Democratic Expeditions: Call for Papers

Democratic Expeditions Workshop #2 
September 22-23, 2025 

Call for Papers

Contesting the Far Right, Safeguarding Democracy:

Comparative Insights from Europe and Latin America 

Convenors: Daphne Halikiopoulou (University of York, UK) & Carlos Meléndez (CEU Democracy Institute, Budapest) 

Submission deadline for paper proposals: March 1, 2025 

Far-right movements have gained strength across the globe, challenging democratic norms and institutions. While in Europe the far right has consolidated its presence in mainstream politics and governments, in Latin America it has risen to prominence in contexts marked by political instability. These trends present critical threats to liberal democratic values, from the normalization of hate and exclusion to the erosion of institutional checks and balances. 

This workshop seeks to identify and evaluate the most effective mechanisms to counter the far-right’s influence, focusing on comparative insights from Europe and Latin America. By exploring strategies across different political contexts, the event aims to advance our understanding of how democracies can resist far-right extremism and safeguard liberal values. 

Contesting the far-right in comparative perspective 

The global rise of far-right movements presents a pressing challenge to liberal democracies, yet the dynamics and strategies to counteract their influence differ significantly across regions. This workshop adopts a comparative lens to examine how Europe and Latin America—two regions with distinct political landscapes, institutional arrangements, and social cleavages—may confront the far-right threat. While far-right parties in Europe have institutionalized their presence through structured party systems, those in Latin America are often characterized by populist and personalistic leadership styles. Whereas in Europe the far right has increased its electoral fortunes within the context of rising immigration, the rise of the Latin American far right is unfolding in a context of growing discontent with the political establishment and the increasing politicisation of issues such as corruption and crime. Contrary to Europe, nativism does not prominently appear in the Latin American far right, as many Latin American countries face significant emigration. Despite operating in very different contexts, however, the far right in both regions undermines liberal democracy by normalizing hate, radicalizing societies, and weakening institutional safeguards. 

A comparative perspective is critical not only for identifying region-specific contestation strategies but also for fostering cross-regional learning. What can Europe learn from the resilience of Latin American civil society in resisting authoritarian far right populism? Conversely, how can Latin America draw lessons from Europe’s successes and failures in institutional and electoral counterstrategies? This dialogue aims to generate actionable insights for building democratic resilience against far-right actors and ideologies globally. 

Thematic Scope 

This workshop focuses on key dimensions of the far-right threat and corresponding strategies of resistance: 

1. Normalizing Hate  

In their intolerance and their pursuit of exclusionary policies, far right parties tend to introduce, propagate, and normalize hate and incite fear, as basic emotions of exclusion. Papers on the normalization of hate incited by far right parties may explore: 

• The role of media and political narratives in amplifying or countering far-right rhetoric. 

• The effectiveness of moderation strategies in electoral campaigns and beyond. 

• Comparative studies of how hate and fear, and exclusionary politics take root in Europe and Latin America. 

​​​​​​​2. Weakening Democratic Institutions 

Once in power, far-right actors often erode institutional checks and balances through constitutional changes, judicial capture, and attacks on the press. Relevant questions include: 

• What institutional mechanisms have proven effective in resisting these autocratizing pressures? 

• How do judicial systems and legislatures respond to far-right encroachments in different contexts? 

3. Actors of Contestation 

Resistance to the far right involves a range of actors, including opposition parties, trade unions, civil society, and international organizations. Papers can address: 

• The role of center-left coalitions in mobilizing against far-right agendas. 

• Grassroots (e.g. unions) and transnational efforts to counteract far-right ideologies and policies. 

• Strategies adopted by non-state actors, such as NGOs and philanthropic foundations, to bolster democratic resilience. 

By examining these interconnected dimensions comparatively across Europe and Latin America, the workshop seeks to transcend region-specific analyses. Our aim is to identify generalizable, effective contestation strategies, applicable to diverse political contexts, thus contributing to the development of a broader framework for global democratic resilience. 

We invite participants to present systematic studies that specifically explore strategies of resistance against the far right. We encourage contributors to emphasise comparative insights across a number of themes including (but not limited to) contesting the far right in elections, political communication, institutional resilience, and the role of civil society. Submissions should focus on actionable insights, comparative approaches, and implications for both academic and practical audiences. 

In the spirit of methodological pluralism, we welcome a wide range of approaches, including qualitative and quantitative studies, empirical inquiries, analytic case studies, and comparative research. Papers may examine contemporary developments or offer historical perspectives on far-right movements and resistance strategies.  

Democratic Expeditions 

Expeditions are organized journeys into uncharted territory. Democratic Expeditions is a series of openly sourced, carefully crafted international research workshops to shed systematic light on underexplored issues of democratic crises and democratizing struggles. The initiative is a joint venture by the ceu Democracy Institute’s working group on De- and Re-Democratization (drd), the ceu Department of Political Science, and FES Democracy of the Future in Vienna. “Contesting the Far Right, Safeguarding Democracy: comparative insights from Europe and Latin America” is the second event within this framework.  

Workshop Format 

The workshop will take place on 22-23 September 2025 in Budapest. We anticipate circa 12 paper givers, including invited speakers. We also plan to invite non-academic stakeholders (practitioners and activists) to include as possible presenters or discussants. To ensure focused discussion, full paper drafts will be circulated 14 days prior to the workshop and participants are expected to read all papers in advance. We envision a thematic journal issue or an edited volume as a possible publication deriving from the workshop. The academic findings of the workshop will also be used to produce concise and accessible summaries for dissemination purposes in non-academic venues, targeting policymakers and other non-academic stakeholders. 

There will be some funding available for travel and / or accommodation for those participants who do not have alternative sources of funding, generously provided by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and CEU’s Democracy Institute. 

Submission of Paper Proposals 

Paper proposals should contain the following: 

• A tentative paper title 

• A brief description of the proposed paper (no more than 500 words) 

• Author information: name, institution, academic position, biographical note (no more than 100 words) 

Please submit your proposal before March 1,  2025, 24:00 hrs CET via the following Google form: https://forms.gle/mT9tasWmaHMzzLMTA If you have any questions, please e-mail Flóra Hevesi (HevesiF(at)ceu.edu), with copies to Daphne Halikiopoulou (daphne.halikiopoulou(at)york.ac.uk) and Carlos Meléndez (MelendezC@ceu.edu). 

Download the call here.