On Wednesday, 9 April 2014, Professor Yannis Stavrakakis (School of Political Sciences, Aristotle University) will give a talk entitled:
“Democracy in Crisis: Populist and Anti-Populist Discourses in Perspective”
The talk will take place in Room 308 (School of English Library, New Philosophy Building) at 7:15 pm.
Below you can find the speaker’s bio and paper abstract.
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“Democracy in Crisis: Populist and Anti-Populist Discourses in Perspective”
Abstract
Within political studies, democracy is increasingly discussed as an institutional framework in crisis; expressions like “democratic deficit” and even “post-democracy” exemplify this trend. This crisis is further exacerbated today by a prolonged economic crisis, especially in (Southern) Europe. Starting from an assessment of the state of democracy, we will focus on the emerging discursive cleavage between populism and anti-populism and its ambivalent political implications.
Bio
Professor Yannis Stavrakakis studied political science at Panteion University (Athens) and received his MA degree from the Ideology and Discourse Analysis Programme at the University of Essex, where he also completed his PhD. He has worked at the Universities of Essex and Nottingham before taking up a position at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2006. His research primarily focuses on contemporary political theory (with emphasis on psychoanalytic and poststructuralist approaches) and on the analysis of ideology and discourse in late modern societies (with emphasis on populism, environmentalism, post-democracy and the role of artistic practices).
He is the author of Lacan and the Political (Routledge, London & New York 1999) and The Lacanian Left (Edinburgh University Press/ SUNY Press, Edinburgh and Albany 2007), co-author of Populism, Anti-Populism and Crisis (Nefeli, Athens 2012) and co-editor of Discourse Theory and Political Analysis (Manchester University Press, Manchester 2000), Lacan & Science (Karnac, London 2002), Aspects of Censorship in Greece (Nefeli, Athens 2008) and The Political in Contemporary Art (Ekkremes, Athens 2008).
