Until recently, there has been no consensus regarding the populist Zeitgeist in contemporary civil societies. Its nature, performative structures, and influence on democracy are widely disputed in academic and public discourse. Despite conceptual disagreements, scholars, however, more or less settle on populism's polarizing character and its effect of fueling concern that civic solidarity is disintegrating and contemporary democracy is merely an imitation aimed to support the private interests of the elites. This seminar attempts to provide answers to the populist symbolic influence in contemporary civil societies. Specifically, the civil sphere concept developed in the civil sphere theory (CST) suggests a promising perspective on the polarizing character of populism and its influence on societies' discursive and institutional structures. The first session is devoted to discussing the previous theories of civil society and the new uptakes of the CTS. The second session describes the analysis of the symbolic activity of the populist continuum from the political left to the right in the civil sphere. The last session is dedicated to students' presentations on populism in the civil sphere.
- Trainer/in: Polina Zavershinskaia