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Reading Group on the People, Populism and Democracy

Who are the people? What does it mean for the people to rule? Is populism a threat to democracy? The researchers behind the project “In the Name of the People” invites anyone interested to participate in a weekly reading group, where we will consider various answers to these questions.
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  • In the name of the people - Populism and the popular: threats or promises to democracy? (Research Project)
    • painting of large group of people
    Il Quarto Stato by Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo (1901)
    By: Mikkel Flohr

     

    The researchers involved in the project “In the Name of the People” are organizing the reading group “Politics of the Popular” (POP). Each week we will meet to discuss central texts about the people, the popular, democracy and populism.

    The reading group starts Wednesday 27 November and consists of 7 sessions that are open to anyone interested. The only prerequisite is that you have read the texts (approximately 3 texts, of max. 60 pages per session) and want to try to understand and discuss them with the other participants.

    The full program is included below. If you want to participate, have any questions or trouble locating the texts please contact the organizers: Allan Dreyer Hansen, Mikkel Flohr and Anders Hovmøller.

     

    THE POLITICS OF THE POPULAR: READING GROUP ON THE PEOPLE, DEMOCRACY AND POPULISM.

    1. Historical and Conceptual Background. Part I.

    12:00-15:00 Wednesday 27 November, 2019 (Room 19.1-077):

    Crépon, Marc, et al (2014) ’People/Race/Nation’ in Cassin, Barbara (ed.) Dictionary of Untranslatables. United States of America, Princeton University Press. Pp. 751-63. 

    Laugier, Sandra (2014) ‘People’ in Cassin, Barbara (ed.) Dictionary of Untranslatables. United States of America, Princeton University Press. Pp. 750-51. 

    Canovan, Margaret (2005) The People. Cambridge, Polity. Pp. 1-39.

     

    2. Historical and Conceptual Background. Part II.

    12:00-15:00 Monday 2 December, 2019 (Room 19.1-007):

    Kalyvas, Andreas (2013) ‘Constituent Power’ in Ophir, Adi, et al (ed.s) Political Concepts: A Critical Lexicon. Retrieved online [https://www.politicalconcepts.org/constituentpower/] 03/03/2016. Pp. 1-13.

    Bosteels, Bruno (2016) ‘This People which is not one’ in What is a People. New York, NY, Columbia University Press. Pp. 1-20.

    Olson, Kevin (2016) ‘Fragile Collectivities, Imagined Sovereignties’ in What is a People. New York, NY, Columbia University Press. Pp. 107-8, 122-132.

     

    3. Contemporary Reflections on the People. Part I.

    12:00-15:00 Monday 9 December, 2019 (Room 19.1-077):

    Lefort, Claude (1988) ‘The Question of Democracy’ in Democracy and Political Theory. Cambridge, Polity Press. Pp. 9-21.

    Laclau, Ernesto (2005) On Populist Reason. London, Verso. Pp. 164–171.

    Hallward, Peter (2009) ‘The Will of the People: Notes Towards a Dialectical Voluntarism’ in Radical philosophy (155), pp. 17-29.

    Frank, Jason (2017) ‘The People as Popular Manifestation’ Working Paper. Pp. 65-90.

     

    4. Contemporary Reflections on the People. Part II.

    12:00-15:00 Monday 16 December, 2019 (Room 19.1-077):

    Derrida, Jacques (2002) 'Declarations of Independence' in Negotiations: Interventions and Interviews, 1971-2001. Stanford, CA, Stanford University Press. Pp. 46-54.

    Honig, Bonnie (1991) 'Declarations of Independence: Arendt and Derrida on the Problem of Founding a Republic’ in American Political Science Review: 85 (1). Pp. 97–113.

     

    5. Contemporary Debates over Populism. Part I.

    12:00-15:00 Monday 6 January, 2019 (Room 19.1-077):

    Deiwiks, Christa (2009) ‘Populism’ in Living Reviews in Democracy: 1 (1). Pp. 1-9.

    Mudde, Cas (2004) ‘The Populist Zeitgeist’ in Government and Opposition: 39 (4). Pp. 541-63.

    Müller, Jan-Werner (2014) ‘”The People must be Extracted from Within the People”: Reflections on Populism’ in Constellations: 21 (4). Pp. 483-93.

    Urbinati, Nadia (2019) ‘Political Theory of Populism’ in Annual Review of Politics: 22. Pp. 111-127.

     

    6. Contemporary Debates over Populism. Part II. 

    12:00-15:00 Monday 20 January, 2020 (Room 26.281):

    Laclau, Ernesto (2005) ‘Populism: What’s in a Name?’ in Panizza, Francisco (ed.) Populism and the Mirror of Democracy. London, Verso. Pp 32-49.

    Mouffe, Chantal (2018) For a Left Populism. London, Verso. Pp. 9-25.

    Hansen, Allan (Forthcoming) ‘Forvrængning, tynd ideology eller det politiskes ontologi? Müller, Mudde og Laclau om populisme og demokrati ’ in Agora.

     

    7. Contemporary Debates over Populism. Part III. 

    12:00-15:00 Wednesday 29 January, 2020 (Room 26.281):

    Weyland, Kurt (2017) 'Populism: A Political-Strategic Approach' in Kaltwasser, Cristóbal, et al (ed.s) Oxford Handbook of Populism. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Pp. 48-72.

    Ostiguy, Pierre (2017) 'Populism: A Socio-Cultural Approach' in Kaltwasser, Cristóbal, et al (ed.s) Oxford Handbook of Populism. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Pp. 73-97.

    Moffitt, Benjamin (2016) ‘Understanding Contemporary Populism: Populism as a Political Style’ in The Global Rise of Populism: Performance, Political Style and Representation. Stanford, Stanford University Press. Pp. 28-50.

     

    8. Contemporary Debates over Populism. Part IV. 

    12:00-15:00 Monday 10 February, 2020 (Room 26.281):

    Laclau, Ernesto (2006) ‘Why Constructing a People is the Main Task of Radical Politics’ in Critical Inquiry: 32 (4). Pp. 646-680.

    Sotiris, Panagiotis (2019) ‘Is a “Left Populism” Possible?’ in Historical Materialism: 27 (2). Pp. 3-39.