Abstracts of the keynote speeches

Democracy vs. Autocracy: Representation in a new key

Sofia Näsström

What should a democracy do when a majority no longer wants it? As the world is becoming increasingly authoritarian, this question has moved into the centre of political theoretical concerns. Democracies embody major conflicts in society, such as the one between the people and the elite, or between different political parties. In recent years, however, a new and more ominous conflict has emerged on the scene, namely the conflict between democracy and autocracy. Autocratic leaders do not play by the rules, but typically use the procedures and instruments of representative democracy to undo it from within. In this talk, I will argue that political theory lacks adequate resources to conceptualize this conflict in representative terms. To do so, it needs to connect the concept of representation with the classical study on the difference between political forms. More specifically, I will argue that we need to broaden the study of representation in two ways: First, by extending our attention from the political to the social realm, since this is where the real drama plays out between democracy and autocracy. Second, by paying attention to how the conflict between political forms, and their animating “spirits”—fear, status-anxiety, patriotism and emancipation—operate within and across democratic constituencies. At the end of the talk, I will return to the opening question, and ask how this way of rethinking representation changes the debate on democracy’s current predicament. 

When the Populist Far Right Plays with Politainment: Reflecting on political performances today

Paula Diehl

The assault of the Capitol was one of the most important political events for the far right worldwide. It followed the script of the performance of the far right in Germany to invade the Reichstag during the pandemic and it set this script to be followed by Bolsonaro’s supporters in Brazil during the invasion of the Palácio do Planalto after Bolsonaro’s defeat in the general elections. I argue that these performances are new: they are deeply dependent on a hybrid mix of right-wing extremism, populism, and politainment. They play with the ambiguity of hyperreality, destabilizing the sense of reality and blurring the borders between entertainment and politics. The talk will examine these events and reflect the significance of mass media and their hyperreal effects on the discursive articulation, communication, and staging of right-wing populist and extremist actors and movements. 

Representing Silence

Mónica Brito Vieira

Most people equate democracy with discussion, speech, and making one’s voice heard. But where does silence fit in? My new book, Democracy and the Politics of Silence (Penn State University Press, 2024), investigates the largely overlooked role of silence in democratic politics. It challenges conventional wisdom by arguing that silence can support and affirm democratic pillars and outcomes like empowerment, inclusion, and equality.

Central to the book is the discussion of the relationship between silence and representation. Democratic representation focuses on voice: it conceives voice as that which is represented and as the prime mode of representing. This article argues that this focus is problematic and turns instead to silence to ask a fundamental question: Can representation empower citizens from their silent positions? In my talk, I will be approaching the question in three parts. First, I offer a new conceptualization of silence, arguing that silence is best understood as the site of a potential or actual presence. Second, I use criteria of domination and displaced involvement to assess attempts to enfranchise silence within the transmission-belt model of representation. Third, I critically engage and strengthen constructivist views of representation by developing these criteria to assess the legitimacy of claims to represent—speak about and for—silent constituencies—namely, the claim to represent an (alleged) silent majority.

Political Representation: Cause or cure for democracy’s discontent

Lisa Disch

The most exciting left political insurgencies of the 21st century suggest that political representation is more cause than cure for democracy’s discontent. We may be looking at the effects of representative institutions on the ends of the lifetimes of democratic regimes today. New, richly detailed research into the archives of the Western and anticolonial revolutions of the past offers a complex portrait of the relationship between political representation and democratic politics, one that neither simply indicts nor celebrates either democratic insurgency or political representation and representative institutions. This keynote takes inspiration from that work as a potential source for new questions and possibilities for Western democracy today.