CFP: Mid Conference - Reimagining Justice in the 21st Century: Normativity, Politics, and Society

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS - NOW OPEN!

Liberal democracies are increasingly confronted with structural crises. Several mutually reinforcing dynamics - extreme levels of economic inequality, intensifying anthropogenic climate change, large-scale migration and the hardening of border regimes, digital transformations that fragment the public sphere, the emergence of new forms of populism and authoritarianism, and the collapse of the post-Second World War international order - are reshaping citizens’ normative expectations, the material and political conditions of social life, and the patterns of social recognition upon which democratic legitimacy depends. Although the crises affecting democratic societies also have contingent causes, often stemming from the failure to fully realize the values and promises of liberal democracy, it is increasingly evident that their historical, structural, and systemic dimensions cannot be adequately addressed without reimagining the paradigm of justice that took shape over the course of the twentieth century. This challenge calls for a multidisciplinary reflection capable of engaging, at once, the normative foundations of justice, the institutional conditions of democratic life, and the social conflicts through which claims to equality, freedom, recognition, and belonging are articulated.

These concerns will be at the core of the mid-term conference of the Horizon-MSCA Staff Exchanges project Justice in the XXI Century: A Perspective from Latin America – JUSTLA(Grant Agreement No. 101183054 - Coordinator University of Catania - DSPS). Bringing together seven European universities, eleven Latin American academic institutions, and approximately 150 scholars, JUSTLA seeks to foster North–South academic dialogue and to develop new lines of inquiry in political theory capable of challenging and broadening the dominant liberal paradigm of justice. The mid-term conference aims to create an interdisciplinary and transregional forum for rethinking justice in the twenty-first century from situated perspectives, with particular attention to how democracy, inequality, migration, the climate crisis, digital governance, recognition, and social resistance are transforming the conceptual and institutional grammar of justice. Rather than treating Latin America merely as a site of application for established theories, the event seeks to place Latin American experiences, conflicts, and critical traditions at the center of a broader effort to reconstruct the normative vocabulary through which justice is theorized today.

In this regard, we invite contributions from philosophy, political theory, law, sociology, and related disciplines organized around six thematic working groups:

1 - Democracy, Constitutionalism, Law, and the Reconfiguration of the State

2 - Inequalities, Political Economy, and Distributive Justice

3 - Recognition, Social Conflict, Protest, and Forms of Resistance

4 - Digital Politics, Populism, and Authoritarianism

5 - Climate Justice, Green Transitions, and Climate Historical Reparations

6 - Global Justice, Borders, Migration, and Historical Inequalities

Keynote Speakers:

Alvaro Bianchi – University of Campinas (Brazil)

Brandon Terry – Harvard University (US)

Camilo Burian Lopes – University of the Republic (Uruguay)

Christian Schemmel – The University of Manchester (UK)

Corinna Mieth – Ruhr University Bochum (Germany)

Darrel Moellendorf – Goethe University Frankfurt am Main (Germany)

David F. L. Gomes – Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil)

Luigi Caranti – University of Catania (Italy)

Maria Fernanda Novo – Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

María Pía Lara – Autonomous Metropolitan University (Mexico)

Matheus Gato – University of Campinas (Brazil)

Roberto Gargarella – University Torcuato di Tella (Argentina)/ UniversityPompeu Fabra (Spain)

Yara Frateschi – University of Campinas (Brazil)

Submission Guidelines:

Abstracts should be 250-300 words, include up to 5 keywords, and clearly outline the argument and its relevance to the conference themes. Please include a short bio (max. 150 words) with your institutional affiliation, academic position, contact information, and the working group where, in your opinion, your paper falls. The conference will be held in person at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (IFCH), from November 24 to 27, 2026. The official language is English. There is no registration fee.

Deadline for submission: July 27, 2026

Notification of acceptance: August 20, 2026

Submissions should be sent to this Online Form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/u/1/d/e/1FAIpQLSdM57MNYSWHdOru2so-zFtAiOjDy_mfbUcEyiYrylo9keq5KQ/viewform

Queries: [email protected]