Obstacles to a Green Democracy and the Appeal of Ecoauthoritarianism

We cordially invite you to the next session of our workshop series on Authoritarian Politics and International Relations at WZB. Didem Aydurmus will talk about Ecoauthoritarianism: Although there is no empirical evidence for a direct connection between democracy and sustainability, the former is often thought as a precondition to the latter. Even in political science, the capacity of democracy to produce green politics is rarely questioned. However, there are various obstacles. This talk will discuss different mechanisms and weaknesses of democracy in regard to the mitigation of climate change and the resulting appeal of authoritarianism. It will give insides on ecoauthoritarian arguments and discuss why they cannot easily be dismissed.

For more on Didem's work, see also this blogpost regarding environmental policy in China.

The seminar series aims at bringing together scholars from Comparative Politics and International Relations. We invite papers combining comparative authoritarianism and IR, as well as contributions that help clarify important theoretical concepts and empirical patterns in either discipline. Colleagues interested in presenting in the workshop series should email Alex Tokhi (alexandros.tokhi [at] wzb.eu) or Alex Schmotz (alexander.schmotz [at] wzb.eu).

When: Once a month on a Tuesday afternoon (see dates below)

Where: WZB Berlin Social Science Center, Reichpietschufer 50, 10785 Berlin, Room A305

What: A classic format: 90 minute research seminar with one paper presentation (15 min), one discussant (10), and plenty of time for Q&A

Who: All scholars from WZB and the Berlin area and anyone interested in authoritarian politics and/or international relations

The next sessions you can find here.

Organized by Alexandros Tokhi (Department Global Governance) and Alexander Schmotz (Department of Democracy & Democratisation)