"European Democracy Under Stress" - Conference Programme

The Italian Politics Specialist Group is delighted to open the registration for its annual conference:

                                               

EUROPEAN DEMOCRACY UNDER STRESS

13th-14th January 2017- Department of Cultures, Politics and Society (DCPS), University of Turin

A conference organised by the Political Studies Association’s Italian Politics and Anti-politics Specialist Groups, with the support of the PSA Pushing the Boundaries Scheme, and the Faculdade de Ciencias Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova De Lisboa

European democracies are under pressure. The rise of alternative left and right political parties and new populist parties, discontent with traditional ‘slow’ political processes and growing preferences among citizens for internet and social media-driven movements and the increasing success of ‘antipolitics’ rhetoric have seen politicians across European liberal democracies struggle to retain their relevance in an increasingly globalised, fast-paced social and economic world. Moreover, European leaders are facing increasing difficulties to deal with a growing confluence of crises, including an unprecedented influx of refugees, discontent at harsh austerity measures imposed on EU member states, and more broadly dissatisfaction with the European integration project. This is clearly manifested in the growth of euro-sceptic parties and anti-EU feelings even in traditionally ‘Europhile’ countries, and in the recent ‘Brexit’ referendum in the UK. The dynamics and forms of these pressures are multidimensional and compound: they have different roots and have taken different paths across Europe, and yet they converge in challenging political structures and the very institution of democracy.

The aim of this conference is to offer a distinctive approach in capturing such complexity, inviting contributions from scholars across Europe that will: reflect on the causes, symptoms, effects, and long-term consequences of the so-called ‘democratic crisis’; develop explicitly comparative insights into the European ‘democratic crisis’, within and between countries as well as at the transnational ‘European’ level; offer an opportunity to ‘redefine’, in the light of current changes and challenges, the key concepts (e.g. anti-politics, politicisation/de-politicisation, populism, political participation, and the very idea of ‘democracy’) underpinning the debate on ‘democratic crisis’.

The conference will open with a keynote address by Simona Piattoni (Professor of Politics at the University of Trento, and President of SISP, the Italian Political Science Society), entitled 'Revisiting democratic principles in times of heightened interconnectedness'.

The event will include panels with papers from international scholars, as well as a workshop on experiments of deliberative democracy in Turin (‘A deliberative experience: two editions of the Turin Deliberative Budget. Promises and pitfalls from different democratic perspectives'), delivered by Stefania Ravazzi and Gianfraco Pomatto (members of the Department of Cultures, Politics and Society at the University of Turin).

The conference will close with a roundtable entitled 'European Democracy Under Stress. Lessons from comparative analysis'.

Panellist include Alfio Mastropaolo (Professor of Political Science, University of Turin), Daniele Albertazzi (Senior Lecturer in European Politics, University of Birmingham) and Anna Masera (Journalist, editor-in-chief and public-editor, La Stampa; director of the Master in Journalism, University of Turin).

The full conference programme is available at this link and below.

The conference is free of charge but attendees must register at this link. Registration will be open until Friday 6 January 2017.

If you have any query about the conference, please do not hesitate to contact the organisers.