Flight into Authoritarianism? The Future of Democracy

We are delighted to welcome Oliver Decker to Cambridge, who will share his contentious recent work on the ‘flight into authoritarianism’ and on right-wing extremism at the centre of contemporary societies. The ‘centre’ has been understood to be the structural core of a state whose remit is to guarantee freedoms and keep a rein on power. In Germany National Socialism was read as a disastrous ‘loss of the centre’, and in postwar Europe the ‘centre’ has been called ‘a German fetish’ (Focus magazine, 2009). Decker and his colleagues have attracted criticism and even hostility for their project to make public that democratic society is under threat not from its margins, but from its apparently stable centre.
How can the ‘centre’ guarantee democracy when that centre is articulating views and concerns that fundamentally contradict how democracy understands itself? Who or what is driving contemporary populism? Is there hope for a plural democratic future – and if so, where do we look for it?
Beginning with contemporary Germany and extending to Europe and beyond, Professor Decker will consider questions of social cohesion and belonging, taking us on a tour of our difficult present and possible futures.

Professor Oliver Decker is Director of the Leipzig Centre for the Study of Democracy, with a particular focus on authoritarianism, democratic participation, and social cohesion. He has led groundbreaking research such as the Authoritarianism Study, which examines authoritarian attitudes and democratic resilience in Germany. His work is internationally recognised for its innovative methodologies and its interdisciplinary approach, combining psychological, sociological, and political analyses to uncover the roots of societal polarisation and exclusion. His insights on the development of group-focused enmity and the dynamics of resentment offer critical tools for understanding the fragility of democracy in today’s world.