The PSA Italian Politics
Specialist group held its annual
conference, entitled European Democracy Under Stress, at
the University of Turin (Italy) on the 13th and 14th of
January 2017. The event was organised in collaboration with the Department of
Cultures, Politics and Society (DCPS) at the University of Turin, the PSA
Anti-politics Specialist Group and the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences at
the Universidade Nova De Lisboa, with the support of the PSA Pushing the
Boundaries Scheme.
Simona Piattoni (Professor of Politics, University of Trento and President of the
Italian Political Studies Association) opened the conference with a compelling
keynote entitled ‘Revisiting democratic principles in times of heightened interconnectedness’.
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| Prof. Franca Roncarolo (Head of DCPS, University of Turin), Prof. Simona Piattoni (University of Trento, SISP President), Dr Arianna Giovannini (IPSG Co-convenor), Dr Matt Wood (APSG Convenor) |
Throughout the two days, scholars from across Europe presented their research,
and the conference provided a forum for debating the complex and multiple
pressures currently faced by European democracies. It also hosted a workshop on
experiments of deliberative democracy in Turin, delivered by leading experts at
DCPS.
The event closed with a roundtable discussion with Alfio Mastropaolo (Professor of
Politics, University of Turin), Daniele
Albertazzi (Senior Lecturer in European Politics, University of Birmingham)
and Anna Masera (Editor-in-chief of the
Italian daily La Stampa and director
of the Master in Journalism, University of Turin) – which focused on lessons
from comparative analysis, and helped to set an agenda for future research.
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| Dr Matt Wood, Prof. Alfio Mastropaolo, Dr Daniele Albertazzi, Dr Anna Masera |
The conference was a great success: it attracted a large audience
and it offered the opportunity both to develop international research networks
and to promote the work of the PSA abroad. The organisers are planning a series
of blogs drawing on the papers presented in Turin, and they are preparing a
proposal for a special issue. They have also set the foundations for creating
an institutional link between the PSA and the Italian Political Studies
Association.
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| Luigi Einaudi Campus, University of Turin |
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| Luigi Einaudi Campus, University of Turin |
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| Conference Dinner |
