This multi-disciplinary conference will investigate the challenges to authority and values that are now prevalent in the contemporary English-speaking world. 

Authority should be understood here first as a right or ability to demand obedience from or to impose norms on others. In the plural (‘the authorities’) it refers to a group of people with legal responsibility for a particular area of activity. In both cases, as defined by Max Weber, they are accepted as legitimate forms of domination, indeed relying on this acceptance to be effective. In his classic Economy and Society, Weber distinguished between three ideal-types of political authority operating in society. Charismatic authority is based on the charisma of an individual; traditional authority comes from custom and - indeed - tradition; while rational-legal authority is based on rules and norms. Values instead refer to an individual's beliefs about what is morally or ethically right/wrong and influence their attitudes and behaviour. Although not immutable, they evolve slowly and provide a background against which individuals assess their actions. They may collide with an outside authority (or not), as concepts of civil disobedience (Thoreau, 1848), and self-reliance (Emerson, 1841) articulate modes of positioning oneself personally or collectively against rules and policies considered contrary to one’s values.

In the political sphere, the contestation of authority is a permanent historical phenomenon and has been a traditional feature of left-wing politics, as seen in political and social movements "challenging authority" (Piven 2006) on behalf of democratic participation, social justice and/or the environment in the US and the UK. What we are witnessing today is a mix of questioning and defence of authority by radical populist actors who contest not just specific policies but the very foundations of the democratic liberal order, including the principles of the separation of powers, pluralism and scientific authority. In doing so, populist forces are not only contesting the establishment but undermining the very foundations of the democratic liberal order and its sources of authority, including the separation of powers, pluralism, a free press, higher education and science.

Economic actors — from social enterprises to tech giants — are also challenging the dominant economic models. On the one hand, disruptive technology driven by profit motives and hyper-individualistic logics are further undermining traditional forms of both solidarity and authority in an ever-expanding gig economy. On the other hand, social actors are also leveraging technology to offer decentralized, socially- and environmentally-driven alternatives to conventional business models. Thus, the struggle for authority in the economic realm is grounded in negotiation between conflicting tropisms, contrasting economic value with ethical values, each championing its legitimacy. In the US, the confluence of new forms of private and state power is giving rise to an authoritarian political economy breaking away from free market orthodoxy. Yet, if charismatic authority seems to supplant legal-rational power in the name of a nationalist tradition, the new political order is rife with internal conflicts that threaten its own survival.

As far as international relations are concerned, the nature of state power is being transformed by both internal and external factors, redefining conventional notions of authority and ethical values. The succession of external shocks known as the “polycrisis” (Morin; Tooze) - including the Great Recession of 2008, the climate crisis, the Covid pandemic - has profoundly redefined state authority and sovereignty, nurturing a new “grievance politics” (Capelos et al. 2021; Flinders & Hinterleitner 2022). This “negative civic energy” (ibid) is fueling nationalism and burying ethical values in the UK and the US, replacing technocratic and morally induced foreign and trade policies with performative and transactional diplomacy (Heron, Siles-Brügge & McDonald 2025). Hard power and soft power are giving way to a “sharp power” that is no longer confined to authoritarian governments (Walker & Ludwig 2017; Quessard 2025). 

Finally authority and values are also negotiated in cultural production, circulation and reception, with cultural productions entangled in politically charged “cultural wars” since the 1960s (Hunter 1991). Museum and cultural institutions, which had long fought to establish authoritative canons and regulate access to culture (Levine, 1988), have become contested sites of reevaluating the national and cultural narrative both in the UK, the US, and nations reappraising their histories of colonialism, a process drawing much political attention with the resurfacing of authoritarian forms of leadership. In the visual arts, in the film or music industry, the legitimacy of canons can be contested, the hierarchies of production and creators redefined, and the role of gatekeepers, from patrons to institutions, reassessed. Changes in technology and media, from the imperial to the digital age, have called into question traditional forms of expertise and have extended or undermined the - now unreliable - notions of knowledge, science and “truth” - in a context of accelerated media concentration, the reemergence of monopolistic conglomerates, and the rule of algorithmic selection.

We welcome contributions about the United States, Britain, Ireland and other anglophone countries from different fields - history, politics, economics, sociology, cultural studies - which explore, among others, topics such as:
- New values, and culture wars
- Social liberalism and social conservatism
- Public perceptions of authority and the values underpinning representative democracy
- Social movements challenging old and new forms of political authority
- Digital technologies, from artificial intelligence to social media, including surveillance, and their role in reshaping forms of authority and societal values
- The construction of the “silent majority” in political discourse - Flag-waving and symbolic practices of identity - analysing how such acts express, negotiate or challenge authority and collective values in times of political and cultural transformation
- The transformations of authority and power in international relations, whether through the diversification of foreign policy tools, the changing values and norms underpinning diplomacy

References

Abstracts of no more than 250 words should be sent by 15 September 2026 to pauline.schnapper@sorbonne-nouvelle.fr, thibaud.harrois@sorbonne-nouvelle.fr, emmanuelle.delanoe-brun@sorbonne-nouvelle.fr, jean-baptiste.velut@sorbonne-nouvelle.fr and fabrice.mourlon@sorbonne-nouvelle.fr.