NORFACE Governance presenting Online Lecture Series
In this Online Lecture series, academic and professional experts present their findings or views on “Democratic Governance in a Turbulent Age.” These seminars will address at least one of the five core themes of the project. Professional experts include policymakers, democratic representatives, communication professionals, law professionals, and journalists.
First session of Online Lecture Series with Prof. Dr. Rune Slothuus (Aarhus University)
The first session of the Online Lecture Series was held by Prof. Dr. Rune Slothuus from Aarhus University on October 4th at 14:00 via ZOOM with the topic:
"Do Political Parties Do Anything Good to Public Opinion?".
Many are concerned that cues from political parties lead citizens to "blindly" support policies of their party, dismiss facts and arguments not favorable to their party, and voice animosity towards members of opposing partisan groups. This presentation explores the reverse perspective: that parties help citizens to get informed about policy substance and to make enlightened political choices consonant with their values. Evidence from a series of experimental and panel surveys suggest parties might play a more constructive and informative role in democracy than they are usually credited for in existing research.
Second session of Online Lecture Series with Prof. Dr. Manuela Boatcă (University of Freiburg)
The second session of the Online Lecture Series will be held by Prof. Dr. Manuela Boatcă from the University of Freiburg on February 23rd at 10:00 via MS Teams with the topic:
"Brothers in Crime? Occidentalist Citizenship Policies in Unequal Europe".
Citizenship is a core mechanism for the maintenance of global inequalities in a world capitalist system. It is on the basis of citizenship that the reproduction of global inequalities in the postcolonial present, i.e., their coloniality, is being enacted. The commodification of citizenship to the benefit of non-Western wealthy investors one the one hand, and its policing and restriction for labor migrants on the other, currently signal an economic and epistemic renegotiation of citizenship, respectively. The paper focuses on the role of the European East in these negotiations, arguing that, as often in its history, the region is a geopolitical and epistemic buffer zone that often withstands pressure from the Western core by passing it on to non-European others and thus reproducing Occidentalist premises.
