On Zoom

Speakers: Kim Lane Scheppele (Princeton); Ruth Ben-Ghiat (New York University); Jemar Tisby (Simmons College)

Moderator: Tsveta Petrova (Columbia University)

Cosponsors:  Harriman Institute , Department of Religion

For well over a decade, journalists and academics have been tracing the rise of Viktor Orbán and his particular brand of “illiberal democracy” in Hungary. So, too, have right-wing activists and politicians here in the United States. As last year’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas made clear, Orbán is something of a hero, and even playbook-setter for the American Right. A crucial element of this shared approach to populist politics is the appeal to Christianity. The aim of this panel at IRCPL is to explore and lay bare the project that Orbán is enacting, and provide comparative analysis with dynamics in the United States.