NoVaMigra International Conference on Populism and Migration, Budapest, 10-11 March 2020

First Part of the Conference

Péter Krekó (Political Capital Institute) – Myths about Migration and Tribal Politics

Jean-Yves Camus (IRIS) – The Identitarian Movement in France and in Europe as a Vanguard of the Anti-Immigration Far Right: History and Concepts

Éva Gedő (Wesley Theological College Budapest) – Populism versus Liberalism

Attila Melegh (Corvinus University Budapest) – “Hungarians Can Be Replaced Only by Hungarians”: Historical-Sociological Analysis of Anti-Migrant Populism

Catherine Wihtol de Wenden (CNRS) – Figures of the Other (In Light of Growing Populisms)

Round table discussion – with Tímea Bagdi (Oltalom Association), Katalin Czottner (John Wesley Theological College), Vera Juhász (John Wesley Theological College), András Kováts (Menedék Foundation), Zoltán Somogyvári (Hungarian Helsinki Committee)

Second Part of the Conference

Francois Boucher (KU Leuven) – The Case of Europe: Transnational Populism and the UN Global Compacts on Refugees and Migrants.

Éva Szénási (University of Szeged) – Populist Discourse and Migration in the Policy of the FN/RN: Following Marine Le Pen’s Turn

János Salamon (McDaniel College Budapest) – The New Dispensation. The Popular Uprising against Liberalism

Endre Sík (Debrecen University / TARKI) – The Moral Panic Button 3.0

Alex Demirovic (University of Frankfurt) – Authoritarian Populism as a Neoliberal Crisis Management Strategy

François Boucher (KU Leuven) – National-Populism and Anti-Immigration Discourse in France, 2011-2017

Webinar Series on Migration & Populism, 29 January – 26 February 2020

Matter over Mind – Populism: an appeal to numbers with János Salamon

According to a long philosophical, Socratic tradition critical of democracy the rule of the many is in fact the rule of quantity over quality, of passions over reason, of matter over mind. In this talk the presenter wants to explore the relationship between anti-intellectual, anti-elite populism and democracy. In his investigation he intends to pay special attention to two related paradoxes.

What is populism? with Éva Gedő

The starting point of the lecture is that contemporary populist politics is characterized by a tendency to undisguised lying. Oxford Dictionaries designated “post-truth” as its 2015 Word of the Year. The concept of post-truth has been around for the past decade, but Oxford Dictionaries has witnessed a surge in usage in the year 2016 in the context of Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. The idea of post-truth has also become a collocation of a particular noun, in the phrase post-truth politics. In the webinar presentation, it is attempted to create a new kind of so-called
“methodological individualist” position for the criticism of populism. The problem of populism is approached through the question of its relation to liberalism. The basis of the methodological individualist criticism of populism will be the problem of subjective decision, where treachery as a philosophical problem comes to the fore, and populism is approached through the question of the decision that justifies life-lies.

Relationship between migration and populism. A Comparative analysis of France and Germany with Eva Gedő and Éva Szénási

The two lectures following one another attempt to present and compare the policies of two right-wing populist parties in Western Europe the Front National and the AfD. The webinar gives emphasis to the analysis of the causes of the recent success of both parties. In this context, the webinar gives a brief overview of the histories of both right-wing radical parties and their current policies, the changes in their image, political language and themes. The comparison is interesting since the two parties, though keep their distances, have similar views on several issues, such as migration. Both parties describe national identity as under threat both from European integration and from the presence and accommodation of immigrants and refugees within the respective countries.

Migration and xenophobia with Endre Sík

This webinar explores how the Hungarian government framed the migration discourse and how the Fidesz-KDNP party coalition instrumentalised the refugee crisis as a „moral panic” button to increase the popularity of the government after its popularity decline 2014. The paper shows different anti-refugee governmental strategies of 2015 and 2016 such as the national consultation, the billboard, media and the referendum campaigns and analyses their impact on the xenophobic attitudes in the Hungarian society.

Migration as an international phenomenon with Attila Melegh

The history of the population and migration policy and the radicalization of emographic nationalism can be understood as evolving within the era of globalization out of an interplay between demographic challenges and labor market challenges on a global, European and local level. On all these levels there are key factors operating due to neoliberal institutions, most importantly the freedom of capital to move and overrule and subordinate local social arrangements. This webinar looks at Hungary as an example.

NoVaMigra Conference “European Values in the Charter of Fundamental Rights”, 9 – 11 September 2019

First Panel: Dignity
Speaker: Marcus Düwell (in lieu of Roger Brownsword, King’s College London)
Chair: Alessandra Facchi (University of Milan)
Discussant: Marcus Düwell (Utrecht University)

Second Panel: Justice
Speaker: Gianluigi Palombella (Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies Pisa)
Chair: Vito Velluzzi (University of Milan)
Discussant: Silvia Zorzetto (University of Milan)

Third Panel: Equality
Speaker: Gianfrancesco Zanetti (CRID, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia)
Chair: Ilaria Viarengo (University of Milan)
Discussant: Nicola Riva (University of Milan)

Fourth Panel: Freedoms
Speaker: Catherine Audard (London School of Economics)
Chair: Antonella Besussi (University of Milan)
Discussant: Andreas Niederberger (University of Duisburg-Essen)

Fifth Panel: Solidarity
Speaker: Philippe van Parijs (KU Leuven)
Chair: Maurizio Ambrosini (University of Milan)
Discussant: Elena Granaglia (University of Rome 3)

Sixth Panel: Citizens’ Rights
Speaker: Justine Lacroix (Free University of Bruxelles)
Chair: Volker Heins (University of Duisburg-Essen)
Discussant: Francois Boucher (University of Paris 1 – Panthéon-Sorbonne /KU Leuven)

Final Roundtable
With: Catherine Audard, Francois Boucher, Marcus Düwell, Elena Granaglia, Justine Lacroix, Andreas Niederberger, Philippe van Parijs, Nicola Riva, Silvia Zorzetto
Chair: Giancarlo Bosetti (University of Milan)