southeastern europe

Originally published in openDemocracy #RethinkingPopulism by Spyros A. Sofos RETHINKING POPULISM.; At a time when new political actors are mounting electoral and increasingly systemic challenges to contemporary democracies in the name of the people, there is little consensus in what the phenomenon is among academics, political activists and citizens alike. openDemocracy has been featuring articles on populist phenomena for some years (Mudde, Rovira Kaltwasser, Mouffe, Marlière, Pappas, Skodo, Sofos, Stavrakakis and Katsambekis, Gerbaudo, Gandesha, Tamás to name but a few) and has been successful in stimulating a recurring interest. But despite or perhaps because of the extensive and thought-provoking research on populism, the term has come to denote a range of widely diverse phenomena. Our aim is to bring together voices that don’t often interact, either because they belong to different fields of work, or as a result of geographical distance, to contribute to a vigorous and co

Academics, journalists, activists and public intellectuals issue a call for justice and respect. The initiative stresses the need for mutual understanding and dialogue as a way out of the political polarization that threatens the very fabric of Turkish society in the wake of Gezi protests. Unlike its predecessors, the inititative reaches out to various segments of the  society, from pious intellectuals to democratic left, the LGBT to Kurds and Alevis, and attemtps to propose a brief list of democratic measures that can be adopted quickly, to alleviate the ongoing tensions and make space for the discussion of more fundmental problems, notably the Kurdish peace process. The call will be made public in a meeting that will take place on  Thursday   11 July 2013 at 11.00, in Aynali Gecit (see below for details). You are all welcome! Address: Meşrutiyet Cad. Avrupa Pasajı No:8 K.2 Galatasaray / Beyoğlu/Istanbul Emine Tarhan Email: emitarhan@gmail.com