Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung

International Research Group on Authoritarianism and Counter-Strategies

Gustavo Robles

Gustavo Robles studied contemporary history and philosophy, an area in which he received his Ph.D. degree. He has been an Associated Professor at the Department of Education at the National University of La Plata (UNLP), a Postdoc-Researcher at the Research Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences (UNLP-CONICET, Argentina), and an Invited Lecturer at different Argentinian Universities. He also carried out doctoral and postdoctoral research stays at different German universities, such as the University of Frankfurt, the University of Jena, and the Humboldt University of Berlin. His areas of research interests are Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School, contemporary political thought, and social philosophy, and his current project is focused on the connections between subjectivization processes and affective dimensions in current authoritarian neoliberalism. Furthermore, he is an activist in different political and cultural collectives in Argentina and Germany related to issues such as human rights and immigrant working conditions.

Last publications

„Crisis de la experiencia y (pos)fascismos. Lecturas desde la Teoría Crítica“. Constelaciones. Revista de Teoría Crítica. N° 13. 312-339. 2021

„La teoría del reconocimiento de Axel Honneth. Análisis crítico“. In Comou, Antonio (ed.). Perspectivas en Teoría Social Contemporánea. La Plata: EDULP. 2021

„El fin de algunas ilusiones. Subjetividad y democracia en tiempos de regresión autoritaria“. Resitencias. Revista de Filosofía de la Historia. 2(1). 14-27- 2020

„Sobre la dimensión política del resentimiento“ (2020). Castalia. Revista de Psicología. 34. 5-23

All Publications from Gustavo Robles:

  • What does authoritarianism mean in times of coronavirus?

    In late April, the International Foundation for Freedom, headed by Peruvian Literature Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa, issued a statement warning against the rise of authoritarianism in Latin America due to the coronavirus pandemic. Among the signatories were well-known defenders of neoliberal ideas in Latin America and Spain, such as Vargas Llosa himself and the former presidents Mauricio Macri (Argentina), José María Aznar (Spain), and Alvaro Uribe (Colombia). The statement expressed concern “about the measures taken in some countries that have indefinitely restricted basic freedoms and rights” in the name of the combatting the virus.

  • The Alt-Right in Latin America

    Following the collapse of left-wing populist movements in Latin America, neoliberal and authoritarian governments have spread all over the region. Clear examples of this resurgence are Bolsonaro in Brazil, Lenin Moreno in Ecuador, and Mauricio Macri in Argentina, not to mention the authoritarian drift of Nicolás Maduro’s government in Venezuela. This authoritarian turn at the institutional-political level has been accompanied by ideological changes in public and ‘non-public’ opinion: hate speech, anti-egalitarian discourses, authoritarian values, and an individualistic common sense. Of course, these discourses existed in the past too, but their virulence and the new constellations in which they are inscribed represent an ideological novelty in the Latin American political landscape.

  • Political Crisis in El Salvador and the Millennial Authoritarianism of Nayib Bukele: Interview with Fuerza Solidaria por El Salvador

    El Salvador is experiencing an accelerated authoritarian drift at the hands of its eccentric president Nayib Bukele, which has led to widespread demonstrations. Bukele´s image is that of a millennial president, spontaneous, young, and cool. Yet this style goes hand in hand with the persecution of social activists, the removal of the entire Supreme Court and the militarization of society. To learn more about the current situation and ongoing protests, we spoke with activists from Fuerza Solidaria por El Salvador.

  • Alternatives Democracies/ Alternatives to Democracy | CAPS22

    We are witnessing a crisis of civilization accompanied by a global authoritarian turn. However, this crisis is often reduced to a purely political crisis, designated with the recurrent epithet of "crisis of democracy"