Workshop: Modern Technology and Its Challenge for Contemporary Democracy and Non-Electoral Representation

You are cordially invited to a workshop for graduate students keen on the theory of representation, theory of democracy, non-electoral forms of representation, or digital media.

Annotation:

Rapidly developing modern technology itself affects not only the way of political communication but also the form of democratic institutions. As representatives of such a technology, social media play a crucial role not just in the daily life of citizens but in political life as well. Even though social media can connect completely different social groups, it can also isolate users from different opinions on crucial political questions. Social media are changing the way of campaigning, political communication, and the inner structure of a democratic regime. Democracy can profit from such a technology or be endangered by it, especially when social media provably affect democratic elections. Moreover, social media play a remarkable role in contemporary forms of representation and have already brought significant changes to both two-side communication and making demands between constituents and representatives.

The workshop focuses on the role of representation in the era of social media. The key questions are: How does modern technology influence the form of (democratic) representation? How does it change the relationship between the representative and the represented? What role do non-electoral representatives play in social media?

Keywords: theory of representation, democracy, digital communication, non-electoral representation.

Call for papers: the deadline for abstracts (no more than 250 words) is 31 January 2022. Abstracts are required in English. Presentation in Czech is possible.

Date of Workshop: 7 March 2022

Venue: Room V 407, Department of Political Science at Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Voršilská 1, Prague 1

Contact: Kateřina Labutta Kubíková (katerina.labutta@gmail.com), Kristián Těmín (kristian.temin@ff.cuni.cz)