Neo-Authoritarianism without Authority

Abstract

This article examines two aspects of neo-authoritarianism. The first is mainly diagnostic and concerns the nature of authoritarianism as a phenomenon of transition. The article investigates tensions and conflicts between temporalities. It pays attention to the asynchronous nature of change which, alongside the social structural level of changes, also the psycho-social level, intervene politically in different forms. There are social strata that are strangers in their own country and do not share the same present with others. For them, looking to the past is the only way to imagine a different future. If they are looking for values and authority, the neoconservatives fill the lack of authority with more power and replace the liquidation of old values with identity grounded on racism, nationalism, religion. By eroding the social cement that should keep society together, neoliberalism has also created room for compensatory phenomena, such as the need for community, authority, and politics. Understanding these needs constitutes the second, predominantly prognostic, part of this article’s analysis.