Conference Program
Program
Venue: Open Science Lab Room 1 (Zellescher Weg 25, 01217 Dresden)
26.11.2025
Arrival
18:00 Optional visit to the Striezelmarkt - oldest Christmas market in the world (Meeting Point tba)
19:00 Optional: Visit the opera "Turandot" in the famous Semper Opera of Dresden
27.11.2025
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9:15 |
Registration |
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9:30-9:45 |
Welcome Words |
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Vice-Rector University Culture and Internationalization Speaker of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences |
Roswitha Böhm Christian Prunitsch |
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9.45-10.00 |
Introduction to the theme and the rationale of the conference |
Marianne Kneuer |
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10.00-11.30 |
Panel I: Conceptual aspects |
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Chair: |
Aurel Croissant |
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Discussants: |
Uwe Backes, Aurel Croissant |
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The Paradox of Authoritarian Networks: Mechanisms, Conditions and Dynamics of Disrupting Democracy and Stabilizing Autocracy |
Marianne Kneuer, Kristin Eichhorn and Erik Vollmann |
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How Autocrats Rule: Network Configurations and Elite Integration Across Regime Types |
Steffen Kailitz |
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The Epistemic Role of Strong Ties in Authoritarian Networks |
Sergiu Spatan |
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11:30-12:30 |
Lunch Break |
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12:30-14.00 |
Panel II: Media and communicational networks |
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Chair: |
Kristin Eichhorn |
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Discussant: |
Erik Vollmann |
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Authoritarian Attitudes and Media Populism |
Sven Engeßer |
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The complex interplay of social media, network structures, and authoritarian actors |
Philipp Lorenz-Spreen |
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The Geo-Politics of Artificial Intelligence: Race, Autocracy, Neoliberalism, and Techno-Optimism |
Orit Halpern |
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14.00-15.30 |
Panel III: Transnational authoritarian networks |
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Chair: |
Marianne Kneuer |
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Discussant: |
Thomas Demmelhuber |
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Authoritarian Connectivity: Chinese Business Elites and Internet Control in Africa |
Tina Freyburg |
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Representing the (Il)liberal Future? Transnational Advocacy Networks and the Political Mobilization of Youth in the European Union |
Anna Holzscheiter |
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Private foundations: Transnational actors in autocratization? |
Julia Leininger |
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15:30-16:00 |
Coffee break |
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16.00-17.30 |
Keynote Rachel Beatty Riedl |
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Democratic Erosion through Transnational Authoritarianism: Information Systems, Resources, and Repression |
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18:30 |
Dinner (by invitation of TU Dresden) |
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28.11.2025
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9.30-11.00 |
Panel IV: Transnational authoritarian networks |
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Chair: |
Rachel Beatty Riedl |
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Discussant: |
Piotr Kocyba |
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Anti-democratic Narratives in Online Spaces |
Karrie Koesel |
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Hermits No More: The International Networking of Autocracy in Burma and North Korea |
Dan Slater |
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Substitution and Disruption in Authoritarian Networks: Explaining CSTO Under-Signalling |
Murad Nasibov |
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11.00-11.30 |
Coffee break |
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11.30-13.00 |
Panel V: Far-right networks |
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Chair: |
Christian Pentzold |
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Discussant: |
Lucas von Ramin |
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The AfD's Semiotic Strategies for Normalizing Authoritarian Discourse Online |
Simon Meier-Vieracker & Torben Rath |
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The Fifth Wave of Far-Right Politics since 1945: Government, New Issues, and Extraparliamentary Activism |
Manès Weisskircher |
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13:00-14:00 |
Lunch Break |
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14:00-15:30 |
Brainstorming: Discussing further avenues: possible funding schemes for a research consortium |
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18:00 Optional Visit to the Christmas Market at Neumarkt near Frauenkirche (Meeting Point tba)
19:00 Optional Dinner self-paid (tba)