Masterclass in Budapest: Angelos Chryssogelos on Conservatism in World Politics
The latest masterclass in Budapest, open for fellows in every hub, was held on March 12. The class, entitled Conservatism in world politics: Weaponized ideology or meaningful concept?, was taught by Angelos Chryssogelos from the London Metropolitan University.
According to the class description, it is clear that a new paradigm of right-wing politics is imposing itself around the world, but its exact ideological outlines are still contested. Things are further complicated by the fact that many of these actors describe themselves as ‘conservative’ whereas much of academic analysis centers around concepts like populism, authoritarianism, illiberalism etc. Can this gap be bridged? This class will discuss the literature on conservatism – a surprisingly understudied topic in political analysis – and the insights it offers to explain both the sources of the ongoing transformation of right-wing politics and its implications for international order.
The required readings for the class included:
- Chryssogelos, Angelos. “When long lost siblings reunite: populism, conservatism and the discontents of progress.” Journal of Political Ideologies (2024): 1-20.
- Altinors, Gorkem, and Angelos Chryssogelos. “Beyond populism and into the state: The political economy of national-conservatism.” The British Journal of Politics and International Relations 26.4 (2024): 995-1014.
More general background readings:
- S.P. Huntington, ‘Conservatism as an ideology’, American Political Science Review, 51 (1957), pp. 454–473;
- J.-W. Müller, ‘Comprehending conservatism: A new framework for analysis’, Journal of Political Ideologies, 11 (2006), pp. 359–365.
