Call for papers: Apprehending Democracy: Ambivalences and Anxieties of Modern Democratic Societies

An exploratory workshop with young scholars and PhD Fellows across the humanities and social sciences.

The Centre for Modern European Studies (CEMES) together with the Centre for the Study of Global Nationalisms (CSGN) and the Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies (ENGEROM) is preparing the exploratory workshop "Apprehending Democracy: Ambivalences and Anxieties in Modern Democratic Societies" which is taking place at the University of Copenhagen 19-20 November 2026.

The workshop will explore historical debates, fears, and excluding mechanisms inherent to democratic development. We will explore how notions of democratic crisis are inherent to democratic societies and can be conceptualized as moments of democratic reinvention and reimagining.

We therefore invite young scholars and PhD Fellows across the humanities and social sciences to submit and abstracts proposals (250-300 word, plus a brief biographical summary) by 30 October 2026, either to mje@hum.ku.dk or nio@hum.ku.dk.