Authoritarianism topic of Zoom roundtable discussion
Students will be able to view a team of highly regarded academics assembled by the University of Wisconsin Law School explore resistance to autocracy in a timely Zoom roundtable to be held in Williams Center Room S204 on Tuesday, April 12, from 1 to 2:30 p.m.
The presentation, hosted on campus by the Department of Politics and International Affairs, Department of History and the Fredonia American Democracy Project, is framed in the context of a new wave of authoritarianism and erosion of legal protections for human rights, civil liberties and democracy.
"The scholars on the panel are absolutely first-rate,” said Department of Politics and International Affairs Associate Professor Jonathan Chausovsky, “and students who have viewed similar Zoom symposia were amazed at how it was so much more insightful and in-depth compared to what is available in regular and social media sources."
Experts will discuss the autocratic challenge and resistances to it in Europe, the United States and Latin America by both domestic and global institutions and actors. The program will conclude with a brief discussion, general reactions and a Q&A.
Co-chairs of the roundtable are Alexandra Huneeus and David Trubek of the University of Wisconsin Law School. Panelists include Kim Lane Scheppele of Princeton University, Bojan Bugaric of University of Sheffield, Rob Yablon of University of Wisconsin Law School, Raquel Pimenta of Fundaςão Getulio Vargas, São Palo, Brazil; and Rachael Meade of Boston University.
A new wave of authoritarianism and the erosion of legal protections for human rights, civil liberties and democracy have arisen. In the United States, Europe and the Global South, autocrats and would-be autocrats seek to undermine democratic institutions and weaken constitutional protections, often by misuse of legal institutions, Dr. Chausovsky explained. These efforts at authoritarianism and autocratic legalism are meeting resistance from within the countries and from the global community.
Sponsors of the presentation from UW Law School are Global Legal Studies Center, Human Rights Program, Center for German and European Studies, Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS), Project on Autocratic Legalism (PAL) and Transnational Efforts to Combat Authoritarianism (TRECA).
