"Lineages of the people: Embedded and transregional histories of contemporary populism"

International Workshop
August 17-­18, 2017
Alte Mensa, Wilhelmsplatz 1, Göttingen
University of Göttingen, Germany

Find out more here

Conference press release: Development of populism around the globe

Populism is not only on the rise in the USA, the United Kingdom, but seemingly throughout the world – in Turkey, the Philippines, India, China, Russia, Egypt, Australia. But what are the historical roots of these populist movements? And why are they so effective today? What does it mean for democracy? And the world? To answer these urgent questions, leading social scientists from around the globe are meeting for the “Lineages of the people: Embedded and transregional histories of contemporary populism” conference in Goettingen on August 17 and 18.

Going beyond superficial explanations for the emergence of populism, these scholars seek to understand its roots by looking at popular understandings of the “true people”, of the people versus the elite, of the economic reforms since the 1990s, and the development of today’s (social) media landscape.

In bringing together international scholars with thematic concerns that go beyond the USA and Europe to include Asia and the Middle East, fundamental new questions, insights and understandings arise, turning the received popular and academic wisdom about the emergence of populism on its head.

The conference will be held in English.