Constructing illiberal counterhegemony: Orbán's transnational project as consequence and cause of Europe's polycrisis

Jasper P. Simons, Miklós Sebők and Ilona Szabó

Chapter 20 in Critical Political Economy of the European Polycrisis, 2025, pp 304-318 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter examines the rise of transnational illiberalism as a counterhegemonic force in Europe, through the prism of Viktor Orbán's illiberal democratic regime in Hungary. Using neo-Gramscian critical political economy, the study explores the mechanisms by which today's illiberal forces seek to challenge (neo)liberalism's economic and political dominance, thus constituting another dimension of Europe's polycrisis. The chapter first examines the ascent of embedded liberalism in the post-Second World War period to draw parallels with contemporary transnational illiberalism. We identify four key political economy mechanisms driving both hegemonic projects: financial support, trade and investment, platforming, and safeguarding. In so doing, the chapter contributes to the scholarly understanding of transnational illiberal politics and its potential implications for the stability of the (neo)liberal order, globally but particularly within the EU.

Keywords: Critical political economy; EU polycrisis; Illiberalism; Neo-Gramscianism; Transnationalism; Viktor Orbán (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035347933
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