Right-Wing Politics in the Current Conjuncture

In this working paper, the author situates the political project under Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (termed the “Kurz project”) as a mode of neoliberal crisis management. The case study is conducted using a conjunctural analysis. It is argued that following the event of the Ibiza-affair in 2019 which led to a political crisis in Austria, the Kurz project managed to solidify its stance despite numerous scandals. The main findings are that on the one hand, this is due to a specific strategy employed by Sebastian Kurz, through which he managed to portray himself as the victim of the events. His strategy involved a strong dismissal of other political actors, and the interception of investigations on allegations surrounding him and his personnel. On the other hand, the success of the Kurz project is also based on the crisis of the neo-corporatist system, which opened up a power vacuum in the Austrian political landscape that has allowed Sebastian Kurz to take on power. The Kurz project, then, is a political project that was able to successfully mobilize political possibilities for its own success. It is as such situated in a general conjuncture of neoliberal transformation. This working paper also analyzes the Kurz project as a specific national conjunctural formation of a general neoliberal conjuncture exemplifying how neoliberal ideology ranges from ideas which promote internationalization and economic deregulation, to right-wing ideology, emphasizing conservative values and implementing policies which discriminate foreigners and refugees. The paper builds its analysis around the periodization of the Kurz project, which consists of two periods – the crisis of the neo-corporatist system and the Kurz project, which builds on the first periodization. Generally speaking, the paper shows how a tilt in the power relations between capital and labour has taken place (in favor of capital) and how the conditions for decent work in Austria have worsened under the Kurz project.