Hi democrats,
Here is a brief update on what the Democracy Seminar has been up to this past month, and some things we’re looking forward to in the near future.
We have recently published two new articles. Thomas Cobb’s recent article on ‘America’s Political Parties’ compares the leadership styles of Trump and Biden using Stephen Skrowonek’s framework of the order-shattering, -affirming and -creating impulses of the presidency. Meanwhile, Teng Biao, the Grove Human Rights Scholar at Hunter College, wrote an extremely informative piece detailing the targeted harassment that has been directed to him by exiled Chinese billionaire political activist and conspiracy theorist Guo Wengui, and comparing the rise of Guo to the rise of Trump.
We’ve also uploaded more shareable YouTube shorts, this time from our webinar with Nadia Urbinati, on her book "Me, The People: How Populism Transforms Democracy.”
The Transregional Center for Democratic Studies is hosting its 29th annual Democracy & Diversity Summer Institute entirely online, from July 6th until July 20th. This year’s seminar will feature courses taught by Shireen Hassim on affect, feminism and race in contemporary politics; Elzbieta Matynia on social imaginaries; and Jeffrey Goldfarb on public sociology. See here for more information, and to apply. Applications close on April 30th.
Lastly, our discussion with Agnieszka Koscianska on her book “Gender, Pleasure, and Violence: The Construction of Expert Knowledge of Sexuality in Poland” is happening on Friday March 26th from 10-11 AM EST. The book, recently translated into English, recounts the non-linear history of sexuality in Poland under socialism and the changes that have taken place within it as a result of the post-socialist transformation. Please register here, and we hope to see you there.