The Conference „Business, Fascism, and the Erosion of Democracy“ will take place on June 3-5, 2026, at Istituto Svizzero Roma (Italy).

The interdisciplinary conference brings together 30 invited speakers from various disciplines and aims to discuss the increasing authoritarianism, populism, and polarization in democratic societies and the role of business, and especially tech-entrepreneurs, in these developments. It is convened by Prof. Andreas Scherer (University of Zurich), Prof. Guido Palazzo (University of Lausanne) and Prof. Eric Orts (University of Pennsylvania).

Full details — including the program, registration, and venue information are available on the conference website:

https://www.istitutosvizzero.it/conferenza/business-fascism-and-the-erosion-of-democracy/

Special issue 

The conference also sets the theme of a BEQ special issue call for submissions, „Business Ethics, Illiberalism, and the New Democratic Order in the Digital Age.

Guest editors Andreas Georg Scherer, University of Zurich, Switzerland, Peter Bloom, University of Essex, UK, Cristina Neesham, Newcastle University, UK and Swinburne University, Australia, Yuan Li, Saint Mary’s College of California, USA.

See the call here:

BEQ: Special Issue on: Business Ethics, Illiberalism, and the New Democratic Order in the Digital Age – Society for Business Ethics