Epistemic Dimensions of Democratic Deliberation in the Digital Age

Details: 
One-day Conference – June 17, 2026 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka  

The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Rijeka is organizing the one-day conference “Epistemic Dimensions of Democratic Deliberation in the Digital Age." The event brings together scholars working in social and political epistemology, democratic theory, and political philosophy, with a particular focus on epistemic democracy and the transformations of deliberative practices under digital conditions. Motivated by recent shifts in how citizens form, evaluate, and contest politically relevant beliefs, the conference explores the epistemic quality of democratic decision-making in contemporary societies.   

Special attention will be given to the role of digital technologies in reshaping deliberative environments, influencing epistemic agency, and structuring the conditions under which political knowledge is produced, shared, and contested.   The conference is grounded in the framework of epistemic democracy and seeks to examine both the enabling and constraining factors that affect the epistemic performance of democratic systems. Contributions may address, among other topics, the epistemic standards of public deliberation, the role of disagreement and pluralism, the impact of digital media on collective reasoning, and the challenges posed by epistemic inequalities and distortions. In line with recent developments in deliberative theory, the conference also invites reflections on how non-ideal conditions, including polarization, misinformation, and unequal epistemic capacities, shape democratic legitimacy and the prospects for epistemically sound political outcomes.  

Keynote Speaker  

José Luis Martí (Pompeu Fabra University)  

Call for Abstracts  

Scholars (doctoral students and above) interested in partaking in the conference must send a 250-word abstract of their lectures to [email protected] by May 15, 2026 with the e-mail titled "Submission for the "Epistemic Dimensions of Democratic Deliberation in the Digital Age.”  conference. The organizers will inform applicants whether their participation has been accepted by May 20, 2026.   

Further Information for Participants  

Participation in the conference is free of charge.   

The conference is an output of the Next-Gen EU-funded project "Affective Deliberation", uniri-mz-25-70.