:Cas Mudde on LinkedIn, Wikipedia, and the University of Georgia websiteCas' groundhopping InstagramCas Mudde, Soccer as Civil Society - article as PDFTamir Bar-On's 3 Discourses on Soccer, referenced in Cas' article and briefly at the end of the episodeNEW: send me a text message! (I'd love to hear your thoughts - texts get to me anonymously, without charge or signup) Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. If you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, pleaseRecommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me.Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

With key elections approaching across Europe, radical-right parties are poised to maintain and even expand their political influence. Rosa Balfour, Catherine Fieschi, and Cas Mudde explore whether a more right-leaning EU constitutes an existential threat, or if such concerns are overstated. Catherine Fieschi, Cas Mudde, March 19, 2026, "Is the Radical-Right Threat Existential or Overstated?," Carnegie Europe. Rosa Balfour, January 24, 2026, "The EU Finally Used an Economic Threat Against Trump. But the Markets Forced His Climbdown," The Guardian. Rosa Balfour, Stefan Lehne, Elena Ventura, September 22, 2025 "The European Radical Right in the Age of Trump 2.0," Carnegie Europe. Rosa Balfour, April 30, 2025, "Europe Tried to Trump-Proof Itself. Now It's Crafting a Plan B," Emissary, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Rosa Balfour and Stefan Lehne, April 18, 2024, "Charting the Radical Right's Influence on EU Foreign Policy," Carnegie Europe. Catherine Fieschi, April 10, 2025, "What Le Pen's Sentence Means for the Rule of Law in Europe," Strategic Europe, Carnegie Europe. Catherine Fieschi, August 16, 2023, "Populocracy," Agenda Publishing. Cas Mudde, December 4, 2024, "Democracy is in a doom spiral—but it isn't dead yet," Prospect Magazine. Cas Mudde, September 2019, "The Far Right Today," Polity.

Met vandaag: - Cas Mudde van de Universiteit van Georgia over de impact van de moord op Charlie Kirk in de VS; - Politiek verslaggever Lars Geerts ziet grote eensgezindheid in Tweede Kamer op twee onderwerpen: Oekraïne en stikstof; - Stephan Steinmetz wint PrinsjesBoekenprijs met 'De tien van Den Haag - Topambtenaren tijdens de bezetting', over morele dilemma's van ambtenaren in oorlogstijd; - Kunstenaar Bert Barten maakt muziek met bomen door naar sapstromen luisteren. Presentatie: Lucella Carasso

Cas Mudde is a Dutch political scientist – or, as he prefers to call himself, a politicologist – one of the foremost scholars on the far right in Western democracies and a professor at the University of Georgia. After a few phone discussions, I finally met him in person at the GLOBSEC conference in Prague. We talked about Donald Trump's America, why he is optimistic about US democracy, though not really that optimistic, and also about what, if anything, politicians like Viktor Orbán, Robert Fico, Jarosław Kaczyński, and Andrej Babiš can actually change. Listen to our conversation. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/amatisak

Spojenými státy otřásají nepokoje a prezident Donald Trump vyvolává tím, jak proti nim zasahuje, obavy z toho, že se snaží uzurpovat moc. „Nacházíme se v měkkém autoritářském režimu. Je zcela jasné, že Trump je autoritář. Nepřijímá a nechápe, proč by měla být výkonná moc, jeho moc, nějak omezena. Snaží se vyvolat odpor, aby mohl použít sílu a měl k tomu, alespoň v očích svých příznivců, legitimní důvod,“ míní nizozemský politolog Cas Mudde z Georgijské univerzity.Všechny díly podcastu Interview Plus můžete pohodlně poslouchat v mobilní aplikaci mujRozhlas pro Android a iOS nebo na webu mujRozhlas.cz.

Supervalåret 2024 blomstrade ytterhögern. Men valframgångarna globalt är inte en startpunkt utan en bekräftelse på en redan pågående förändring som allt för få velat se och erkänna. Eroderingen av den liberala demokratin är och ser ut att förbli det här århundradets huvudberättelse. Men så skulle det inte behöva vara, skriver statsvetaren Cas Mudde. --- Domedagsspiralen, ur Expo #4 2024 av Cas Mudde i översättning av Erik Sidenbladh:  https://expo.se/fordjupning/domedagsspiralen/  Uppläsare: Erik Glaad Ansvarig utgivare: Daniel Poohl --- Expo behöver ditt stöd Bli poddvän: https://expo.se/stod-expo/bli-poddvan/  Prenumerera på Expo: https://expo.se/tidskriften/prenumerera  --- Studio Expo ger dig som lyssnar fördjupningar om våra avslöjanden, mer om våra granskningar och analyser av högextrema tendenser. Varje vecka i din poddspelare! Expo är en religiöst och partipolitiskt obunden stiftelse. Vi har granskat och bevakat extremhögern sedan 1995 – för en levande demokrati där rasistiska idéer och organisationer saknar inflytande. Stöd vår verksamhet genom att bli månadsgivare eller swisha en slant till 123 271 02 59.

This week, political scientist Cas Mudde joins the Prospect podcast to analyse the “year of elections”.In 2024, around 70 countries with a combined population of 3.4bn went to the polls. In many of those elections—in the EU, India and the US, the far right did surprisingly well. But why do the far right seem to be the only group to have benefitted from the turbulence of recent years? Was it inevitable? He joins Prospect's Ellen Halliday to discuss.Plus, a festive “banger” or “dud”: posh advent calendars—terrific or tacky?To watch this interview, search for ‘Prospect magazine' on YouTube, where episodes are published every Thursday.Cas's piece “Doom Spiral” is featured in the latest issue of the magazine, which can be read in print or online at prospectmagazine.co.uk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Populisme is een begrip dat sinds 2016 volop werd gebruikt om de dreiging aan verschillende politieke fronten te duiden, maar het is een verrassend breed gebruikt begrip. De meeste definities verwijzen naar het onderzoek van Cas Mudde, die populisten duidts als: “Parties that endorse the set of ideas that society is ultimately separated into two homogeneous and antagonistic groups, “the pure people” versus “the corrupt elite”, and which argue that politics should be an expression of the volonté générale, or general will, of the people.” Mudde, 2004. Benjamin Moffitt, hoogleraar en schrijver van het boek Populism, noemt nadrukkelijk dat populisme geen ideologie is, maar een stijl van politiek bdrijven, “a way of speaking, acting, and presenting oneself.” Hierdoor zijn er veel verschillende groepen die onder deze noemer vallen, die op verschillende manieren worden beschuldigd van populisme. Populisme is niet hetzelfde als extreem-rechts of extreem-links gedachtegoed, maar die beide groepen gebruiken wel regelmatig populistische methodes. Populisme is niet hetzelfde als populariteit, hoewel er groepen zijn die populisme op die manier proberen te zuiveren van de negatieve bijklank. Populisme is ook niet hetzelfde als fascisme, hoewel populistische rhetoriek wel een kenmerk is van fascisme. De klassieke term die veel overlap vertoont met populisme is “demagogie”, waarbij een demagoog of “volksmenner” of “rabble-rouser” specifiek inspeelt op de driften en wensen van het volk door ze tegen de elite op te jagen. Dit valt samen met de definitie van populisme gebruikt door Catherine Fieschi, die stelt dat populisten niet alleen zeggen te spreken namen de moreel superieure stem van het volk, maar ook uniek in staat zijn om die stem te horen. Daarmee worden hun tegenstanders dus weggezet als vijanden van de waarheid en puurheid van het volk. Het nieuwere woord populisme komt uit de Verenigde Staten, waar in 1892 een partij genaamd de People's Party of ook de Populist Party in opstand kwam tegen de elite. Zij zagen zichzelf als gerechtvaardigd in het democratisch opstaan tegen de elite die hen onderdrukte. Sindsdien blijft de tweedeling tussen het volk en de elite een kenmerk van populistische retoriek, of er nou sprake is van een tweedeling tussen volk en elite, of niet. Vandaag onderzoeken wij de kenmerken van populisme in de hoop de term minder beladen en met meer precisie te kunnen gebruiken. Is populisme ooit “goed” of terecht? Is populisme een inherent onderdeel van bestuur door het volk? Is populisme altijd bron van polarisatie? Te gast is Sjoerd, net als in aflevering 4. Bronnen Intro Cas Mudde. “The Populist Zeitgeist.” Government and Opposition, 39:4, 2004, 541-563. Cas Mudde. “Populism in the Twenty-First Century: An Illiberal Democratic Response to Undemocratic Liberalism.” The Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy. https://amc.sas.upenn.edu/cas-mudde-populism-twenty-first-century “Populism in the United States: A Timeline.” History.com. 7 december 2018. Gecorrigeerd: 14 december 2020. https://www.history.com/topics/us-government-and-politics/populism-united-states-timeline Yasmeen Serhan. “Populism Is Meaningless.” The Atlantic. 12 maart 2020. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/03/what-is-populism/607600/ The PopuList. https://popu-list.org/ What is Populism? | History. 8 januari 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uA1GBzXzr4 Umberto Eco. “Ur-Fascism.” The New York Review of Books. 22 juni 1995. The Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/umberto-eco-ur-fascism/umberto-eco-ur-fascism.lt/ The New Populism. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/the-new-populism Relevante artikelen zijn bijvoorbeeld: https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2019/mar/06/revealed-the-rise-and-rise-of-populist-rhetoric en https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/20/measuring-populism-how-guardian-charted-rise-methodology

Last Sunday, Austria's Freedom Party (FPÖ) became the latest far-right political group to win a national election in Europe.The party now faces a familiar challenge encountered by many of its counterparts across the continent: will it form a coalition with the centre-right Austrian People's Party? Will Herbert Kickl become Austria's next Chancellor, or will he be sidelined?Political analyst Cas Mudde contends that while far-right prime ministers remain relatively rare, the traditional "cordon sanitaire" — the refusal to collaborate with extremist parties — has effectively been dismantled.Centre-right parties are increasingly willing to partner with the far right, not just to boost their own political power but also to secure more influential roles than they would in alliances with the centre-left.How long the far-right will continue to accept this arrangement? We'll let Mudde explain.Radio Schuman also gives you a quick overview of the Chinese electric vehicle tariff vote among EU member states. What is Germany's political role in this dispute? The result of today's vote could answer this question.Radio Schuman is hosted and produced by Maïa de la Baume, with journalist and production assistant Eleonora Vasques, audio editing by Zacharia Vigneron and music by Alexandre Jas. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Az EP-választások és a francia nemzetgyűlési választás újra a figyelem középpontjába emelte az elmúlt évtized egyik legbonyolultabb politikai kérdését: akár szélsőjobboldaliaknak és populistáknak nevezzük, akár patriótáknak és szuverenistáknak, Orbán Viktor, Marine Le Pen és elvbarátaik hatalmas társadalmi felhatalmazás mellett építik le a demokráciát és a társadalmi egyenlőséget. Az biztos, hogy a hidegháború utáni világban a politikai radikalizmus szelleme a 2000-es évek végén kiszabadult a palackból, és minél inkább próbálja visszatuszkolni a mainstream, annál kevésbé hagyják ezt az egymást érő válságok. Az időszakos sikerek – mint például a Nemzeti Tömörülés legyőzése, vagy a Patrióták Európáért elszigetelése – pedig nem jelentik azt, hogy az antidemokratikus szereplőket pusztán morális alapon le lehetne győzni. Hogyan jutottunk ide? Miért nyitottak a szélsőségekre a társadalmak? Mit jelent a szélsőjobb, mit jelent a populizmus és hogyan használjuk ezt felelősen? Érdemes-e egyből fasizmust (vagy kommunizmust) kiáltani, ha politikai radikálisokat látunk a térképen? Miért nem tudnak a jobboldali pártok természetesen összeborulni és milyen kölcsönhatások vannak az Atlanti-óceán két partjának konzervatívjai között? Ezekről kérdezte Nagy Iván László Hunyadi Bulcsút, a Political Capital szakértőjét. 2023-as interjúnk Hunyadi Bulcsúval: https://hvg.hu/itthon/20230217_Fulke_szelsosegek_antifa_szelsojobb_radikalizmus_hunyadi_bulcsu Podcastunk Cas Muddéval: https://hvg.hu/360/20230613_Cas_Mudde_interju_podcast_Orban_Viktor_populizmus_szelsojobb_demokracia_woke_EU_USA_Oroszorszag_haboru 2022-es interjúnk Cas Muddéval: https://hvg.hu/360/20211025_Cas_Mudde_interju_ellenzek_MarkiZay_Orban_populizmus_szelsojobb A Trump-merényletről a Fülkében: https://youtu.be/itGnif6jwPo A Political Capital kapcsolódó tanulmányai: Magyar politikaibefolyás-építés – Az Orbán-rezsim törekvései az illiberalizmus exportjára (2022) - https://politicalcapital.hu/konyvtar.php?article_read=1&article_id=3123 Euroszkeptikus internacionálé Brüsszel kapujában? Populista szövetségépítés az Európai Unióban és Magyarország ebben játszott szerepe (2023) - https://politicalcapital.hu/konyvtar.php?article_read=1&article_id=3317 Autoriter befolyás az Európai Parlamentben – az EP-képviselők szavazatait vizsgálva (2024) - https://politicalcapital.hu/hirek.php?article_read=1&article_id=3373 Az eddigi ellenzéket elsodorta, a Fideszt megütötte, az európai mainstreamet meglegyintette a választás, de a rendszerváltás itthon és Brüsszelben is elmaradt (2024) - https://politicalcapital.hu/hireink.php?article_read=1&article_id=3390 Iratkozz fel a Fülke csatornájára! Spotify: https://tiny.cc/FulkeSpotify Apple Podcasts: https://tiny.cc/FulkeApple Hallgasd meg a HVG többi podcastját: Spotify: https://tiny.cc/HVGpodcastokSpotify Apple Podcasts: https://tiny.cc/HVGpodcastokApple SoundCloud: https://tiny.cc/HVGpodcastokSC 0:00 Intro 0:53 Miért erősödnek a jobboldali pártok Európában? 6:26 Mit jelent a jobboldaliság? 11:26 Hogyan válik a szélsőségesség mainstreammé? 19:16 Hogyan dolgozhatunk a demokráciáért? 20:50 Demokratikus-e a szélsőségesekkel szemben összefogni? 29:31 Mi a populizmus? 34:25 Hogyan definiálják magukat a szélsőjobboldaliak? 39:29 Miért nem találnak egymásra a szélsőjobbosok? 45:13 Hogyan hatnak egymásra a nyugati világ konzervatívjai? 52:29 Van-e valódi jelentősége a CPAC-nek és társainak? 56:04 Ha semmi nem változik, van-e plafon a szélsőjobb felett?

In this episode, Uzair talks to Gilles Verniers about the recent French parliamentary election results. With many expecting gridlock in Paris, Gilles helps us understand what the results mean and what comes next for the country. Gilles Verniers is Karl Loewenstein Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science at Amherst College, and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. He also holds affiliations with the Centre for Advanced Studies of India at UPenn, and the Centre de Sciences Humaines in New Delhi. His research focuses on Indian electoral and party politics, political representation, women and minorities participation in politics and India's democratic trajectory. He regularly contributes to various Indian media and was based in Delhi from 2005 to 2023. He graduated from Sciences Po, Paris. You can read his recent pieces on the elections here: - https://m.thewire.in/article/world/france-election-far-right-marine-le-pen-macron - https://thewire.in/world/france-dodges-a-bullet-for-now-but-sinks-in-uncertainty Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 2:05 Understanding the differences in the groups 9:30 The normalization of the far-right 20:40 Lack of coalition culture in France 30:05 Personalization of acrimony 33:01 The left's agenda and its foreign policy 38:20 Reading recommendations Reading recommendations - Cas Mudde, The Far Right Today (2019) - James Shields (2007), The Extreme Right in France: From Pétain to Le Pen

“To protect the future of liberal democracy in Europe, one must first understand its challengers.” So is the motto of AUTHLIB, the project titled ‘Neo-Authoritarianisms in Europe and the Liberal Democratic Response', led by the CEU Democracy Institute, funded by the European Union and the UK Innovation and Research, and implemented in cooperation with the Charles University, Sciences Po, Scuola Normale Superiore, SWPS University, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the University of Oxford and the University of Vienna. If you are interested in fresh academic research and policy analysis on matters of illiberalism, populism, authoritarianism, and their implications to liberal democracy in Europe, follow AUTHLIB on social media and at authlib.eu. Among the challengers to liberal democracy in Europe, we can count populists, autocrats, and the increasingly often mentioned illiberals. But who are they and what is illiberalism? How does it relate to populism? Can illiberals be democrats at all? What are the policy implications of having illiberal politicians, especially of the radical right, in power in the EU? This interview explores these questions with Professor Cas Mudde. It covers various issues at the intersection of academic and policy research on populism, illiberalism, democracy, and the radical right. It discusses whether the growing body of literature on illiberalism addresses something that is fundamentally new on the global political agenda, how this literature relates to academic research on populism, and if illiberalism and democracy is reconcilable against the backdrop of a global trend of autocratization, which many scholars of democracy have noted and which is often attributed to illiberal and populist leaders. Furthermore, the conversation sets out to understand how the recent election outcomes in Slovakia and Poland fit into the aforementioned trend and also predict what is in store for European democracies in the near future as illiberal actors of the radical right are readying themselves for the next European parliamentary elections in June 2024. Cas Mudde is a professor of international affairs and a distinguished research professor at the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia. His academic research agenda centers around the question how liberal democracies can defend themselves against political challenges without undermining their core values. He has published widely on uncivil society, democratization, Euroskepticism, extremism, and the practices of political parties, especially those of far right and populist inclinations. This interview was conducted as a collaboration between The Review of Democracy and the research consortium "AUTHLIB - Neo-authoritarianisms in Europe and the liberal democratic response" by Zsuzsanna Vegh, visiting fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, in cooperation with Bálint Mikola, Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the CEU Democracy Institute.

El término ultraderecha a menudo se utiliza de manera vacía o con un significado muy diferente a lo que han concluido los expertos que estudian el tema. Al hablar de personajes como Milei o países como Polonia este término ha acabado saliendo. Pero ¿qué significa exactamente? Vamos a utilizar la obra del politólogo Cas Mudde para diferenciar tres conceptos: ultraderecha, extrema derecha y derecha radical. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Geert Wilders' PVV recent election win is the latest addition to a trend of far-right populists winning big elections. Spanning from Argentina with Javier Melei to Italy with Giorgia Meloni, the Far Right seems to be on rise.There is no one better to talk about these events than Cas Mudde, the preeminent scholar on populism and the Far Right.

Among the challengers to liberal democracy in Europe, we can count populists, autocrats, and the increasingly often mentioned illiberals. But who are they and what is illiberalism? How does it relate to populism? Can illiberals be democrats at all? What are the policy implications of having illiberal politicians, especially of the radical right, in power in the EU? This interview explores these questions with Professor Cas Mudde. It covers various issues at the intersection of academic and policy research on populism, illiberalism, democracy, and the radical right. It discusses whether the growing body of literature on illiberalism addresses something that is fundamentally new on the global political agenda, how this literature relates to academic research on populism, and if illiberalism and democracy are reconcilable against the backdrop of a global trend of autocratization, which many scholars of democracy have noted, and which is often attributed to illiberal and populist leaders. Furthermore, the conversation sets out to understand how the recent election outcomes in Slovakia and Poland fit into the aforementioned trend and also predict what is in store for European democracies in the near future as illiberal actors of the radical right are readying themselves for the next European parliamentary elections in June 2024. Cas Mudde is a professor of international affairs and a distinguished research professor at the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia. His academic research agenda centres around the question how liberal democracies can defend themselves against political challenges without undermining their core values. He has published widely on uncivil society, democratization, Euroskepticism, extremism, and the practices of political parties, especially those of far-right and populist inclinations.

Cas Mudde, one of the world's leading experts in the study of populism and far-right politics, joins us this week to discuss the tensions between populism and democracy, and why populism has increased around world in recent years.Mudde is the Stanley Wade Shelton UGAF Professor in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia and a Professor II in the Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX) at the University of Oslo. His research agenda aims to address the question: how can liberal democracies defend themselves against political challenges without undermining their core values?  Mudde visited Penn State in October 2023 to give the keynote lecture at the Populism, Piety, and Patriotism conference organized by the McCourtney Institute for Democracy.

Cas Mudde er en av verdens aller fremste forskere på høyrepopulisme. I denne episoden snakker vi med Mudde om høyrepopulismens stilling i verden etter Trump, hva som skal til for å lykkes i valg mot høyrepopulistiske partier og hvordan høyrepopulisme og ekstremisme henger sammen.

Donald Trump ellen szövetségi vádemelés zajlik. Amerika és Kína emelik a tétet Tajvannal kapcsolatban. Az ukrajnai háború vége korántsem látszik. Az elnökválasztás pedig vészesen közeleg. Közéleti podcastunk legfrissebb adásában összefoglaltunk mindent, ami az amerikai kül- és belpolitikában történt az elmúlt hónapokban, és megnéztük, meddig fokozódhat a nagyhatalmak közti feszültség és vajon lehet-e Donald Trump újra az Egyesült Államok elnöke. Nagy Iván László vendége Nagy Gábor, a HVG hetilap Világ rovatának vezetője és Bábel Vilmos, a hvg.hu újságírója volt. A novemberi félidős választások utáni adásunk: https://hvg.hu/vilag/20221109_Fulke_felidos_valasztasok_USA_Trump Évnyitó adásunk az Egyesült Államokról: https://hvg.hu/vilag/20230104_Fulke_usa_republikanus_capitolium Cas Mudde a Fülkében, akivel Amerikáról is szó esett: https://hvg.hu/360/20230613_Cas_Mudde_interju_podcast_Orban_Viktor_populizmus_szelsojobb_demokracia_woke_EU_USA_Oroszorszag_haboru Iratkozzon fel a hvg360-ra, az első hónapban csak 360 forintért: https://hvg.hu/360/elofizetes • 1:12: Vádat emeltek Donald Trump ellen, szövetségi ügyben – hol tart ez a sztori? • 3:12: Mennyire reális az, hogy az eljárásnak eredménye, de legalább közvetlen, negatív hatása lesz Trump esélyeire? • 5:00: Pontosan mit követhetett el Donald Trump, milyen iratokat találtak a floridai rezidenciáján? • 7:36: Mi mérgesítette el a közelmúltban az amerikai-kínai viszonyt? • 9:06: Milyen hatással volt a két ország kapcsolatára az ukrajnai háború? • 10:33: Mennyire reális veszély az, hogy katonai összecsapás legyen a két nagyhatalom között? Meddig menne el az USA Tajvanért? • 20:00: Milyen érdeke fűződik az Egyesült Államoknak Tajvan megvédéséhez? • 22:23: Mikor kisebb az eszkaláció valószínűsége – Biden vagy Trump (vagy bármilyen republikánus) elnökségével? • 23:41: Meddig tud Amerika Ukrajna harcostársa lenni úgy, ahogy azt Kijevben szeretnék? • 31:18: Mennyire megosztott az amerikai törvényhozás és közvélemény Ukrajnával kapcsolatban? • 46:25: Mennyi esélye van Ron DeSantisnak Donald Trump ellen? • 50:01: Hogyan lehet az, hogy a négy év botrányos elnökség és az azóta eltelt, Capitolium-ostrommal és bírósági eljárásokkal fűszerezett időszak fényében is egyre erősebb Donald Trump? • 55:16: Milyen állapotban van az amerikai jobboldal? Mennyire egységes és mennyire segíti a demokratákat, hogyha házon belüli konfliktusok vannak az ellenfélnél?

Valóban a demokrácia, vagy inkább a gazdasági és geopolitikai érdekek vezérlik Amerikát és az EU-t, amikor Orbán Viktor autokráciája ellen lépnek fel? Sikerült-e legyőzni a populistákat nyugaton, és ha igen, az európai integráció kudarca-e, hogy Közép-Kelet-Európát a szélsőségesekkel azonosítják? Van-e olyan erős a gender- és woke-ellenes üzengetés, mint az iszlamofóbia volt? Többek között ezekről kérdeztük Cas Muddét, a Georgia-i Egyetem holland politológusát, a szélsőjobb és a populizmus egyik legbefolyásosabb nemzetközi kutatóját. A beszélgetés magyarul a hvg360-on olvasható: https://hvg.hu/360/20230613_Cas_Mudde_interju_podcast_Orban_Viktor_populizmus_szelsojobb_demokracia_woke_EU_USA_Oroszorszag_haboru 2021-es interjúnk Cas Muddéval: https://hvg.hu/360/20211025_Cas_Mudde_interju_ellenzek_MarkiZay_Orban_populizmus_szelsojobb Iratkozzon fel a hvg360-ra, az első hónapban csak 360 forintért: https://hvg.hu/360/elofizetes • 0:44: 2021-ben azt mondta, a „populista hype” véget ért. Mindeközben Orbán és Erdogan hatalmon maradt, az FPÖ erősödik Ausztriában, és a Trumpizmus is reneszánszát éli. Ez egy új hullám, vagy az utolsók, akik talpon maradtak? • 2:20: Meglepte, hogy Orbán Viktor nem jött le a putyinizmusról? • 3:29: Elégedett a Nyugat reakciójával a háborúra és Ukrajna támogatásával? • 4:29: Labdába rúgnak a gender- és wokellenes üzenetek a korábbi populista mantrák, az elitellenesség és a migrációellenesség mellett? Lehet ezekkel irányítani a közbeszédet? • 6:27: Ezen a woke-gender platformon futnak majd a republikánusok 2024-ben? Ha Ron DeSantis lenne a jelölt, ő nem mozogna be középre? • 7:54: Ez egy országos szinten is működő platform? 2016-ban erős volt a kampány, 2020-ban a demokraták azzal nyertek, hogy örökre eltüntetik a trumpizmust, most mégis itt vagyunk. • 9:16: Vissza Európába: a nyugat-európai demokráciák megtanultak ellenállni a populizmusnak? • 10:07: Hogyan praktikusabb kezelni Orbánt – az amerikai, elszigetelő módszerrel, vagy az európai, jogállamiságot megkövetelő úton? • 11:55: Legutóbb azt mondta, az ellenzéknek meg kell értetnie az emberekkel, hogy az EU-tagság a tét a Fidesszel kapcsolatban. Orbán kivezényelheti Magyarországot az Unióból? • 13:02: Leváltható ez a rendszer választásokon? • 15:06: Ha a PiS kikap Lengyelországban, az lehet a közép-kelet-európai autokráciák végének a kezdete? • 15:01: Kickl és Fico hatalomba kerülhet – ez mit változtatna? • 16:45: Kudarc lett Kelet-Közép-Európa európai integrációja? Naiv volt azt hinni, hogy valós politikai-gazdasági unió jöhet létre?

Bo Rothstein is one of the world's leading researchers in the field of Quality of Government (QoG). He was for most of his career professor of political science at the University of Gothenburg, in Sweden, with a brief tenure at the University of Oxford. In 2004, he founded, together with Sören Holmberg, the Quality of Government Institute, which has since become the world's main research centre studying how political institutions of high quality can be created and maintained. -> Apoie este projecto e faça parte da comunidade de mecenas do 45 Graus em: 45grauspodcast.com _______________ Index (with timestamps): (02:40) Introduction in English (06:26) Why is democracy not enough to ensure quality of government (QoG)? | The case of new democracies: clientelism, nepotism, use of state funds for the party, particularistic policies | Vicious circle of low QoG (the case of South Africa)  (18:30) How can we define QoG? | Impartiality. Robert Dahl's theory of democracy | The importance of a meritocratic bureaucracy and long-term planning. | Book: Organizing Leviathan, by Carl Dahlström and Victor Lapuente | Acemoglu and Robinson's concept of «inclusive institutions» (27:04) How QoG influences government legitimacy | A future paper by Jan Teorell | Relationship between low QoG and the rise in Populism. Cas Mudde's thesis. | Mark Lilla on the success of Donald Trump (34:15) The puzzle of China's rise (guest's paper) | Is it a matter of culture? | Is condemnation of corruption universal or dependent on culture? (47:07) What outcomes is QoG more important for? | The effect of low QoG on social trust (guest's paper). | Book (analysing social capital in Italy): Moral Basis of a Backward Society by Edward C. Banfield | Quality of governance in the private sector (01:00:15) How can we improve democracy's ability to enhance QoG? The role of transparency. | Book: Democracy for Realists, by Christopher H. Achen and Larry Bartels | Guest's latest book: Controlling Corruption _______________ My guest in this episode is Bo Rothstein, one of the world's leading researchers in the field of Quality of Government (QoG). He was for most of his career professor of political science at the University of Gothenburg, in Sweden, with a brief tenure at the University of Oxford. In 2004, he founded, together with Sören Holmberg, the Quality of Government Institute, which has since become the world's main research centre studying how political institutions of high quality can be created and maintained. This was a fascinating conversation. We started by discussing the puzzle of why democracy is not enough to ensure good governance. This happens, according to Rothstein and other authors, because these two dimensions of the political system are very different in nature. Democracy refers to the input side of politics (how political power is accessed), whereas QoG refers to the output side, that is, the way that political power is exercised. So while democracy may enable voters to select politicians and policies that adequately reflect their concerns, that is not, by itself, sufficient to guarantee that those policies will be enacted effectively and without improper behavior.  This led us to the question of how to define QoG? One of the most influential definitions in the field was proposed by Rothstein himself, together with Jan Teorell, and defines QoG as having to do with the extent to which the government operates impartially. This concept is closely related to (absence of) corruption, but is broader than that. In practice, for a state to act impartially means that the use of public authority is not influenced by anything from bribes, political affiliation, personal connections, or prejudices based on factors such as race, ethnicity, or gender. Rothstein's idea is clearly persuasive (and he will explain it better than I). But other authors have proposed alternative definitions, which we also discussed. One of them is that of state capacity. Some authors point out that it is not enough that public officials act in a proper way. In order to be able to implement public policies, the state also needs resources, such as infrastructures, adequate information and a body of qualified and motivated civil servants. Other authors, such as Francis Fukuyama, emphasize the importance of bureaucratic autonomy, that is the extent to which civil servants are protected from pressures exerted by politicians. And there are many other related definitions, such as the idea of inclusive institutions by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson (which we also discussed), or the definition proposed by the World Bank which goes farther (perhaps too far), encompassing the capacity of the state to implement “sound” policies.  It was a fascinating conversation, in which we covered a lot of ground on the topic of QoG. We discussed the practical effects of bad governance for citizens, the link between low QoG and populism, the puzzle of China's rise (despite its authoritarian nature and less than impartial government), whether condemnation of corruption is a human universal or depends on culture, the effect of QoG on social capital and the relation between QoG and the quality of governance in the private sector, among others. In the end, I asked my guest how we can improve democracy's ability to enhance QoG. And he has, as you will see, a very clear-cut recipe for this. Hope you enjoy our conversation -- até ao próximo episódio. _______________ Obrigado aos mecenas do podcast: Francisco Hermenegildo, Ricardo Evangelista, Henrique Pais João Baltazar, Salvador Cunha, Abilio Silva, Tiago Leite, Carlos Martins, Galaró family, Corto Lemos, Miguel Marques, Nuno Costa, Nuno e Ana, João Ribeiro, Helder Miranda, Pedro Lima Ferreira, Cesar Carpinteiro, Luis Fernambuco, Fernando Nunes, Manuel Canelas, Tiago Gonçalves, Carlos Pires, João Domingues, Hélio Bragança da Silva, Sandra Ferreira , Paulo Encarnação , BFDC, António Mexia Santos, Luís Guido, Bruno Heleno Tomás Costa, João Saro, Daniel Correia, Rita Mateus, António Padilha, Tiago Queiroz, Carmen Camacho, João Nelas, Francisco Fonseca, Rafael Santos, Andreia Esteves, Ana Teresa Mota, ARUNE BHURALAL, Mário Lourenço, RB, Maria Pimentel, Luis, Geoffrey Marcelino, Alberto Alcalde, António Rocha Pinto, Ruben de Bragança, João Vieira dos Santos, David Teixeira Alves, Armindo Martins , Carlos Nobre, Bernardo Vidal Pimentel, António Oliveira, Paulo Barros, Nuno Brites, Lígia Violas, Tiago Sequeira, Zé da Radio, João Morais, André Gamito, Diogo Costa, Pedro Ribeiro, Bernardo Cortez Vasco Sá Pinto, David , Tiago Pires, Mafalda Pratas, Joana Margarida Alves Martins, Luis Marques, João Raimundo, Francisco Arantes, Mariana Barosa, Nuno Gonçalves, Pedro Rebelo, Miguel Palhas, Ricardo Duarte, Duarte , Tomás Félix, Vasco Lima, Francisco Vasconcelos, Telmo , José Oliveira Pratas, Jose Pedroso, João Diogo Silva, Joao Diogo, José Proença, João Crispim, João Pinho , Afonso Martins, Robertt Valente, João Barbosa, Renato Mendes, Maria Francisca Couto, Antonio Albuquerque, Ana Sousa Amorim, Francisco Santos, Lara Luís, Manuel Martins, Macaco Quitado, Paulo Ferreira, Diogo Rombo, Francisco Manuel Reis, Bruno Lamas, Daniel Almeida, Patrícia Esquível , Diogo Silva, Luis Gomes, Cesar Correia, Cristiano Tavares, Pedro Gaspar, Gil Batista Marinho, Maria Oliveira, João Pereira, Rui Vilao, João Ferreira, Wedge, José Losa, Hélder Moreira, André Abrantes, Henrique Vieira, João Farinha, Manuel Botelho da Silva, João Diamantino, Ana Rita Laureano, Pedro L, Nuno Malvar, Joel, Rui Antunes7, Tomás Saraiva, Cloé Leal de Magalhães, Joao Barbosa, paulo matos, Fábio Monteiro, Tiago Stock, Beatriz Bagulho, Pedro Bravo, Antonio Loureiro, Hugo Ramos, Inês Inocêncio, Telmo Gomes, Sérgio Nunes, Tiago Pedroso, Teresa Pimentel, Rita Noronha, miguel farracho, José Fangueiro, Zé, Margarida Correia-Neves, Bruno Pinto Vitorino, João Lopes, Joana Pereirinha, Gonçalo Baptista, Dario Rodrigues, tati lima, Pedro On The Road, Catarina Fonseca, JC Pacheco, Sofia Ferreira, Inês Ribeiro, Miguel Jacinto, Tiago Agostinho, Margarida Costa Almeida, Helena Pinheiro, Rui Martins, Fábio Videira Santos, Tomás Lucena, João Freitas, Ricardo Sousa, RJ, Francisco Seabra Guimarães, Carlos Branco, David Palhota, Carlos Castro, Alexandre Alves, Cláudia Gomes Batista, Ana Leal, Ricardo Trindade, Luís Machado, Andrzej Stuart-Thompson, Diego Goulart, Filipa Portela, Paulo Rafael, Paloma Nunes, Marta Mendonca, Teresa Painho, Duarte Cameirão, Rodrigo Silva, José Alberto Gomes, Joao Gama, Cristina Loureiro, Tiago Gama, Tiago Rodrigues, Miguel Duarte, Ana Cantanhede, Artur Castro Freire, Rui Passos Rocha, Pedro Costa Antunes, Sofia Almeida, Ricardo Andrade Guimarães, Daniel Pais, Miguel Bastos, Luís Santos _______________ Esta conversa foi editada por: Hugo Oliveira _______________ Bio: Bo Rothstein is a Swedish political scientist whose research focuses on the quality of government. Rothstein held the August Röhss Chair in Political Science at the University of Gothenborg from December 1994 to June 2021. Bo Rothstein took is Ph.D. in Political Science at Lund University in 1986 and was from 1986 and until 1993 assistant and (in 1992) associate professor (docent) at the Department of Government at Uppsala University. In 1993 he became Professor at the Swedish Institute for Working Life Research in Stockholm and took up his current position at University of Gothenburg in 1994. In 2016 he was appointed to a Chair in Government and Public Policy at University of Oxford, from which he resigned for returning to University of Gothenburg in 2018. Together with Prof. Sören Holmberg he started the Quality of Government Institute at the department in 2004. Among his main publications in English are Just Institutions Matter: The Moral and Political Logic of the Universal Welfare and Social Traps and the Problem of Trust, both with Cambridge University Press. The Quality of Government: The Political Logic of Corruption, Inequality and Social Trust was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2011, Good Government: The Relevance of Political Science (ed. together with Sören Holmberg) published by Edward Elgar Press in 2013. His latest book is Making Sense of Corruption (together with Aiysha Varraich) published by Cambridge University Press in 2017. Rothstein is a contributor to the public debate and has published more than 300 op-ed articles mostly in Swedish newspapers but also internationally.

Harrowing images and reports from Bucha – a town where hundreds of Ukrainian civilians appear to have been massacred – have shocked the world. US president Joe Biden has joined calls for Putin to face trial for war crimes.Emily Tamkin in Washington, DC and Alix Kroeger in London discuss the atrocities, lessons learned from the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and why, despite huge public pressure, it is so difficult to prevent war crimes from being committed and to prosecute those responsible.Also on the show: on Sunday (3 April) Viktor Orbán won a fourth consecutive term as Hungarian prime minister, in an election mired in allegations of corruption. Emily and Alix talk about what four more years of Orbán will mean for Hungary and its relations with the EU.Further reading:Emily Tamkin on the long road to prosecuting war crimes.Emily Tamkin asks what four more years of Viktor Orbán mean for Hungary.Cas Mudde argues that Orbán's unfair election victory makes a travesty of EU values.t See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week we had a chat with Prof. Cas Mudde about populism, low politics, the novel coronavirus and other fun things.

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En framgångsrik populist måste ha förmågan att piska upp opinioner med hjälp av effektfull propaganda. Men den som slår dövörat till gör det på egen risk, menar litteraturvetaren Jimmy Vulovic. Det finns nog få uttalanden Hillary Clinton ångrar lika mycket som att hälften av Donald Trumps väljare kan placeras i the basket of deplorables. Presidentvalet 2016 slutade illa för henne. Naturligtvis inte enbart på grund av det uttalandet men hennes ord bör ha spelat stor roll för att mobilisera Trumpväljare. Åtminstone efter att hans populistiska kampanj gjort sitt med det Hillary Clinton sa den 9 september 2016. En vecka senare intog han scenen på ett massmöte i Miami, Florida. Entrén skedde till tonerna av Do you hear the people sing från musikalen Les Misérables efter Victor Hugos roman från 1862. Det var en propagandistisk iscensättning av saker, händelser och tider som egentligen inte hör ihop. Sångens militäriska trummor dundrade. Bakom honom projicerades en storslagen revolutionsbild med USA:s fana centralt placerad, tillsammans med bland annat den franska trikoloren och den egna kampanjflaggan. Les Deplorables stod skrivet med stora bokstäver över den revolutionära folkmassan. Publikens jubel visste inga gränser. Publikens jubel visste inga gränser. Skickliga propagandister är alltid också opportunister, alltså den sortens människor som tar tillfället i akt så fort minsta möjlighet till påverkan ges. När nya medieteknologier dyker upp är de bland de första att ta dem till sig. Handskrift, tryckpress, fotografi, film, radio, ja, säg de teknologier som de inte snabbt har lyckats göra till effektiva propagandainstrument. I vår tid har den digitala tekniken med alla sociala medier och globala distributionsvägar förvandlats till både den politiska och kommersiella propagandans viktigaste redskap. Men det räcker såklart inte att bara vara snabb. Skickliga propagandister vet också att precision är viktigt i kampen om människornas känslor och åsikter, till exempel genom att dra nytta av växande trender och opinioner eller att som i Trumps fall effektivt vända en motståndares ord till sin fördel. När publiken lugnat ner sig lite sa han Welcome to all of you deplorables. Jubel igen. Därmed var ett i den politiska debatten nytt, slagkraftigt och långvarigt begrepp skapat. Sedan dess har det varit exempelvis den politiske strategen och rådgivaren Steve Bannons favoritbegrepp. En våg av memes och videos taggade med bland annat Les Deplorables och Deplorables Unite växte snabbt i styrka. Tack vare Hillary Clinton fick Trumps budskap om att återerövra USA från en arrogant och självtjänande elit mycket stor spridning i sociala medier och på videosajter. Propagandamaterialet ljudsattes ofta med Do you hear the people sing, i vilken ett nedtryckt folk stiger mot ljuset efter en avgörande strid. Sången är ett perfekt soundtrack till Donald Trumps populistiska strategi. Alla politiker i demokratier måste väl egentligen, för sin politiska överlevnads skull, vara någon form av populister. Samtidigt är den ideologiska populismen något mer än att bara försöka tilltala så många väljare som möjligt. Det finns alltså allmänna populister och sedan finns det populister med ett mer specifikt uppdrag. De senare bygger i princip all sin politik på föreställningen om ett ofta vagt definierat folks rätt att styra sitt öde. Det är en politisk strategi med lång historia och alla populiströrelser, såväl höger- som vänsterrörelser, när en idé om att det i kontrast till folkets vilja finns en korrupt och självtjänande elit som måste besegras, eller åtminstone regleras och regeras. Federico Finchelstein berättar i sin bok From fascism to populism från 2019 att den moderna populismen är starkt förknippad med fascism, eftersom det var den väg många fasciströrelser valde efter det andra världskrigets slut, alltså efter det totala ideologiska sammanbrott som krigsslutet innebar för dem. Antiliberalism och antielitism, fortsätter han, är två av de idéer som förenar fascismens och populismens retorik, liksom ofta främlingsfientlighet i de fall det rör sig om högerpopulism. Ändå är det enligt honom viktigt att skilja på begreppen. Populismen är inte detsamma som fascism eftersom den i regel inte bejakar våld som politisk strategi. Populister bejakar istället demokratin ledsagad av folkviljan. Den demokratiska idén om folkets självbestämmanderätt är drivande och kampen står för dem därför om att få definiera vem som tillhör respektive inte tillhör folket, samt som en följd av det vilka the enemy of the people är, för att låna Donald Trumps ord om liberal press och väl också om Hillary Clinton och hennes politiska klass. Och på spelplanens andra sida, så som den tog sig uttryck i exempelvis Occupy Wall Street och Bernie Sanders kampanjer, pekas folkfiendefingret istället mot till exempel big banks and businesses. Oavsett sida är risken för en majoritetens tyranni uppenbar, om inte individens rätt till liv, friheter och egendom säkerställs. Uttalandet om the basket of deplorables slog en bro genom tiden. Även om ideologisk populism brukar betraktas som ett modernt efterkrigsfenomen lades grunden för dess diskurs, alltså sättet att tala om och förstå det politiska livet, under 1700-talets amerikanska och franska revolutioner. Det var då de breda demokratiska idealen och idén om ett folk som ett subjekt med suverän rätt till självbestämmande föddes. Cas Mudde och Cristobal Rovira Kaltwasser påminner oss i boken Populism: A very short introduction från 2017 om att omvälvningen i Frankrike skedde på den aristokratiska elitens bekostnad. Ett argument för den blodiga uppgörelsen var den då nya idén om ett folk och en folkvilja som krävde sin rätt. Under efterföljande århundraden har sedan många andra eliter, både verkliga och rena konspirationsteoretiska fantasiprodukter, ställts mot påstådda folkviljor: kapitalister, världsjudendomens konspiratörer, socialister, militarister, globalister och nu alltså även liberal press och politiker som exempelvis Hillary Clinton. Uttalandet om the basket of deplorables slog en bro genom tiden. De nedsättande orden och det Donald Trump gjorde med dem skapade ett retoriskt associativt samband mellan franska revolutionen, dess förlorade ideal som i Les Misérables och valet 2016. Givet den öppet populistiska rörelse han leder är det lätt att förstå varför han så snabbt utnyttjade uttalandet. En maning till uppror mot det folkförakt hans anhängare såg i Hillary Clinton låg ju plötsligt bara där, precis som i en liten ask. Det var bara att öppna den. Svårare att förstå är varför Hillary Clinton bjöd på möjligheten. Kanske därför att hon behövde någonstans att placera alla de rasister, sexister, homofober, xenofober och islamofober hon såg i hans led. De finns ju onekligen där, precis som överallt annars. Men frågan är om det i huvudsak är just det hatet som nu driver denna populiströrelse, där röstandelen för Donald Trump bland flera minoriteter faktiskt ökade 2020. Och om det nu inte är det hatet som driver rörelsen just nu, säger då inte detta exempel något viktigt om faran i att hellre vilja se det man tror sig se än att se det uppenbara rakt framför en, faran med att se världen ur en snäv och död vinkel någonstans snett uppifrån. Jimmy Vulovic

German elections are approaching fast. What are the chances of right-wing populists and what do progressives need to do now? Listen to our new episode to find out! As the Covid-19 pandemic swept across the world, it has put the nation-state at the centre of people's daily lives. National lockdowns, vaccine rollout strategies, and the shutdown of international travel have introduced the national framework as a dominating force. Catherine de Vries and Cas Mudde discuss what this all means for right-wing populists and how progressives must respond.

"The populist radical right is by far the best-studied party family within political science”. Extremism expert Cas Mudde may be right but, as Léonie de Jonge argues in The Success and Failure of Right-Wing Populist Parties in the Benelux Countries (Routledge, 2021), less studied are the specific conditions under which right-wing populism succeeds and - just as importantly - fails. Why, for example, do these parties poll above 40% in Italy and France yet remain absent in Portugal and Ireland? Part of the answer to this puzzle could lie in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium (and more specifically in its Dutch- and French-speaking regions). "In the earlier phases of a party's development", writes Professor de Jonge, the success and failure of right-wing populist parties depends to a large extent on exogenous factors – notably the degree of political and social ostracism they face in a given polity”. Léonie de Jonge graduated from Cornell College, Iowa, and the University of Cambridge, where she also obtained her PhD, and is now an Assistant Professor in European Politics and Society at the University of Groningen. *The author's book recommendations were Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right by Cynthia Miller-Idriss (Princeton University Press, 2020) and Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future by Kate Brown (Allen Lane, 2019). Tim Gwynn Jones is an economic and political-risk analyst at Medley Global Advisors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The populist radical right is by far the best-studied party family within political science”. Extremism expert Cas Mudde may be right but, as Léonie de Jonge argues in The Success and Failure of Right-Wing Populist Parties in the Benelux Countries (Routledge, 2021), less studied are the specific conditions under which right-wing populism succeeds and - just as importantly - fails. Why, for example, do these parties poll above 40% in Italy and France yet remain absent in Portugal and Ireland? Part of the answer to this puzzle could lie in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium (and more specifically in its Dutch- and French-speaking regions). "In the earlier phases of a party's development", writes Professor de Jonge, the success and failure of right-wing populist parties depends to a large extent on exogenous factors – notably the degree of political and social ostracism they face in a given polity”. Léonie de Jonge graduated from Cornell College, Iowa, and the University of Cambridge, where she also obtained her PhD, and is now an Assistant Professor in European Politics and Society at the University of Groningen. *The author's book recommendations were Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right by Cynthia Miller-Idriss (Princeton University Press, 2020) and Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future by Kate Brown (Allen Lane, 2019). Tim Gwynn Jones is an economic and political-risk analyst at Medley Global Advisors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

"The populist radical right is by far the best-studied party family within political science”. Extremism expert Cas Mudde may be right but, as Léonie de Jonge argues in The Success and Failure of Right-Wing Populist Parties in the Benelux Countries (Routledge, 2021), less studied are the specific conditions under which right-wing populism succeeds and - just as importantly - fails. Why, for example, do these parties poll above 40% in Italy and France yet remain absent in Portugal and Ireland? Part of the answer to this puzzle could lie in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium (and more specifically in its Dutch- and French-speaking regions). "In the earlier phases of a party's development", writes Professor de Jonge, the success and failure of right-wing populist parties depends to a large extent on exogenous factors – notably the degree of political and social ostracism they face in a given polity”. Léonie de Jonge graduated from Cornell College, Iowa, and the University of Cambridge, where she also obtained her PhD, and is now an Assistant Professor in European Politics and Society at the University of Groningen. *The author's book recommendations were Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right by Cynthia Miller-Idriss (Princeton University Press, 2020) and Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future by Kate Brown (Allen Lane, 2019). Tim Gwynn Jones is an economic and political-risk analyst at Medley Global Advisors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/european-studies

"The populist radical right is by far the best-studied party family within political science”. Extremism expert Cas Mudde may be right but, as Léonie de Jonge argues in The Success and Failure of Right-Wing Populist Parties in the Benelux Countries (Routledge, 2021), less studied are the specific conditions under which right-wing populism succeeds and - just as importantly - fails. Why, for example, do these parties poll above 40% in Italy and France yet remain absent in Portugal and Ireland? Part of the answer to this puzzle could lie in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium (and more specifically in its Dutch- and French-speaking regions). "In the earlier phases of a party's development", writes Professor de Jonge, the success and failure of right-wing populist parties depends to a large extent on exogenous factors – notably the degree of political and social ostracism they face in a given polity”. Léonie de Jonge graduated from Cornell College, Iowa, and the University of Cambridge, where she also obtained her PhD, and is now an Assistant Professor in European Politics and Society at the University of Groningen. *The author's book recommendations were Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right by Cynthia Miller-Idriss (Princeton University Press, 2020) and Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future by Kate Brown (Allen Lane, 2019). Tim Gwynn Jones is an economic and political-risk analyst at Medley Global Advisors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

"We are going on a populist hunt."   Is populism anti-democratic, a force for ill in the world? Or is it potentially legitimate politics, often misrepresented by vested interests?   As Viktor Orbán visits the UK, Michael guides us through the thickets to greater understanding.   Plus, if you want to know more about Palestine or what more you can do to help, we have some resources for you.     Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Follow Michael   The Populist Zeitgeist (2004) - Cas Mudde    Gramsci and hegemony    Discourse analysis    Going to the People. The Russian Narodniki in 1874-5 (1927) - Anne Pedler    'Lazy use' of term populist has helped to legitimize far-right politics - University of Bath    'How populist are you?' - Guardian quiz    Hegemony and socialist strategy - Laclau & Mouffe    The Populist Harm to Democracy: An Empirical Assessment - The Tony Blair Institute For Global Change    Left Populism Is Down But Not Out     Palestine   Palestine Resources Linktree     Decolonize Palestine    Jacobin:  There's Nothing Complicated About What's Happening in Palestine    Donate to BDS    Donate to MAP    ANERA    Avaaz global petition for sanctions    UK Petition for sanctions    Email your MP about the selling of arms to Israel    Upcoming pro-Palestine events    BDS: What to boycott    Follow Al Jazeera on Twitter    Watch Al Jazeera live

Ultradestra, la ricerca di Cas Mudde oltre la democrazia liberale. Oggi Memos ha ospitato il politologo olandese Cas Mudde, 54 anni, che insegna ad Athens (Geogia, Stati Uniti) e a Oslo (Norvegia), per parlare del suo ultimo libro “Ultradestra” (Luiss, 2020). Mudde indaga l'ultradestra definita come “la destra antisistema, ostile alla democrazia liberale”. Questa destra, secondo il politologo olandese, si divide in due sottogruppi: l'estrema destra, che rifiuta l'essenza della democrazia, vale a dire la sovranità popolare e il principio di maggioranza. L'altro sottogruppo dell'ultradestra è la destra radicale che, invece, accetta l'essenza della democrazia, ma si oppone ad elementi fondamentali della democrazia liberale (diritti delle minoranze, stato di diritto, separazione dei poteri). Nell'intervista a Memos Cas Mudde dà un'interessante spiegazione del perché l'ultradestra è uscita dalla marginalità politica in Occidente. Secondo il politologo olandese, dopo l'11 settembre nella discussione politica c'è stato “il passaggio dai temi socio-economici ai temi socio-culturali. Da un lato l'11 settembre ha posto in primo piano questioni come l'identità, l'insicurezza; dall'altro, c'è stata la convergenza tra centrodestra e centrosinistra sulle questioni economiche. Quindi – conclude Cas Mudde - i partiti principali avendo meno da discutere delle questioni socio-economiche, hanno iniziato a discutere di più su questioni legate all'identità e alla sicurezza e queste sono le questioni che fanno guadagnare l'estrema destra”. L'intervista a Cas Mudde è preceduta da una breve introduzione della teorica della politica, Nadia Urbinati.

Ultradestra, la ricerca di Cas Mudde oltre la democrazia liberale. Oggi Memos ha ospitato il politologo olandese Cas Mudde, 54 anni, che insegna ad Athens (Geogia, Stati Uniti) e a Oslo (Norvegia), per parlare del suo ultimo libro “Ultradestra” (Luiss, 2020). Mudde indaga l’ultradestra definita come “la destra antisistema, ostile alla democrazia liberale”. Questa destra, secondo il politologo olandese, si divide in due sottogruppi: l’estrema destra, che rifiuta l’essenza della democrazia, vale a dire la sovranità popolare e il principio di maggioranza. L’altro sottogruppo dell’ultradestra è la destra radicale che, invece, accetta l’essenza della democrazia, ma si oppone ad elementi fondamentali della democrazia liberale (diritti delle minoranze, stato di diritto, separazione dei poteri). Nell’intervista a Memos Cas Mudde dà un’interessante spiegazione del perché l’ultradestra è uscita dalla marginalità politica in Occidente. Secondo il politologo olandese, dopo l’11 settembre nella discussione politica c’è stato “il passaggio dai temi socio-economici ai temi socio-culturali. Da un lato l'11 settembre ha posto in primo piano questioni come l'identità, l'insicurezza; dall'altro, c’è stata la convergenza tra centrodestra e centrosinistra sulle questioni economiche. Quindi – conclude Cas Mudde - i partiti principali avendo meno da discutere delle questioni socio-economiche, hanno iniziato a discutere di più su questioni legate all'identità e alla sicurezza e queste sono le questioni che fanno guadagnare l'estrema destra”. L’intervista a Cas Mudde è preceduta da una breve introduzione della teorica della politica, Nadia Urbinati.

The latest Dutch parliamentary election turned out to be an upsetting victory for the far right, while the Dutch left took a beating. Just this once we made an episode in English, to shed some light on last week’s election results and what it says about the Dutch political landscape in general. It’s time to drop our false (self-)image as a thoroughly progressive country. Show Goats - Prof. dr. Gloria Wekker's enlightening book about the foundational racism in Dutch culture, White Innocence (https://www.dukeupress.edu/white-innocence). - Dutch blog Stuk Rood Vlees calculated the disparity of media attention between male and female candidates (https://stukroodvlees.nl/media-aandacht-voor-vrouwelijke-lijsttrekkers/) (in Dutch). - In this article (https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2021/03/15/what-happened-to-the-dutch-left/), Cas Mudde analyzes what happened to the Dutch left. - Merijn Oudenampsen does the same here (https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/decline-of-the-dutch-left). - For an outsider's perspective listen to the The Guardian podcast (https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2021/mar/15/scandal-riots-and-the-dutch-election) on our elections. - Joost de Vries wrote an article on Thierry Baudet (https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2021/mar/04/covid-derailed-great-hope-dutch-far-right-thierry-baudet) for The Guardian. - Enjoy this piece on the Black-led BIJ1 Party (https://dwellerforever.blog/2021/03/12/how-the-black-led-bij1-party-in-the-netherlands-is-making-waves-in-the-upcoming-election/): the last hope for Leftists in the Netherlands: - Jouke Huijzer wrote about the meaning of Mark Rutte (https://www.eurozine.com/the-meaning-of-mark-rutte/). - Suzanne van Geuns, previously a guest on our podcast, wrote on the Dutch investment in whiteness (https://religiondispatches.org/blasphemy-in-the-netherlands-white-norms-and-black-pete/). - TL;DR: a tweet that answers all possible questions you might have about Dutch politics https://twitter.com/CasMudde/status/1372182715366248452

What is the difference between Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front and Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president? Why should we understand Trump as part of a dangerous “fourth wave” of radical right politicians? Dr. Cas Mudde’s new book The Far Right Today (Polity, 2019) argues that politicians like Le Pen represented a 20th-century marginalized populist radical right party but Trump (and others across the globe) represent a fourth wave in which the 21st-century radical right parties are normalized and mainstreamed all over the world such that three of the world’s largest democracies (India, the United States, and Brazil) have or have had radical right leaders. It is this normalization that Mudde identifies as crucial to our understanding of the radical right around the globe – and any possible responses available from liberal democracies. Cas Mudde is the Stanley Wade Shelton UGAF Professor in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia and a Professor II in the Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX) at the University of Oslo. Mudde has written numerous scholarly books published in 23 languages (many of which focus on extremism and populism) and regularly publishes in popular outlets such as The Guardian. He hosts Radikaal, a podcast about the radical aspects politics, music, and sports. Susan Liebell is an associate professor of political science at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. Why Diehard Originalists Aren’t Really Originalists recently appeared in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage and “Retreat from the Rule of Law: Locke and the Perils of Stand Your Ground” was published in the Journal of Politics (July 2020). Email her comments at sliebell@sju.edu or tweet to @SusanLiebell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

In the 2nd episode of Excuse Me While I Organize we discuss how to communicate with far right with Cas Mudde is a professor at the University of Georgia's School of Public and International Affairs ,and the author of The Failure of the Populist Promise. (2017) and The Far Right Today (2019).

As American democracy faces the most troubling moment in its modern history, hosts Zoe Williams and Luke Cooper talk to one of the world's leading experts on the far right about where it all went wrong. Cas Mudde is Professor of International Affairs at the University of Georgia he challenges the conventional wisdom that sees Trump as 'evil' and the Republican party as 'moderate'. Instead he explains how Trump is a symptom of the shift in American Republicanism towards the populist radical right - a move that has huge implications for American democracy in the century ahead. We also pick his brains on the challenge the authoritarian right represents to the future of democratic societies this side of the Atlantic and ask - above all - what we can do about it.  For more on the ideas discussed in today's podcast check out these links:  The Republican convention is proof that traditional Republicans have given up The Far Right Today (Book)  One thing all sides agree on: the 2020 election is about the soul of America How Orbán played Germany, Europe's great power

Cas Mudde, professor at the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Athens in Georgia and Guardian US columnist, speaks to our Deputy Director Professor Tim Bale. They discuss his thoughts on populism, euroscepticism, the US election and how academics should use the media to communicate to wider audiences.

The global rise of radical right nativist parties seemed to skip Ireland. But the last 18 months have seen efforts to introduce anti-immigration politics to Ireland in a way not seen before, amid a backlash against the legalisation of abortion. We hear how a conspiracy theory elevated by US pundit Alex Jones has ended up on the streets of Cork, as protesters ambush an event by ruling party Fine Gael a week out from the election. Naomi O'Leary speaks to Dutch political scientist Cas Mudde about what Ireland can learn from the experience of countries that have already seen similar trends. Mudde breaks down the evolution of the far right, new tactics at play, and the dubious role played by the media in the United States and the Netherlands. This is an episode of Halfpints, the bonus content we make specially to thank our Patreon supporters. You can find a whole archive of extra content over at https://www.patreon.com/theirishpassport. Share this episode and tag @PassportIrish to be in with a chance to win a copy of Cas Mudde's new book, 'The Far Right Today'. Support this podcast

Contains an interview about anti-LGBT+ and anti-immigration violence. In this season finale, The Irish Passport takes on one of Ireland's most controversial issues: Direct Provision. The system for housing people who apply for refugee status in Ireland turns 20 this year. Tim Mc Inerney and Naomi O'Leary speak to Bulelani Mfaco, who fled persecution of gay and LGBT+ people in South Africa to Ireland in 2017, and now campaigns for the rights of those seeking asylum. We visit the Direct Provision centre he lives in to take a look at life on the inside, and find out why Mfaco describes the system as deliberate marginalisation of migrants and akin to racial segregation. Irish Times journalist Sorcha Pollak explains how the system came to be, and discusses the evidence that the system was deliberately designed to be unpleasant. In the wake of a series of arson attacks on planned Direct Provision centres, Pollak's reporting has revealed that a small group of far-right activists are hijacking community meetings all around Ireland in an attempt to exploit unhappiness about Direct Provision and inflame anti-immigration politics that have so far skipped over Ireland. Finally, we explore cultural responses to the system, in a discussion with award-winning music group Rusangano Family, featuring their acclaimed song 'Heathrow'. We made bonus episodes specially to thank our Patreon supporters over on https://www.patreon.com/theirishpassport. A full interview with Bulelani Mfaco about life in Direct Provision can be heard here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/35038927 You can hear a bonus episode on Irish politics and the far right featuring political scientist Cas Mudde here: https://www.theirishpassport.com/podcast/rise-of-the-right-what-ireland-can-learn-with-political-scientist-cas-mudde/ Featuring editing by Alan Meaney http://alanmeaney.ie/ . Season 3 of The Irish Passport podcast is made with the kind support of Biddy Murphy, online sellers of genuine Irish goods. Check them out on www.biddymurphy.com. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook: @PassportIrish. Support this podcast

De gerenommeerde populisme-deskundige Cas Mudde, van de University of Georgia in de VS, doet op zijn lezingentournee door Europa ook de studio van Bureau Buitenland aan.Foto: Wikipedia- ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Een senator met inheemse voorouders uitschelden voor Pocahontas en anti-Islam video's op Twitter delen.Dat een Amerikaanse president dit zou doen, was tot vorig jaar ondenkbaar. In hoeverre zorgen president Trumps acties dat zijn Republikeinse Partij wordt beïnvloed door extreemrechts? Politicoloog en populisme-deskundige Cas Mudde woont en werkt in de Verenigde Staten, waar hij is verbonden aan The University of Georgia. Hij schreef het boek The Far Right in America.

Reportage: If the skulls could talk - Cas Mudde over de eerste maand Trump

“It is the illusion of a presidency, not the real thing,” schreef een commentator op de invloedrijke website Politico. Illusie of niet, de eerste weken Amerika onder Donald Trump zijn in veel opzichten opmerkelijk. Politicoloog en populismedeskundige Cas Mudde woont en werkt in de Verenigde Staten,waar hij is verbonden aan The University of Georgia. Presentator Chris Kijne spreekt hem over de roerige start van het presidentschap van Trump.

De campagne van Donald Trump kreeg zeer actieve steun van racistische en extreemrechtse groepen. Hoe groot was die invloed en in hoeverre krijgen deze groepen straks de wind in de zeilen in de VS? En wat betekent de winst van Trump voor radicaal rechts in Europa? Vanuit de studio in Athens, in de VS, spreken we hierover met Cas Mudde. Hij is expert in populisme en politiek extremisme aan de University of Georgia.

Nu Donald Trump verzekerd is van de Republikeinse kandidatuur voor de presidentsverkiezingen, krabben de Amerikanen zich achter de oren: hoe heeft het zover kunnen komen? Over het succes van the ‘Trump Phenomenon', en of we hier te maken hebben met een Europees importproduct of een All-American success story spreekt Bureau Buitenland vanavond met politicoloog Cas Mudde, verbonden aan The University of Georgia in de Verenigde Staten.

Brussel is het laatste slachtoffer van een reeks aanslagen die Islamitische Staat heeft geclaimd. We praten erover met politicoloog Cas Mudde, verbonden aan The University of Georgia in de Verenigde Staten. En in Brussel is sociologe Nadia Fadil van de Katholieke Universiteit van Leuven.

Amerika is in de ban van ‘Feel The Bern' en ‘Trumpism': Bernie Sanders en Donald Trump zijn dé rijzende sterren in de Amerikaanse peilingen. De een op links, de ander op rechts: allebei verwoorden ze de frustratie van de gewone Amerikanen en zetten ze het politieke establishment op z'n kop. Zo krijgen de Amerikaanse voorverkiezingen een Europees populistisch tintje. Maar hoe kan dat voor de Amerikaanse presidentsverkiezingen uitpakken? Daarover praten we met politicoloog Cas Mudde, gespecialiseerd in populisme en verbonden aan de The University of Georgia in de VS. (Foto: Flickr/DonkeyHotey CC BY-SA 2.0)

De Vijfsterrenbeweging in Italië, UKIP in het Verenigd Koninkrijk, het Front National in Frankrijk, Podemos in Spanje: overal boeken populistische partijen electoraal succes. Soms bescheiden, soms met grote gevolgen, zoals we begin dit jaar in Griekenland zagen. Met hun vaak anti-Europese discours worden ze door gevestigde partijen aangewezen als 'een bedreiging voor de eurozone'' Is deze alarmistische toon terecht? In het Eurobureau bespreken we de invloed van populistische partijen op het Europese politieke landschap. Dat doen we met politicoloog Cas Mudde, verbonden aan de The University of Georgia in de Verenigde Staten. Hij is nu kort op bezoek in Nederland. Foto: Pedro Ribeiro Simões (via Flickr)

I religionsfrihetens hemland USA utmålas Obama som muslim av den republikanska högern och i Europa avlöser slöjdebatterna varandra. Religionsfrågorna har tagit plats i politiken, men kanske är det främst i egenskap av slagträ de nu blivit synliga. Om populistiska krafter som vinner terräng när islam pekas ut som gemensam fiende i tider av otrygghet. Lyssna på alla avsnitt i Sveriges Radio Play. Med bara två veckor kvar till valet tycks det mesta av valkampanjen gå ut på pengar. Frågor om religion och värderingar är det däremot ganska tyst om - trots att de har tagit allt större plats i den globala politiken de senaste åren och trots att partiledarna i enskilda intervjuer säger sig vara angelägna att diskutera frågor kring tolerans och respekt för andra människor. Men det finns ett tydligt undantag - Sverigedemokraterna som klart och tydligt uttalar sig mot vad de kallar en islamisering av Sverige.Det här följer ett tydligt mönster runt om i Europa där radikala populistiska högerpartier har lagt beslag på dessa frågor som de stora etablerade partierna hittills inte har velat eller vågat bry sig om. Men det är något som håller på att förändras i och med debatten om islam och att allt fler muslimer kommer till Europa.Gäster i programmet: Katherine Cash, sakkunnig i religionsfrihetsfrågor på Svenska missionsrådet och Anders Widfeldt, statsvetare som forskat på radikala högerextrema partiers framväxt i Europa Också i USA har frågor om islam och muslimer hamnat på dagordningen i och med kontroversen kring ett planerat muslimskt centrum nära Ground Zero i New York. Protesterna mot bygget gick snabbt från att vara en lokal angelägenhet till en nationell konflikt som spelar på djupt liggande känslor och förhållandet till religionsfriheten - en del av USA:s existentiella fundament. Inför det stundande kongressvalet har konflikten framför allt kommit att exploateras av radikala högerkrafter. En av de mest högljudda motståndarna är tv-profilen Glenn Beck med eget program i tv-kanalen Fox News. På årsdagen och samma plats i Washington där medborgarrättskämpen Martin Luther King höll sitt berömda I have a dream-tal, samlade Beck sina anhängare till ett möte som närmast kan liknas vid ett väckelsemöte. Frilansreportern Petra Socolovsky var på plats och träffade dem, samt Solon Simmons som forskar kring populism och klasskonfliker vid George Mason Universitetet i Washington. Han menar att debatten om moskén också handlar om en känsla av att USAs storhetstid är över. Den holländske statsvetaren Cas Mudde förklarar de radikala högerpopulistiska partiernas framgångar i Europa med att de har lyckats appellera till människors missnöje och oro över en värld de inte längre känner igen sig i. I decennier har de stora etablerade partierna försummat att bemöta människors känsla av otrygghet inför en tilltagande globalisering, oro för jobb och en ökad invandring. Cas Mudde har i många år har studerat framväxten av populistiska högerpartier i Europa. Han hävdar att så länge de här partierna var mer uttalat rasistiska och nationalistiska, och till exempel vände sig mot turkiska gästarbetare, så avfärdades de av de etablerade partierna och hölls isolerade på den yttersta högerkanten. Men i och med att deras argument har blivit allt mer religiöst färgade och framför allt vänt sig mot islam är de inte längre ensamma, hävdar Cas Mudde. Konflikts Daniela Marquardt ringde upp hon på De Pauw-universitetet i Indiana där han just har tilträtt en gästprofessur. Burkan har kommit att bli en brännpunkt i debatten om islam i Europa. Trots att den bärs av en ytterst liten del av alla muslimska kvinnor i Europa så har den fått stor uppmärksamhet. Förbud är på gång eller diskuteras i flera länder. Särskilt het har debatten blivit i Frankrike. En som noga har följt debatten om burka i Frankrike är den amerikanska historikern och genusforskaren Joan Wallach Scott. Hon är verksam vid Princetonuniversitetet i USA och hennes bok Slöjans Politik kom nyligen ut på svenska. 2004 förbjöds den muslimska huvudduken, liksom andra iögonfallande religiösa symboler i de franska klassrummen. Och i år den 13 juli, alltså dagen före Frankrikes nationaldag, röstade nationalförsamlingen för att förbjuda heltäckande slöja på allmänplats. Politiker från alla läger hävdar att den inte är förenlig med republikens värderingar. Frankrikes president Sarkozy har bland annat sagt att burkan inte är något religiöst problem utan en fråga om kvinnors värdighet. När Konflikts Ira Mallik ringde upp feministen Joan Scott är understryker hon att den förmenta omsorgen om kvinnors rättigheter ofta används i debatten om islam. Även om det franska lagförslaget skulle gå igenom i alla politiska instanser kommer det troligen att stoppas av det högsta konstitutionella rådet, som redan förklarat att ett förbud troligen strider mot landets författning och mot Europakonventionen för mänskliga rättigheter. Men den bedömningen har inte hindrat andra länder från att inleda liknande processer. I Belgien har slöjan redan förbjudits och i Spanien och Italien har enskilda kommuner infört lokala förbud. På universitetet i Oxford undervisar Nazila Ghanea i Internationell humanitär rätt och hennes specialområden är minoriteters rättigheter och religionsfrihet. I hennes ögon tycks frågan om niqab - den heltäckande slöjan - ha satt alla vanliga regler ur spel. Ibland blir hon chockad över hur debatten förs, säger hon när Daniela Marquardt talade med henne. Olivier Roy, är professor i social och politisk teori, vid Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies European University Institute, i Italien. Han har även skrivit flera böcker om islam, bland annat Globalized Islam och håller nu på med en bok om muslimska normer i offentligheten. Han har också anlitats som konsult av såväl den franska regeringen som av FN i Afghanistan. Olivier Roy anser att diskussionen om i islam egentligen är en ganska förvirrad debatt om den europeiska identiteten. När konflikts Ira Mallik når honom på telefon i Florens säger han att något som utmärker debatten är att begrepp som "europeiska värderingar" sällan definieras. Programledare: Daniela MarquardtProducent: Ira Mallik