I International Meeting of Group of Democratic Studies

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I International Meeting of Group of Democratic Studies: Reasons, Passions, Utopias - Democracy in question.

 

The Group of Democratic Studies was created in 2016 and has as purpose to develop research on democratic theories and practices.

The goal of the I Meeting is two-folded: first, to gather researchers, students and associate members in order to expose the work in progress of G.D.S.; Second, to invite contributions from researchers and students of national and international institutions to present their work within the scope of the five lines of research below, by establishing a critical dialogue with our tradition, having as starting point the perspectives of Reasons, Passions, Utopias. Some of the regulative questions of this First Meeting are: how does the predominance of reason (or of ‘giving reasons’) over passions contribute to contemporary democratic crises? Can/Should we speak of One Reason or several reasons? How to defend democracy in a context where this ideal is under attack by several populist versions across the world? Which role do passions play in the construction of a democratic project? What is the relationship between democracy/ies and utopia(s)?

We want to put democracy into question, to problematize and to imagine new possibilities for a common democratic project.

• The languages of the Meeting are Portuguese, Spanish and English.

• Confirmed Speakers: Alessandro Pinzani (UFSC), Helena Esser dos Reis (UFG), Yara Frateschi (UNICAMP), Emiliano Acosta (Vrije Universiteit Brussel/Ghent University), Jorge Alvarez Yaguez (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), Verlaine Freitas (UFMG),  Marta Nunes da Costa (UFMS).

• We accept abstracts of 500 words and 5 keywords to the following themes:

1.Critiques of capitalism

The goal of this line of research is to explore the relationship between democracy and capitalism, starting with a critical reflection upon modern and contemporary authors like Marx, Weber, Lukacs, Simmel, Polanyi, Habermas, Harvey, Boltansky, Hardt e Negri, Jameson, among others.

2. Democracy and the question of gender

The goal of this line of research is to explore the relationship between democratic ideals and the ways in which these ideals have, or have not been, actualized by women. It is our purpose to identify the conditions, which perpetuate injustice and to expose the dynamics and intrinsic contradictions of a masculine logic of domination. We aim at deconstructing discourses which claim to be ‘democratic’ but that ultimately contribute to the strengthening of the status quo of injustice, inequality and discrimination.

3. Democratic justice

The goal of this line of research is to identify the modes in which the conceptualizations of the relationship between freedom, equality and fraternity affects and transforms the concept and practices of justice. Having as our starting point a radically democratic perspective we propose to dialogue with Rawls and his critics, especially those formulated by authors of second and third generation of the Frankfurt School.

4. Democratic theories and practices

The goal of this line of research is to analyze the articulation between democratic theories and practices starting from specific local, regional and national contexts in order to compare them after.  We pay special attention to the invention and/or transformation of participatory and deliberative mechanism and the ways in which the three democratic dimensions of representation, participation and deliberation relate and manifest each other.

5. Democracy and civil disobedience.

The goal of this line of research is to understand the ways in which the history of political philosophy may help us to understand the dynamics of contemporary democracies, which confront permanent crises of representation, deficit of participation and existence of political actors in a transnational order that forces us to question the limits and expectations of a democratic project.

Please include full name, email address and institution once you submit the abstract. Prepare presentations of 20 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of debate.

Deadline for abstracts: September 15th, 2017. Within a week accepted papers will be notified.

Send proposals to: [email protected]

and [email protected]