[ecrea] CfP "Digitalisation and the Future of Democratic Theory"

status: CfP Call for papers
conference
Digitalisation and the Future of Democratic Theory
11.09.2017-13.09.2017
Manchester, UK

This call concerns a panel at the MANCEPT Workshops 2017 in Manchester, 
UK. The MANCEPT Workshops is an annual conference in political theory, 
organised under the auspices of the Manchester Centre for Political 
Theory. This year’s conference will take place on Monday 11 September to 
Wednesday 13 September at the Arthur Lewis Building, University of 
Manchester. The conference offers academics an opportunity to come 
together in a series of workshops so as to develop specialised work and 
engage in lively philosophical discussion. Attracting scholars 
throughout the world, the conference is now established as a leading 
international forum dedicated to the development of research in all 
subfields of political theory.

The propsed panel concerns the consequences of digitalisation in 
political theory. The development of digital technologies bears an 
increasing influence on society, and especially on political processes 
and democracy. Among the political spheres under transformation caused 
by digitalisation are - on the one hand - empirical issues, such as 
administrations, political campaigning, governance and participation. On 
the other hand, normative concepts of democratic theory like legitimacy, 
equality, or citizenship need to be revised or even substituted. This 
double-transformation puts the different democratic theories under 
different forms of pressure to adapt.

These developments require attention of the social sciences and 
democratic theory. So far, analyses have been mainly of an empirical or 
prognostic nature, and democratic theory has started to react to these 
analyses (cf. Philip Pettit, David Runciman). However, systematic and 
comparative perspectives on how different democratic theories are 
affected by digitalisation, and particularly which concepts or norms are 
under pressure are still wanting. In order to address this gap, we 
propose a debate in political theory concerning the influence of 
digitalization on democracy, and more specifically democratic theory.

Thus, we propose contrasting digitalisation with democratic theories in 
a comparative perspective as a framework for the workshop. On the one 
hand, digitalisation influences democracy. That concerns not only the 
different spheres of democracy (public sphere, governance, policy 
fields, etc.), but also how practical politics react to those 
developments. The critical question is, whether these changes are still 
explicable by democratic theories (such as liberal, republican, 
deliberative, radical, economic, etc.) or whether some of the changes 
cannot be considered within those frameworks anymore. Since most of the 
theories have been developed before the impact of digitalisation was 
fully conceivable,
adjustments to what the digitalisation causes in policies are necessary.

The questions to be addressed in the workshop include, but are not 
limited to: How does digitalisation influence democracy? Which spheres 
of democracy (public sphere, governance, etc.) are affected? In what way 
can different democratic theories relate to these changes? For example, 
does communication in the public sphere leave the framework of most 
democratic theories? Do concepts like legitimacy or representation have 
to be transformed because of changes in public reasoning or 
participation modes? Is lowering the normative expectations a good way 
to react to the new realities? What amendments have to be considered for 
these theories? Which democratic theory is particularly
under pressure and which is able to preserve its norms? We invite 
submissions on these and related topics.

A publication is planned in accordance with the results of the panel.

Please send your proposal (no more than 500 words) until 14th of May 
2016 to (alexander.weiss /at/ hsu-hh.de) and (karoline.helbig /at/ hsu-hh.de).

Dates:
14th May: Abstract Submission
2nd June: Notification of acceptance
9th June: Confirmation of acceptance
28th August: Submission of complete papers
Upon acceptance, all speakers concede to their papers being circulated 
among the workshop’s
participants.

Please note that participants are expected to register and pay this 
year’s fees of £230.00 for academics and £135.00 for graduate students 
and retirees. It is possible for current graduate students/retirees to 
apply for a bursary. The deadline for bursary applications will be the 
16th June, and successful applicants will be informed by the 23rd June.

Contact person: Karoline Helbig
email: (karoline.helbig /at/ hsu-hh.de)
telephone: 040-6541-3379
Address: Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg
Holstenhofweg 85, 22043 Hamburg


---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please
use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at
http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------