CFP: Epistemic Dimensions of Democratic Deliberation in the Digital Age

Epistemic Dimensions of Democratic Deliberation in the Digital Age 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 pleased to announce the one-day conference Epistemic Dimensions of Democratic Deliberation in the Digital Age. The conference brings together scholars working in social and political epistemology, democratic theory, political philosophy, and political sociology to reflect on the epistemic conditions of democratic deliberation in contemporary digital societies. Motivated by recent transformations in how citizens form, evaluate, share, and contest politically relevant beliefs, the conference explores the conditions under which democratic decision-making can remain epistemically robust under rapidly changing communicative environments. Particular attention will be paid to how digital technologies reshape deliberative spaces, influence epistemic agency, and structure the production, circulation, and contestation of political knowledge. The conference is grounded in the framework of epistemic democracy while also engaging broader questions concerning the affective, relational, and social dimensions of public reasoning. In addition to examining the epistemic standards of democratic deliberation, we invite contributions addressing the role of emotions, affective polarization, trust, and public sentiment in shaping political judgment and democratic legitimacy. We are particularly interested in work exploring how emotional dynamics intersect with processes of belief formation, disagreement, persuasion, and collective reasoning in digitally mediated contexts. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Epistemic standards of democratic deliberation
• Digital media and the transformation of collective reasoning
• Political emotions and affective dimensions of public deliberation
• Trust, credibility, and the reception of expertise
• Epistemic injustice and inequalities in democratic participation
• Polarization, misinformation, and epistemic distortion
• Disagreement, pluralism, and democratic legitimacy
• Non-ideal conditions of deliberation in digital environments
• The relationship between affect, knowledge production, and political agency

The conference aims to foster dialogue between established scholars and early-career researchers on the challenges and possibilities facing democratic deliberation today.

Keynote Speaker

José Luis Martí (Pompeu Fabra University)

Call for Abstracts Scholars (doctoral students and above) interested in participating are invited to submit an abstract of up to 250 words to [email protected] by May 20, 2026.

Please use the subject line:
Submission for “Epistemic Dimensions of Democratic Deliberation in the Digital Age”

Applicants will be notified of acceptance by May 25, 2026.