Globális válságok és kivételes állapotok (MPTT Vándorgyűlés, 2023. május 25-26.)

2023. május 25-26. között került megrendezésre a Magyar Politikatudományi Társaság XXVIII. Vándorgyűlése, amelyre a Nemzeti Kutatási, Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal Posztdoktori Kiválósági Program keretében folytatott, A rendkívüli jogrend a globális ökológiai és járványügyi válságok tükrében című (NKFIH-azonosító: 139007) kutatásom keretében szervezetem egy panelt Globális válságok és kivételes állapotok címmel.

A panelben Globális válságok, rendkívüli kormányzás és demokrácia címmel tartottam előadást.

Az előadás a Nemzeti Kutatási, Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal Posztdoktori Kiválósági Program keretében folytatott, A rendkívüli jogrend a globális ökológiai és járványügyi válságok tükrében című (NKFIH-azonosító: 139007) kutatásom, valamint a Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Bolyai János Kutatási Ösztöndíj keretében készült.

A kivételes jogrend és demokrácia (ELTE ÁJK PTI Műhelyvita, 2023. május 11. 18.00)

 

A kézirat Antal Attila (adjunktus, ELTE ÁJK Politikatudományi Intézet) Nemzeti Kutatási, Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal Posztdoktori Kiválósági Program keretében folytatott, A rendkívüli jogrend a globális ökológiai és járványügyi válságok tükrében című (NKFIH-azonosító: 139007) kutatása, valamint a Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Bolyai János Kutatási Ösztöndíj keretében készült.

Democratic Threats and Opportunities of the Exceptional Governance (MPSA Conference, 13-16 April, 2023, Chicago, IL)

I am participating at 80th Annual Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) Conference April 13-16, 2023 in Chicago. I am chairing the panel "At the Boundaries of Liberal Democracy". I present a sub-topic of my postdoctoral research on "The State of Emergency in the Era of Global Ecological and Pandemic Crisis". I speak about Democratic Threats and Opportunities of the Exceptional Governance.

The authoritarian populist right-wing has rapidly reborn in the field of authoritarian state and emergency governance, moreover the COVID-19 crisis gave a new rise this phenomenon mainly at the expense of civil society. The failures of liberal democracy opened the way of authoritarian populist right-wing populism in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), which on the one hand remained integrated into the neoliberal capitalism and on the other hand dismantled the legal basis of liberal constitutionalism. Investigating the CEE authoritarian populist regimes (especially Hungary), it has been argued that Hungarian authoritarian populism and its regional followers established this politics from the migration crisis of 2015 on the permanent state of exception. The COVID-19 crisis offered a new opportunity to maintain and extend the emergency measures. Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister found the way to capitalize the pandemic crisis and introduced the overlapping exceptional measures. Relying on the political theoretical concept of exceptional governance, it has been argued and analysed in this paper that the new forms of authoritarianism in CEE are based on the extraordinary measures. Civil society is basically the victim of exceptional governance and has no control over it. At the same time, the European Union (EU) has not been able to counteract the authoritarian instruments of exceptional governance in the various waves of the pandemic. This highlights the fact that the EU has almost no control over the exceptional legal regimes of the Member States. The crises of recent years have shown that the EU finds it difficult to enforce the rule of law even in the normal legal order, and that there are no European standards for state of exception and other forms of extraordinary governance measures. Yet it was the COVID-19 that showed how important it would be, both regionally and at EU level, if Member States could harmonise their different types of exceptional legal order. According to Carl Schmitt, it is the sovereign who rules over the exceptional legal order. Based on an examination of the extraordinary measures of governance introduced by authoritarian populists during the pandemic, it has been argued in this paper that the EU could address many sovereignty problems much better if it took steps towards developing a framework of “European state of exception”. The various forms of global ecological and climate crisis we are facing make this all the more urgent. This study explores the ways in which civil society can control and constrain exceptional situations at national and EU level.

The Political Economy of Emergency Governance in Hungary (transform! conference, 3-4 April, 2023)

I am participating at “100 Shades of the EU: The Political Economy of the EU Peripheries between Pandemic and War” conference organised by transform! 3-4t April, 2023 in Trieste (Italy). I will present a sub-topic of my postdoctoral research on "The State of Emergency in the Era of Global Ecological and Pandemic Crisis". I will speak about The Political Economy of Emergency Governance in Hungary.

The authoritarian populist right-wing has rapidly reborn in the field of authoritarian state and emergency governance, moreover the COVID-19 crisis gave a new rise this phenomenon. The failures of liberal democracy opened the way of authoritarian populist right-wing populism in semi-peripheral Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), which on the one hand remained integrated into the neoliberal capitalism and on the other hand dismantled the legal basis of liberal constitutionalism. Investigating the CEE authoritarian populist regimes (especially Hungary), it has been argued that Hungarian authoritarian populism and its regional followers established this politics from the migration crisis of 2015 on the permanent state of exception and extraordinary governance measures. The COVID-19 crisis offered a new opportunity to maintain and extend the emergency measures. Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister found the way to capitalize the pandemic crisis and introduced the overlapping exceptional measures. Relying on the political theoretical concept of exceptional governance, it has been argued and analysed in this paper that the new forms of authoritarianism in CEE are based on the extraordinary measures. Even before the COVID-19 crisis, the dependence of the semi-peripheral CEE economic and political regimes on the European capitalist centre was already very significant. In this paper, I will examine the political economy concept of governance by exceptional measures in the Orbán regime. I argue that the semi-peripheral Orbán regime, serving global capitalism, has made Hungarian society even more vulnerable by extraordinary measures to the global and national capitalist class than before (for instance the new Labour Code, de facto abolition of the possibility of legal strikes).

The program of the event can be found here.

A globális válságok társadalmi és politikai hatásai (workshop, ELTE ÁJK, 2023. március 23.)

 2023. március 23-án kerül megrendezésre az ELTE Állam- és Jogtudományi Karán a "A globális válságok társadalmi és politikai hatásai" című workshop.

 

A workshop Antal Attila (adjunktus, ELTE ÁJK Politikatudományi Intézet) Nemzeti Kutatási, Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal Posztdoktori Kiválósági Program keretében folytatott, A rendkívüli jogrend a globális ökológiai és járványügyi válságok tükrében című (NKFIH-azonosító: 139007) kutatása, valamint a Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Bolyai János Kutatási Ösztöndíj keretében kerül megrendezésre.

Projekt-honlap: http://www.stateofemergency.hu/

State of Exception and Authoritarian Populism (Association for Political Theory Annual Conference, 27-29 October 2022, University of Houston)

I am attending at the Association for Political Theory Annual Conference, 27-29 October 2022 which will be held at University of Houston. The program is available form here. I brought here my postdoc research on the contemporary overlapping state of exceptions. The lecture is about State of Exception and Authoritarian Populism. The Extraordinary Measures Under International and Civil Society Control. It has been investigated here how the international humanitarian law and the civil society can be a counterbalance in terms of the emerging authoritarian application of exceptional governance.

I also have the honour of chairing the Authoritarianism and Elites panel.

The research is carried out in the framework of "The State of Emergency in the Era of Global Ecological and Pandemic Crisis„ project (financed by National Research, Development and Innovation Office Postdoctoral Excellence Program of Hungary, ID-number: 139007, hosting institution: ELTE Faculty of Law)

The Extraordinary Measures of Authoritarian Populism and the “European State of Exception” Controlled by the Civil Society (TraPoCo Conference, 21-22 September, 2022, Wien)

 I have participated at International Conference Transnational Political Contention and European Integration, Universität für Bodenkultur, 21-22 September 2022, Vienna, Austria.

My paper is dealing the following questions:

The Extraordinary Measures of Authoritarian Populism and the “European State of Exception” Controlled by the Civil Society

The authoritarian populist right-wing has rapidly reborn in the field of authoritarian state and emergency governance, moreover the COVID-19 crisis gave a new rise this phenomenon mainly at the expense of civil society. The failures of liberal democracy opened the way of authoritarian populist right-wing populism in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), which on the one hand remained integrated into the neoliberal capitalism and on the other hand dismantled the legal basis of liberal constitutionalism. Investigating the CEE authoritarian populist regimes (especially Hungary), it has been argued that Hungarian authoritarian populism and its regional followers established this politics from the migration crisis of 2015 on the permanent state of exception. The COVID-19 crisis offered a new opportunity to maintain and extend the emergency measures. Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister found the way to capitalize the pandemic crisis and introduced the overlapping exceptional measures. Relying on the political theoretical concept of exceptional governance, it has been argued and analysed in this paper that the new forms of authoritarianism in CEE are based on the extraordinary measures. Civil society is basically the victim of exceptional governance and has no control over it. At the same time, the European Union (EU) has not been able to counteract the authoritarian instruments of exceptional governance in the various waves of the pandemic. This highlights the fact that the EU has almost no control over the exceptional legal regimes of the Member States. The crises of recent years have shown that the EU finds it difficult to enforce the rule of law even in the normal legal order, and that there are no European standards for state of exception and other forms of extraordinary governance measures. Yet it was the COVID-19 that showed how important it would be, both regionally and at EU level, if Member States could harmonise their different types of exceptional legal order. According to Carl Schmitt, it is the sovereign who rules over the exceptional legal order. Based on an examination of the extraordinary measures of governance introduced by authoritarian populists during the pandemic, it has been argued in this paper that the EU could address many sovereignty problems much better if it took steps towards developing a framework of “European state of exception”. The various forms of global ecological and climate crisis we are facing make this all the more urgent. This study explores the ways in which civil society can control and constrain exceptional situations at national and EU level.

COVID-19 and Emergency Measures in Hungary (CEPSA, 2-3 June 2022, Bled, Slovenia)

I have appeared at 26th Annual Central European Political Science Association (CEPSA) "Democracy after coronavirus: facing new political reality" Conference 2-3 June, Bled, Slovenia. My lecture was about the "COVID-19 and Emergency Measures in Hungary". The program is available from here.

This paper examines how the authoritarian populist government of Hungary introduced extraordinary measures upon the case of COVID-19. After the migration crisis of 2015, the Orbán regime applied several kinds of overlapped state of exception (emergency caused by mass immigration, coronavirus-related state of exception, health crisis emergency). On the one hand, the character of the introduced exceptional government measures showed clearly nationalist attributes. On the other hand, it is also clear that the measures introduced are mixed with the “embedded neoliberalism” of the Orbán regime. The outbreak of the pandemic showed that the nationalism of the Orbán regime can only be examined in a multidimensional framework, as the nationalist discourse reinforced during the COIVD-19 was clearly coupled with the government's primary support for nationalist bourgeoise and international capital rather than Hungarian workers. In other words, discursive nationalism was not coupled with a nationalist economic policy. This mixing of nationalism and neoliberalism has certainly been facilitated and supported by an exceptional legal and political order. This paper seeks to deeply investigate how the coronavirus-related nationalism coupled with the semi-peripherical capitalism of the Orbán-regime in the framework of the exceptional measures.

This lecture is a part of my research project "The State of Emergency in the Era of Global Ecological and Pandemic Crisis" (financed by National Research, Development and Innovation Office Postdoctoral Excellence Programme of Hungary, ID-number: 139007, hosting institution: ELTE Faculty of Law). More details on this project: https://www.stateofemergency.hu/

Attila Antal: Hungary in State of Exception

My book, Hungary in State of Exception. Authoritarian Neoliberalism from the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy to the COVID-19 Crisis, is forthcoming from Lexington Books, part of Rowman and Littlefield.

Hungary in State of Exception seeks to analyze the transboundary exchange of political and economic ideas through the global neoliberal hegemonic struggle. Neoliberalism, as a economic and political ideology, defined the history of Hungary not just in the 21st century, but in the troubled 20th century. Eastern Europe played a crucial role in neoliberalism’s rise to control globalized capitalism, and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have constantly an incubator of and experimental laboratory for new types of neoliberal capitalism. Antal arguesthat neoliberalism, like populism, is historically embedded in Hungarian political history, its the political form is economic and governmental exceptionalism. This book reveals the common history of Western- and Eastern-style neoliberalism from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the contemporary COVID-19 crisis. Without emphasis on the century of neoliberalization of CEE, the contemporary rise of regional authoritarianism cannot be understood. Antal also details the relationship between Orbán’s rise and contemporary neoliberal politics in CEE.

Table of contents:

Introduction: Historically Embedded Neoliberalism and Exceptional Measures in Hungary

Chapter 1: The Neoliberalism as a Permanent State of Exception

Chapter 2 The Heritage of the Habsburg Empire: The Historical Impact of Neoliberalism

Chapter 3 Neoliberalization of State Socialism

Chapter 4 The Neoliberalization of 1989 and the Collapse of System of Regime Change

Chapter 5 Authoritarian Populism, Neoliberalism and Exceptional Measures

Conclusion: The Semi-Peripheral Fate: Neoliberalism and Authoritarian Populism

MPSA Conference 2022: Emergency Governance in Hungary and the COVID-19

I have a lecture at 79th Annual Midwest Political Science Association Conference 7–10, April 2022 Chicago. My lecture is delivered with the following title: Emergency Governance in Hungary and the COVID-19.

We live in an era of overlapping states of exceptions: the climate and ecological emergency, the permanent crisis of global capitalism, the migration crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic. Relying on the Hungarian political system, this paper investigates how and why exceptional measures restructure our life. Against the background of the current Hungarian authoritarian populist regime, municipal experiences, and other contemporary tendencies, three main forms of states of exceptions are investigated: (1) the exceptionality of the migration crisis of 2015; (2) the climate emergencies declared by local governments, which are rather political declarations and not legally accepted versions of exceptional measures; (3) the overlapping forms of COVID-19-related emergencies. It can be argued that the main outcome of the exceptional measures is the rise of a new executive power, and it is demonstrated how heavily authoritarian regimes rely on the state of exception. Amplifying the authoritarian tendencies and the abusive application of the exceptional legal order, the COVID-19 crisis basically proved that it is worth considering institutionalizing the climate and ecological emergency as a tool in the struggle of resolving the planetary crisis of our time.

This lecture is a part of my research project "The State of Emergency in the Era of Global Ecological and Pandemic Crisis" (financed by National Research, Development and Innovation Office Postdoctoral Excellence Programme of Hungary, ID-number: 139007, hosting institution: ELTE Faculty of Law). More details on this project: https://www.stateofemergency.hu/

Emergency Power in Hungary and the COVID-19 (ASEEES Annual Convention, 3 December, 2021)

 I had an online lecture at 53rd ASEEES Annual Convention at the COVID-19 in East-Central Europe: Diverse Policy Responses to the Pandemic panel.

My lecture: Emergency Power in Hungary and the COVID-19 Crisis

The contemporary authoritarian right has rapidly reborn in the field of authoritarian state and emergency power, and the COVID-19 crisis gave a new rise this phenomenon. The failure of liberal democracy opened the way of authoritarian right-wing populism, which on the one hand remained integrated into neoliberal capitalism and on the other hand dismantled the legal basis of liberal constitutionalism. Orbán established his politics from the migration crisis of 2015 on the permanent state of exception. The COVID-19 crisis offered a new opportunity to maintain the emergency. Orbán found the way to capitalize the pandemic crisis and introduced the long-lasting exceptional measures. I argue here that the authoritarian populism entered its new phase and the use of emergency power will be crucial in the era of climate and ecological crisis.

This lecture is a part of my research project "The State of Emergency in the Era of Global Ecological and Pandemic Crisis" (financed by National Research, Development and Innovation Office Postdoctoral Excellence Programme of Hungary, ID-number: 139007, hosting institution: ELTE Faculty of Law). More details on this project: https://www.stateofemergency.hu/

In the panel there were the following lectures delivered by my distinguished Colleagues in terms of Central and Eastern Europe and the pandmic crisis:

Krzysztof Brzechczyn: Between Safety and Freedom: The Dilemmas of Policy Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Poland

Vitezslav Sommer: State, Experts and Legacies of Long Transformation: COVID-19 Controversies in the Czech Republic

Dragos Petrescu: Path Dependence, Legal (In)Security, Digital Solutions: Contradictory Responses to the COVID-19 Crisis in Romania