PANEL 13 / LEFORT CENTENARY: THE PEOPLE, DEMOCRACY AND POPULISM
CONVENORS: PEDRO PINHEIRO and THOMÁS ZICMAN
All enquiries about the panel should be sent to [email protected]
To commemorate the centenary of the birth of Claude Lefort (1924-2010), this panel invites contributions that explore the contemporary relevance of his political philosophy. Specifically, the panel aims to foster a discussion on how Lefort can illuminate the debates around the relationship between the “people” and democracy, notably in populism studies.
While Lefort did not extensively address populism, the theme of the “people” holds a pivotal position in his work. His monumental analysis of Machiavelli portrays the people as a force for emancipation, driven by a desire for not being oppressed capable of mobilizing subaltern subjects and challenging the grandees. Simultaneously, Lefort's work reveals the possibility of a paradoxical transformation of an entity so central to modernity as the people into an imaginary element that poses a potential threat to what he called the “democratic invention”.
This dual interpretation of the people in Lefort's work has given rise to divergent readings and appropriations. On one hand, some Lefortian scholars align populism within a political theology framework, drawing parallels to Carl Schmitt's concepts of friend and enemy, decisionism, and dictatorship. On the other hand, alternative perspectives view the people in Lefort's philosophy as expressing a plebeian dimension, symbolizing a “wild democracy” [démocratie sauvage], advocating for a salutary disruption of conventions and an extension of rights to marginalized groups.
We invite PhD candidates and researchers at an early or advanced stage of their careers to contribute by submitting an abstract that engages with issues related to, but not restricted to, populism studies through Lefort’s legacy, examining the intricate interplay between agonism and antagonism, the permanence of the theological-political, and evaluating the potential and limitations of left-wing populism.
This panel is part of the research project Populism, Demagoguery, and Rhetoric in Historical Perspective, funded by the FCT of Portugal (2022.05060.PTDC). For more information: www.pdrhp.com
All enquiries about the panel should be sent to [email protected]
To commemorate the centenary of the birth of Claude Lefort (1924-2010), this panel invites contributions that explore the contemporary relevance of his political philosophy. Specifically, the panel aims to foster a discussion on how Lefort can illuminate the debates around the relationship between the “people” and democracy, notably in populism studies.
While Lefort did not extensively address populism, the theme of the “people” holds a pivotal position in his work. His monumental analysis of Machiavelli portrays the people as a force for emancipation, driven by a desire for not being oppressed capable of mobilizing subaltern subjects and challenging the grandees. Simultaneously, Lefort's work reveals the possibility of a paradoxical transformation of an entity so central to modernity as the people into an imaginary element that poses a potential threat to what he called the “democratic invention”.
This dual interpretation of the people in Lefort's work has given rise to divergent readings and appropriations. On one hand, some Lefortian scholars align populism within a political theology framework, drawing parallels to Carl Schmitt's concepts of friend and enemy, decisionism, and dictatorship. On the other hand, alternative perspectives view the people in Lefort's philosophy as expressing a plebeian dimension, symbolizing a “wild democracy” [démocratie sauvage], advocating for a salutary disruption of conventions and an extension of rights to marginalized groups.
We invite PhD candidates and researchers at an early or advanced stage of their careers to contribute by submitting an abstract that engages with issues related to, but not restricted to, populism studies through Lefort’s legacy, examining the intricate interplay between agonism and antagonism, the permanence of the theological-political, and evaluating the potential and limitations of left-wing populism.
This panel is part of the research project Populism, Demagoguery, and Rhetoric in Historical Perspective, funded by the FCT of Portugal (2022.05060.PTDC). For more information: www.pdrhp.com