All Research Topics

Flexible
Authori-
tarianism

Authoritarianism has made a comeback in recent years. It denotes that obedience is favored over debate, and that the rule of the few is favored over the rule of the many. As such, authoritarianism can refer to group organization as well as to a form of government (Herrschaft). Further, authoritarian practices can be differentiated from authoritarian values.

I examine how today’s authoritarianism looks and feels, especially in conjunction with neoliberal imperatives such as adaptability to market demands and the cultivation of entrepreneurialism.

These imperatives influence government and the ways in which citizens view their roles in capitalist societies—for example, as patriotically-minded entrepreneurs.

I research how authoritarian practices and neoliberal techniques shape life in the Euro-Atlantic world and beyond. Lending itself to both a form of government (Herrschaft) and group organization that favor obedience over debate,

I examine how today’s authoritarianism looks and feels, especially in conjunction with neoliberal imperatives such as adaptability to market demands and the cultivation of entrepreneurialism.

These imperatives influence government and the ways in which citizens view their roles in capitalist societies—for example, as patriotically-minded entrepreneurs.

I research how authoritarian practices and neoliberal techniques shape life in the Euro-Atlantic world and beyond.

Introduction: Sounds in Times of War

Popular music, (contentious) politics, and social change since Russia’s war on Ukraine
Baltic Worlds, 2025 (3), 4-9

Russia’s Good YouTubers?

Digital Entrepreneurship and Heroic Masculinity in the Service of Flexible Authoritarianism
Europe-Asia Studies, 74 (7), 1166-1189.

Flexible Authoritarianism. Cultivating Ambition and Loyalty in Russia

[The Mary Douglas Prize for Best Book in the Sociology of Culture, American Sociological Association]
Oxford University Press