DANCE ON THE VOLCANO. Destructiveness in contemporary authoritarianism

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In focus: FALSE PATRIOTS - THE OPEN SOCIETY AND ITS ENEMIES

„Politics of Emotions“ was the title of Austrian writer Josef Haslinger's major essay, published almost forty years ago, which has since become a catchphrase. Political emotions and affects are also central to today's authoritarianism. In her keynote speech and in conversation with Robert Misik, Vera King sheds light on the socio-psychological dimensions of current right-wing populist and authoritarian mobilisations as destructive forms of rebellion. Emotionalisation takes on a new quality and dynamic: „The staging of grandiosity, for example, serves to stabilise power and bind supporters. It encourages or legitimises unprecedented transgressions of the rules,“ says King. „This staging generates consent to the power relationship out of enthusiasm, not coercion.“ The desire for destruction and the triumphant transgression of boundaries is constantly fuelled and at the same time proves to be a „dance on the volcano“. King analyses these and other socio-psychological aspects of the new authoritarianism.

Vera King is a German sociologist and social psychologist. She has been Professor of Sociology and Social Psychology at Goethe University Frankfurt and Director of the Sigmund Freud Institute in Frankfurt am Main since 2016.

Moderation
Robert Misik, Author and journalist