[DemocracyNet.eu-list] CFA // LEFORT CENTENARY: The People, Democracy and Populism // 14th Braga Meetings

[Pedro Pinheiro]

*CALL FOR ABSTRACTS*

[image: Image] <https://14bragameetings.weebly.com/>

26 - 28 June, 2024


Conference Keynote Speakers: Mihaela Mihai
<https://www.sps.ed.ac.uk/staff/mihaela-mihai> (Edinburgh) | Erik Angner
<https://www.erikangner.com/> (Stockholm) | John Meadowcroft
<https://johnmeadowcroft.net/> (King’s College London) | Roger Crisp
<https://www.st-annes.ox.ac.uk/cpt_people/crisp-professor-roger/> (Oxford)

<https://14bragameetings.weebly.com/panel-13---lefort-centenary-the-people-democracy-and-populism.html>
<https://14bragameetings.weebly.com/panel-13---lefort-centenary-the-people-democracy-and-populism.html>

Claude Lefort (1924-2010)

*CALL FOR ABSTRACTS*
To commemorate the centenary of the birth of Claude Lefort, this panel
invites contributions that explore the contemporary relevance of his
political philosophy. Specifically, the panel aims to foster a discussion
on how Lefort can illuminate the debates around the relationship between
the “people” and democracy, notably in populism studies.


While Lefort did not extensively address populism, the theme of the
“people” holds a pivotal position in his work. His monumental analysis of
Machiavelli portrays the people as a force for emancipation, driven by a
desire not to be oppressed that is capable of mobilizing subaltern subjects
and challenging the grandees. Simultaneously, Lefort's work reveals the
possibility of a paradoxical transformation of an entity so central to
modernity as the people into an imaginary element that poses a potential
threat to what he called the “democratic invention”.


This dual interpretation of the people in Lefort's work has given rise to
divergent readings and appropriations. On one hand, some Lefortian scholars
align populism within a political theology framework, drawing parallels to
Carl Schmitt's concepts of friend and enemy, decisionism, and dictatorship.
On the other hand, alternative perspectives view the people in Lefort's
philosophy as expressing a plebeian dimension, symbolizing a “wild
democracy” [*démocratie sauvage*], advocating for a salutary disruption of
conventions and an extension of rights to marginalized groups.



We invite PhD candidates and researchers at an early or advanced stage of
their careers to contribute by submitting an abstract that engages with
issues related to, but not restricted to, populism studies through Lefort’s
legacy, examining the intricate interplay between agonism and antagonism,
the permanence of the theological-political, and evaluating the potential
and limitations of left-wing populism.


After the Braga Meetings, paper givers may be invited to send their
reviewed and improved papers to be considered as part of a collective
publication. This publication may take the form of an edited book with an
international academic publisher or a scientific journal special issue.

*SUBMISSION GUIDELINES*
[image: Image]

Submission deadline

Mar. 31, 2024
[image: Image]

Abstract

400 - 500 words
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScXVI7qeMVqPWdCthpfygZOH468pBfe4lmvuWbfQq7KhddL9A/viewform>

*Submit your abstract here*
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScXVI7qeMVqPWdCthpfygZOH468pBfe4lmvuWbfQq7KhddL9A/viewform>


*CONVENORS*
[image: Image]
<https://ceps.elach.uminho.pt/cpt_team/thomas-zicman-de-barros/>

*Thomás Zicman de Barros*

Post-Doc Researcher at CEPS


[image: Image] <https://ceps.elach.uminho.pt/cpt_team/pedro-pinheiro/>

*Pedro Pinheiro*

PhD Candidate at CEPS
For more info, click here! <https://14bragameetings.weebly.com/>
E-mail us <rpedro.pinheiro at gmail.com;
thomas.zicmandebarros at sciencespo.fr?subject=14th%20Braga%20Meetings%20%2F%2F%20Doubt%20Call%20for%20abstracts%20>


This panel is part of the research project *Populism, Demagoguery, and
Rhetoric in Historical Perspective*, funded by the FCT of Portugal
(2022.05060.PTDC). For more information: https://www.pdrhp.com/ .


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