On November 21st and 22nd 2019 CIVITAS (Forum of Archives and Research on Christian Democracy) and the Catholic Documentation Center (KDC) organize an international conference at the Radboud University in Nijmegen the Netherlands. This year’s theme will be “Christian Democratic People’s Parties and the Rise of Populism 1940s-2010s”.
Ever since the discussion about the name and nature of the European People’s Party in the 1970s, Christian Democratic parties in Europe positioned themselves in an alliance with conservative people’s parties. Corruption scandals, monetary crises, fear for loss of (national) identity and especially concerns about immigration, globalization, and internal security increasingly caused voters to drift away from their traditional parties and from Europe. New political formations at the left and the right, including populist ones, competed for these votes. While some historians asserted that Christian Democratic parties have successfully resisted the populist trend to scale down tolerance, recent observers are not so sure anymore. Some claim that these parties increasingly incorporated first neo-liberal and then populist ideas into their programs. Others suggest a wider perspective that include progressive competition as well. Beyond Europe, other responses towards populism could be seen. As representation through broad political parties in national arenas faced a crisis, this was even more the case on the European platform. The relationship between national Christian Democratic parties and their European ideals increasingly seemed a liability rather than an asset.
The transformation of the welfare state, the rise of neo-liberalism, the growing sense of uncertainty, and increasing economic and cultural tensions challenged the position of the Christian Democratic parties in Europe as people’s parties. In this context this conference seeks to assemble an international team of researchers and scholars to discuss the following questions:
The workshop, organized by CIVITAS – Forum of Archives and Research on Christian Democracy and the Catholic Documentation Center, will take place at the Radboud University in Nijmegen the Netherlands and especially welcomes junior researchers who are working in this domain. The event will be held in English, and afterward, the presentations will be published in a volume of conference proceedings issued by CIVITAS. The keynote speaker is Prof. Dr. Michael Gehler (University of Hildesheim).
Participants are invited to send proposals with title, abstract, methodology, sources (no longer than 1000 characters) and CVs to h.krabbendam@kdc.ru.nl by April 15, 2019.
Selection of the contributions is scheduled for May 2019, notification in early June. The program committee consists of Prof. Dr. Michael Gehler (University of Hildesheim) and dr. Hans Krabbendam (Catholic Documentation Centre, Radboud University Nijmegen). The scientific committee of Civitas consists of Paolo Acanfora (ILS), Alexander Brakel (KAS), Kim Christiaens (KADOC KU Leuven), Guido Formigoni (University of Milan), Wolfram Kaiser (University of Portsmouth), Piotr Kosicki (University of Maryland), Hanns Jürgen Küsters (KAS), Andrea Maria Locatelli (AMR), Renato Moro (Universita Roma Tre), Steven Van Hecke (KU Leuven), Helmut Wohnout (KVVI), the secretary-general is Michael Borchard (KAS).
Information about previous conferences and events can be found at https://civitas-farcd.eu/about
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