Liberal and democratic institutions are facing unprecedented challenges. The recent rise of radical right‑wing populist movements and their transnational networks and the access to government in several European countries of radical-right populist parties is testified by restrictive norms on migration\, equality rights\, and welfare.
Scholarly attention has focused on far-right stances concerning anti-migration and EU scepticism. The panel aims to explore and deepen the intersecting role that reproductive rights\, environmental and wider health policies play in shaping the political offer of the European and American far right.
Furthermore\, building on existing studies\, this panel examines the existence of common underlying ideologies of conservative\, libertarian\, and radical right‑wing populist actors enabling them to collaborate across borders to reshape policy agendas at national and EU‑level. It also investigates the transnational role of conservative think tanks in the broader dynamic of far-right discourses and their interplay in domestic policy outcomes.
We invite paper proposals on all aspects of rethinking the relationship between conservative and reactionary thinking\, politics and discursive struggles\, the development of social conservative policies that curb gender equality\, reproductive rights\, universal welfare model\, and environmental justice. Possible topics may be:
-Historical Reconstruction and Philosophical Analysis of Reactionary and Conservative Thoughts on Healthy Society\, Traditional Family\, Health and Social Welfare\, Environmentalism\;
-Discursive Strategies and Ideological Reframing: How do conservative and populist actors appropriate progressive language (e.g.\, &ldquo\;equal rights\,&rdquo\; &ldquo\;free speech\,&rdquo\; &ldquo\;protecting families&rdquo\;) to advance discriminatory or anti‑rights agendas? How do these movements collaborate or reinforce each other&rsquo\;s narratives and policy goals?
-Policy Content and Ideological Convergence: How do stances on public health\, sexual and reproductive rights\, climate policy\, environmental regulation\, and gender equality interlink or align across conservative and libertarian actors? Is there a common ideology or political agenda that unites various far-right parties in Europe and the United States?
-Can we identify a coherent European radical right agenda\, or do national contexts produce divergent models?
-Think tanks\, metapolitics\, and hegemony in the public discursive sphere\;
-Public Health\, Pandemic Measures\, and Antivax Movements\;
-Reproductive health policy\; broader ideological alignments linking opposition to reproductive rights with other policy domains which impact health and social policies.
This panel aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue across political science\, global health\, gender studies\, environmental policy\, and critical theory. We welcome theoretical and empirical contributions. We invite scholars at all career stages\, especially young scholars\, to submit abstracts that engage with these themes.
To submit a paper\, please send an anonymized abstract of no more than 500 words\, suitable for a 30 minute presentation (followed by 30 minutes of Q&\;A)\, to Corrado Piroddi (corrado.piroddi@tuni.fi) or Valentine Berthet (valentine.berthet@tuni.fi)\, by Monday 18 May.
Successful applicants will be notified shortly afterwards.
Among Kant&rsquo\;s most enduring contributions to modern moral and political philosophy is the idea that there is a moral duty of respect for persons\, and that persons are owed respect simply in virtue of being persons. This Kantian insight reshaped subsequent debates by suggesting that the fundamental moral relation among citizens is not primarily one of benevolence\, utility\, or shared ends\, but of reciprocal recognition of equal status.
\nIn contemporary political theory\, respect for persons has become a central idiom for expressing ideals of legitimacy\, civic equality\, and the just state. Rawls describes a just society as &ldquo\;a social cooperation on a footing of mutual respect between citizens regarded as free and equal&rdquo\; (Justice as Fairness: A Restatement\, p. 28). Dworkin maintains that &ldquo\;individuals have a right to equal concern and respect in the design and administration of the political institutions that govern them&rdquo\; (Taking Rights Seriously\, p. 180). Nussbaum characterizes her capability approach as providing &ldquo\;the philosophical underpinning for an account of basic constitutional principles that should be respected and implemented by the governments of all nations\, as a bare minimum of what respect for human dignity requires&rdquo\; (Women and Human Development\, p. 5).
Despite its influence\, the idea that persons are owed respect (and that there is a corresponding duty of respect for persons) raises persistent puzzles and theoretical concerns. What kind of thing is respect: an attitude\, a pattern of conduct\, or a relation? How\, if at all\, can the duty of respect be justified? And does the language of respect for persons illuminate debates about justice\, or does it risk obscuring them?
The proposed MANCEPT panel will bring together scholars working on these and related issues. Contributions from a range of philosophical perspectives are welcome\, including historically informed work.
Possible topics include:
&bull\; The relation between respect and other central concepts in political philosophy\, such as justice\, equality\, freedom\, welfare\, and rights.
&bull\; Different kinds of respect at work in political philosophy\, including recognition versus appraisal respect (Darwall)\, opacity respect (Carter)\, care-respect (Dillon)\, and others.
&bull\; Applications of respect for persons to specific debates in political philosophy\, for example\, debates about wrongful discrimination\, state neutrality\, and distributive justice.
&bull\; Respect&rsquo\;s relation to cognate notions such as dignity\, moral status\, and inviolability.
&bull\; Criticisms of respect for persons\, including doubts about its usefulness in political theory and doubts about its role as a foundational political value.
&bull\; Feminist perspectives on respect.
&bull\; Respect for persons and justice toward nonhuman entities\, such as nonhuman animals and artificial intelligence.