Recent social and political developments, including the Brexit
referendum result and its xenophobic aftermath in the UK, the
presidential elections in the United States, anti-democratic state
policies in Hungary and Poland, as well as the political climate
of upcoming elections in France and the Netherlands, have all
underlined the topicality of the relationship between democracy
and popular sovereignty. What is ‘the people’? What is the popular
sovereignty that supposedly underlies all democratic regimes? When
does democratic politics become ‘populistic’? Is ‘populistic’
politics always necessarily anti-democratic, and if so, why? Is a
‘progressive’ variant of populism possible? What are the limits of
popular self-determination in a democracy? Can the constituent
popular sovereign ‘do no wrong’? How does one oppose
anti-democratic populistic tendencies with democratic means? Is
democracy a value that can even justify exceptional means?
The symposium, taking place on 21-23 June 2017 in Helsinki, and
organized by the Political Constitutional Theory (PolCon)
network (http://blogs.helsinki.fi/politicalconstitutionaltheory/),
will address these and related questions on the troubled
relationship between democracy and ‘the people’ from a variety of
angles.
Confirmed keynote speakers: Christa Davis Acampora (Hunter
College, CUNY, USA), Benjamin Arditi (UNAM, Mexico) and Hans
Lindahl (Tilburg University, the Netherlands).
For more detailed information, please visit:
http://blogs.helsinki.fi/politicalconstitutionaltheory/thepeople/call-for-papers/
—
Panu Minkkinen
Professor of Jurisprudence
Faculty of Law
P.O. Box 4
FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland
Tel +358 (0)2941 22944
Email (panu.minkkinen /at/ helsinki.fi) <mailto:(panu.minkkinen /at/ helsinki.fi)>
http://tuhat.halvi.helsinki.fi/portal/en/person/minkkine
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