The phenomena of “right-wing polarisation”, “illiberal” shifts, and democratic backsliding have been the subject of numerous studies in the social sciences in recent years. At the crossroads of sociology, political science and history, this workshop aims to report on the work carried out by a group of French and foreign researchers on conservative mobilisations. These are examined in all their diversity, in terms of issues (“culture wars”, demonstrations of hostility towards immigration or homosexuals, “anti-gender” or “antiwoke” movements), but also in terms of repertoires (metapolitical strategies, street demonstrations, identity activism, and even far-right terrorism).
By decentring the focus from the study of electoral phenomena and political parties, particular attention is paid to the role of intermediate or interstitial spaces (media, intellectual circles, think tanks, clubs, the internet and social networks) and civil society actors (associations, religious organisations) in the circulation of ideas and forms of reactionary action. This workshop thus seeks to understand the sociology of these actors, whether they are elite groups (intellectuals, senior civil servants, business leaders) or groups belonging to the intermediate and popular categories of the social space.
It also aims to offer a conceptual reflection capable of finely characterising the ideology of the movements studied, the plural forms of conservatism, in particular the convergence now apparent between its radical form and the form that still presented itself as liberal a few years ago, in the context of an illiberal project. This workshop adopts a resolutely transnational perspective, focusing on the circulation of ideas, actors and repertoires, particularly between Eastern and Western Europe, but also between Europe and the United States, without forgetting the “Global South”.
It provides a space for dialogue and cumulative scholarly exchange, drawing on the experience of a research group funded in 2024 and 2025 by the Labex TEPSIS and CNRS (International Emerging Action); on the CILEX (Conservatism, Illiberalism, Far Right) working group of the French Political Science Association; and on a research seminar organised since 2023 at EHESS.
Workshop coordinated by Valentin Behr (CNRS/CESSP) and Alihan Mestci (EHESS/CESSP)
