MITHRA LEHN, PAVLOS ROUFOS, ALAN DIAZ, JERONIMO VOSS & LAIN IWAKURA, RIME ABD AL MAJEED, JAMES GREGORY ATKINSON, ROBYN MARASCO, NIKOLAUS KOCKEL, SOFIA BEMPEZA, JOHANNA MAJ SCHMIDT, FRIEDERIKE SIGLER & KATHRIN ROTTMANN, VANESSA AMOAH OPOKU

THESES ON THE RELATION OF LIBERALISM AND FASCISM

May 8th 2025, 10:00–20:00
May 9th 2025, 10:00–16:00

Keynote by Henrike Naumann

HfG Offenbach
Isenburger Schloss, Schloßstr. 31, linke Kapelle

Fascism is typically understood as the political opposite of liberalism. Against this backdrop, however, it becomes increasingly difficult to explain why liberal democracies around the world are undergoing a continuing shift toward authoritarianism. This conference engages with the thesis articulated by Theodor W. Adorno, Gretel Adorno and Max Horkheimer in Dialectic of Enlightenment that, despite its democratic self-understanding, “seeds of regression” are inscribed in the very structure of political liberalism. Accordingly, the relation between liberalism and fascism must be conceived in more complex terms. We seek not only to interrogate this relation through the lens of various societal structures—such as gender, capital, race, technology, and aesthetics—but also to examine its relevance and manifestations in the contemporary political moment. By analyzing both historical continuities and ruptures, the conference aims to foster an interdisciplinary dialogue within the broader field of critical theory and the arts.

Organised by Leonie Hunter