Helsinki
Finland
Since 2019, the HEPP conferences have provided a space to explore themes related to populist mobilisation, polarisation, and the dynamics of emotional engagement in various political and mediatised contexts. Our thematic core remains the same this year, and the HEPP5 conference will also include a special focus on the relationship between populism, polarisation, and emotions and the heuristic device of the social contract, understood as a tacit agreement among the members of society on the principles of the polity. The conference particularly invites investigations into how social contracts as societal consensuses and sources of solidarity are challenged by polarisation and exploited by populist politics and how these phenomena affect societies’ well-being and democratic trajectories. We also encourage contributions on the notion of resilience. We also aim to explore how populism and emotional mobilisation renew or create new social contracts. HEPP5 also marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radically Democratic Politics by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, which has been an inspiration at HEPPsinki since its founding.
Traditionally, HEPP conferences have welcomed contributions with a focus on semi-peripheral regions such as the Global South and East Central Europe, and we hope to continue that this year. We also invite papers addressing ongoing conflicts, such as those in the Middle East, Ukraine, Ethiopia, or Venezuela. HEPP maintains a broad take on populism, polarisation, and emotions, and the following themes:
- Affects, a(nta)gonism, and political polarisation
- Audiovisual political communication
- Authoritarianism and illiberalism
- Climate, crises, and grievances
- Cultural populism, conspiracy theories, and misinformation
- Datafication and methods in large social media data
- Gender in populism and polarisation
- New social contracts and challenges to democracy
- Political theory of populism, resilience, and social contracts
- Memory politics and the political (mis)use of time and space
- Tribalism, nationalism, and racism
- Political communication in the 2024 European elections
- (Post-)Pandemic populisms and resilience
- Hegemony, common grounds, and epistemic populisms
- Populist logics and dynamics
- Post- and de-colonialism
- Political frontiers and “us” building
- Political humour and populist rhetoric
- Political communication and media in times of war and crisis
- Religion and populism
After the conference, presenters are invited to submit their papers to be considered for our Working Papers series.
We always aim to cultivate a friendly, fun atmosphere at the HEPP conferences. To this end, we seek to gather various international researchers at all career stages and from various fields engage in conversation around our critical areas of interest.
The conference is organised in collaboration with the Continuous Construction of Resilient Social Contracts through Societal Transformations (CO3) Horizon Europe project and with the ENDURE project.
Important dates and submission details
HEPP5 will take place on 5-7 March 2025 at the University of Helsinki and online (as with previous conferences, HEPP5 will be fully hybrid).
Please submit your papers and pre-formed panels by 17 November 2024 through the links below. Submissions should include:
- A paper title
- A 100–150-word abstract
- Five keywords answering the paper’s topic, method, theory, data, country case (if applicable)
- A short bio of the presenter, with a link to preferred social media and/or personal website (e.g. LinkedIn)
We further encourage the submission of panel proposals comprising three to five papers with a panel chair. Please include paper abstracts according to the description above. Panel proposals should be submitted by 17 November 2024 through the links below.
UPDATE: The call for panels and papers was extended until 17 November 2024.
Acceptances will be sent in early December, and registration will open shortly thereafter.