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The Matchpoints Seminar http://matchpoints.au.dk Aarhus University, DK, May 12-14, 2011 Workshop: Deliberative Democracy in Europe and North America: Theory, Experiences and Historical perspectives Organised by John Erik Fossum (University of Oslo) and Christina Fiig (Aarhus University) There is wide agreement that democracy is the only viable legitimation principle in modern societies. At the same time we are constantly reminded of the crisis in representative democracy. These challenges might if anything be compounded by globalization, regionalization (notably the EU) and by exclusion of certain groups of citizens. These developments have given impetus to a renewed interest in deliberative democracy and the public sphere and an attendant quest for deliberative modes of opinion-making and will-formation in both formal political institutions and on different sites and arenas of civil society. Citizens’ assemblies and deliberative polls are held up as some of the institutional mechanisms for harnessing deliberative democracy. Mechanisms for harnessing the public sphere’s democratic potentials are for example (transnational) media debates, story-telling, public protestations, social media and public events locally, nationally, on a European level and globally. It is hardly the case that the standard institutions of representative democracies – elections, party competition and parliaments – are devoid of deliberative qualities of their own. So, are deliberative arenas inside and outside formal representative institutions best understood as substitutes or as complements? What are the democratic potentials of an extra-parliamentarian public? Of a global public sphere? What is the role of public communication in democratic decision-making? Can European publics contribute to the creation of a European demos or a European ‘we-ness’? Are the answers to these questions, in turn, influenced by how far we understand deliberation as directed at a rational consensus and how far we regard it as a means of showing mutual and equal respect for positions that may often be irreducibly different from one another? Theoretical and/or empirical papers with a focus on diversity and inclusion or exclusion of the public sphere on multiple levels and sites in relation to gender, ethnicity, sexuality, handicaps, religious beliefs and age are particularly welcome. Please contact John Erik Fossum ([ mailto:[log in to unmask] ][log in to unmask]) or Christina Fiig ([ mailto:[log in to unmask] ][log in to unmask]) for further information. Deadline for abstracts: March 1st. Papers can be related to the following theoretical and practical issues: What is meant by deliberation and deliberative democracy? Processes of deliberation? Arenas for deliberation and the types of communication these involve? How can a public sphere be characterized as powerful? How are deliberative and representative democracy related? Can they be combined in democratically beneficial ways? What are the relevant institutional forms and mechanisms associated with both modes of democracy? How do communicative processes of deliberation located outside formal political institutions have an impact? How does a perspective of diversity concerning participants, arenas of participation and modes of communication contribute to theories of deliberative democracy? Are principles of deliberative democracy relevant to supranational forms of governance on a global and/or European level? What lessons may be drawn from practical experiences of deliberative democracy such as citizens’ assemblies, deliberative polls and political debates? What are the theoretical consequences of applying American ‘travelling concepts’ to European cases and analyses? Christina Fiig Aarhus University European Studies/ Europastudier Department of History and Area Studies/ Institut for Historie og Områdestudier Bartholins allé 16 Bygning 1411 - 256 DK-8000 Aarhus C Mail: [log in to unmask] Phone +45 8942 11 11 Phone (direct) +45 8942 21 07 http://matchpoints.au.dk/ New article out in Danish: "A Man's World? Vertikal kønsfordeling i centraladministrationens departementer", Politica 2010, vol.4, pp. 479-498.