Sunday 26 February 2017

Great success for our conference in Turin!

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’.  
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.

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.


Luigi Einaudi Campus, University of Turin

Luigi Einaudi Campus, University of Turin




Conference Dinner