- University of Málaga
Department of Philosophy
Teatinos Campus
29071 Malaga
Spain
José María Rosales
Universidad de Málaga, Philosophy, Faculty Member
- Democratic Theory, Political Philosophy, Rhetoric, Citizenship, Immigration Status & Nationality, Philosophy, and 17 moreHuman Rights, Nationalism, Politics, Democratization, Conceptual History, Liberalism, Parliamentary Democracy, Immigration, Deliberative Democracy, Democracia, Citizenship Theory, Patriotism, Liberal Democracy, Immigration and Citizenship, Historia Conceptual, Parlamentarismo, and Filosofia Politicaedit
- Professor of Moral and Political Philosophy at the University of Málaga, Spain, where I teach courses on political ph... moreProfessor of Moral and Political Philosophy at the University of Málaga, Spain, where I teach courses on political philosophy, democratic theory, human rights, and the historiography of political thought.
With Fred Dallmayr I've edited Beyond Nationalism? Sovereignty and Citizenship (Lanham-New York: Lexington Books, 2001); with Kari Palonen and Tuija Pulkkinen, the Research Companion to the Politics of Democratization in Europe: Concepts and Histories (Farnham: Ashgate, 2008; London: Routledge, 2013); with Manuel Toscano, ‘Rhetoric, Ethics and Democracy’, issue 27 (2012) of Res Publica: Revista de Filosofía Política; with Kari Palonen and Tapani Turkka, The Politics of Dissensus: Parliament in Debate (Santander: Cantabria University Press, and Madrid: McGraw-Hill, 2014); with Kari Palonen, Parliamentarism and Democratic Theory: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (Opladen-Berlin-Toronto: Barbara Budrich Publishers, 2015); with Rosario López 'Interdisciplinarity and Methodological Pluralism: The Practice of Intellectual History and Conceptual History', special issue of Global Intellectual History, 2019/2020.
Member of the Doctoral Programme Filosofía at Mexico's Autonomous University of Nuevo León, between 2013 and 2016 I've directed at the University of Málaga the Doctoral Programme Estudios Avanzados en Humanidades and since 2014 co-direct the MA in Filosofía, Ciencia y Ciudadanía (https://www.uma.es/filosofia-ciencia-y-ciudadania). International expert advisor, CO-FUND (EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 754326) POLITICO PhD Programme, based at the Centre for Citizenship, Civil Society & Rule of Law, University of Aberdeen, 2018-2022.
PhD 1991, between 1992 and 1993 visiting postdoctoral scholar at the Center for European Studies, Stanford University, and Fulbright scholar at the Walt Whitman Center for the Culture and Politics of Democracy, Rutgers University. In 1992 awarded the National Prize for Young Researchers in the Area of Social, Economic and Legal Sciences, Bicentenary of the University of La Laguna (1792-1992).
From 1997 to 2003, one of the vice-chairs of the Research Committee Political Philosophy from the International Political Science Association. From 1999 to 2001 and from 2007 to 2011, member of the executive, Asociación Española de Ética y Filosofía Política. From 2003 to 2005, member of the steering committee of the European Science Foundation Scientific Network The Politics and History of European Democratisation (PHED). An associate researcher (2010-2012) at the Centre of Political Thought and Conceptual Change (University of Jyväskylä, Finland), board member since 2011 of Concepta - Research Seminars in Conceptual History and Political Thought, and board member (2018-2021) of the History of Concepts Group (https://www.historyofconcepts.net).
Chair of COST (Cooperation in Science and Technology in Europe) Action CA 16211 Reappraising Intellectual Debates on Civic Rights and Democracy in Europe (RECAST), September 2017 - September 2021, funded by the Framework Programme Horizon 2020 (http://www.cost.eu/COST_Actions/ca/CA16211 & https://www.uma.es/costactionrecast)
Along with Manuel Toscano I'm currently principal investigator of the project Civic Constellation III: Democracy, Constitutionalism, and Anti-Liberalism, funded by Spain's Research Fund, PGC2018-093573-B-I00, 2019-2022 (https://www.uma.es/civicconstellation).edit
This special issue, edited by Rosario López and José María Rosales, seeks to reflect on the role that interdisciplinarity and methodological pluralism play in the practice of intellectual and conceptual history, with the aim of... more
This special issue, edited by Rosario López and José María Rosales, seeks to reflect on the role that interdisciplinarity and methodological pluralism play in the practice of intellectual and conceptual history, with the aim of intensifying the debate between them and exploring their relevance to the practice of historical research and other disciplines. It therefore considers intellectual and conceptual history as closely related, with a division that, although it has been widely used since they were established, it is becoming progressively blurred. The close alliance is reflected on journals, academic institutions, postgraduate programmes, research networks, and individual research lines. In this issue we keep both labels as they have been used in the literature, while promoting awareness of their affinities.
Articles are distributed in two sections. The first one, “Debating Interdisciplinary Research: Methodological Arguments,” presents papers dealing with historiographical and epistemological issues raised in interdisciplinary research. The second one, “Approaching Conceptual History and Intellectual History,” gathers case studies that illustrate their close practices.
The issue was first published online since August 2019 before it is assigned volume and issue.
Articles are distributed in two sections. The first one, “Debating Interdisciplinary Research: Methodological Arguments,” presents papers dealing with historiographical and epistemological issues raised in interdisciplinary research. The second one, “Approaching Conceptual History and Intellectual History,” gathers case studies that illustrate their close practices.
The issue was first published online since August 2019 before it is assigned volume and issue.
Research Interests:
Article in Interdisciplinarity and Methodological Pluralism: The Practice of Intellectual History and Conceptual History, special issue of the journal Global Intellectual History. Published online on 21 August 2019 before the special... more
Article in Interdisciplinarity and Methodological Pluralism: The Practice of Intellectual History and Conceptual History, special issue of the journal Global Intellectual History.
Published online on 21 August 2019 before the special issue is launched.
ABSTRACT
This article explores the recent integration turn in interdisciplinary research that is bringing about a qualitative change in research patterns from previous modularity approaches. Taking the European Union’s Horizon 2020 framework programme as background example, it pays attention to some consequences of the expectations of interdisciplinary research, understood in integration terms, on the practice of the humanities. The kind of impact required from innovative research affects not just the integration of the humanities, and the social sciences as well, across the research agenda, something envisioned by research policy especially since 2014, but also a thorough reappraisal of the methodological and technical integration of humanities research with other sciences. The article argues that integrated responses, new syntheses, can be achieved through the questioning of mainstream knowledge by practitioners of different disciplines in scholarly and public debates. Producing innovative results to face major technological and societal challenges relies initially on science policy choices, but then it becomes a matter of both research planning and scholarly practices.
KEYWORDS
Interdisciplinary research; modular research; research integration; humanities; Horizon 2020
Published online on 21 August 2019 before the special issue is launched.
ABSTRACT
This article explores the recent integration turn in interdisciplinary research that is bringing about a qualitative change in research patterns from previous modularity approaches. Taking the European Union’s Horizon 2020 framework programme as background example, it pays attention to some consequences of the expectations of interdisciplinary research, understood in integration terms, on the practice of the humanities. The kind of impact required from innovative research affects not just the integration of the humanities, and the social sciences as well, across the research agenda, something envisioned by research policy especially since 2014, but also a thorough reappraisal of the methodological and technical integration of humanities research with other sciences. The article argues that integrated responses, new syntheses, can be achieved through the questioning of mainstream knowledge by practitioners of different disciplines in scholarly and public debates. Producing innovative results to face major technological and societal challenges relies initially on science policy choices, but then it becomes a matter of both research planning and scholarly practices.
KEYWORDS
Interdisciplinary research; modular research; research integration; humanities; Horizon 2020
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This article explores the practices of democracy in Spain through the lens of its 20th-century constitutional moments, namely, those around the 1931 and the 1978 constitutions, with the aim of elucidating its changing ideological... more
This article explores the practices of democracy in Spain through the lens of its 20th-century constitutional moments, namely, those around the 1931 and the 1978 constitutions, with the aim of elucidating its changing ideological significance. Whereas in 1931 supporting democracy had a strongly partisan meaning, as every endorsement of the democratic ideal entailed a conflicting understanding of the Republic’s democratic character, in 1978 it gave rise to an integrative form of pluralism. Even if the former has left a deep imprint on Spanish politics, anticipating a kind of seemingly irreconcilable opposition between left and right, the latter has proved instrumental in the consolidation of the new democratic regime. After the institutional distortion of democracy during the four-decade dictatorship’s ‘organic democracy’, since 1977 the ideal of democracy was thoroughly recast into a pluralist ideology. Unlike views describing it as a consensual regime, the article argues that the politics of consensus tested since the 1977 constitutional debates paved the way for the accommodation of democratic pluralism; furthermore, the culture of pacts it contributed to set up has continued to inspire a new form of adversarial, parliamentary politics well beyond the transition years.
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Rooted in late seventeenth-century theories of rights, liberal ideas have brought forth since the nineteenth century a full-fledged complex of traditions in moral, political, economic, social, and legal thought. Yet in historiographical... more
Rooted in late seventeenth-century theories of rights, liberal ideas have brought forth since the nineteenth century a full-fledged complex of traditions in moral, political, economic, social, and legal thought. Yet in historiographical debates such complexity is often blurred by presenting it under the uniform terms of a canon. Along with other methods, conceptual history is contributing to the rediscovery of liberalism’s diversity. This group of articles compiles three conceptual studies on scarcely explored aspects of the history of liberalism in Denmark, Finland, and Hungary—countries whose political past has only occasionally figured in mainstream accounts of European liberalism. This introductory article is a methodological discussion of the rationale and forms in which liberalism’s historical diversity is rendered through comparative conceptual research. After reflecting on the limits of the Anglophone history of political thought to grasp the plurality of liberal traditions, the article examines how transnational conceptual histories recast the understanding of liberalism as a concept, theory, ideology, and political movement.
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This article deals with the civic integration of migrants, focusing on the process immigrants undergo to become nationals of new states. Discussing some recent advances in immigration policies in European Union countries, it questions the... more
This article deals with the civic integration of migrants, focusing on the process immigrants undergo to become nationals of new states. Discussing some recent advances in immigration policies in European Union countries, it questions the gap that separates their normative principles from institutional practices. Many existing citizens would not meet the administrative requirements imposed on migrants to gain legal residence and nationality. Further- more, the experience of non-nationals living in Europe suggests that integration challenges remain, well after naturalisation is achieved, as new citizens face ongoing discriminatory burdens at various levels, including the labour market and politics. Part of an ongoing study on the civic condition of migrants, the article argues that a liberal approach to immigrant integration should not cease with the granting of citizenship. It should address the urgent task of protecting new citizens from discrimination that impairs their rights in practice.
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This article aims to critically assess John Dewey’s ideal of “democracy as a way of life”, an evocative though elusive moral and political ideal linked to both his communal notion of democracy and his reformist view of liberalism. Beyond... more
This article aims to critically assess John Dewey’s ideal of “democracy as a way of life”, an evocative though elusive moral and political ideal linked to both his communal notion of democracy and his reformist view of liberalism. Beyond the school, where citizenship education begins, Dewey claims that individuals learn democratic habits when they associate and participate in political activities, which are not solely confined to political institutions. Exploring Dewey’s democratic theory invites a twofold account. It takes to contextualize Dewey’s views in light of the political debates of his time, in particular the interwar debates on the crisis of liberalism and democracy. And it takes to examine his democratic thought in terms of educational theory and policy. Both aspects integrate into the argument.
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Self-determination is a recurring question in Spanish politics. It is an odd issue for a country achieving one of the most decentralised government models in the world, but experience shows that the further decentralisation proceeds (for... more
Self-determination is a recurring question in Spanish politics. It is an odd issue for a country achieving one of the most decentralised government models in the world, but experience shows that the further decentralisation proceeds (for democratic reasons), the higher secessionist claims rise, notably in two autonomous regions: Catalonia and the Basque Country. In just a few years, since 2004, self-determination initiatives have forced the constitutional system (integrated by the constitution and the statutes of the seventeen autonomous regions) to a point that crucially tests its internal consistency and its capacity to perform its proper functions.
Ever since the adoption of the 1978 Constitution, after the retrieval of democracy, such tension has conditioned Spanish politics. In this article, I will pay attention to some recent parliamentary debates and to their most significant antecedent, namely a session on self-determination held at the Basque Parliament in 1990. The discussions are full of interesting theoretical remarks, innovative in some cases, unoriginal in others. From the point of view of parliamentary rhetoric, there are a great many cases of vibrant and eloquent speeches covering the whole spectrum of political views on secession and democracy. An intriguing pattern has come into sight: in most debates the constitutionalist positions have won the battle of ideas but lost the votes.
Focusing on the Basque case, my aim is to show that the self-determination debates have left the regional parliament in an odd position, as a number of the adopted measures, by challenging the constitutional order, seem to go clearly beyond its institutional capacity. Furthermore, as a result of this gamble with constitutional rules, the traditional political division along nationalist lines has gained a new dimension in public life. Each victory by the nationalist parties has been solemnly proclaimed in parliament to embody the truest and genuine expression of the political will of the Basque people – an imaginary construct not corresponding with the constitutional concept of the Basque citizenry.
I will argue that it is constitutionally doubtful that parliamentary resolutions of this kind rightfully represent the political will of the people. Yet to criticise this assumption has become tricky. The parliamentary proceedings show how powerful the nationalist rhetoric has become in parliament and in public life at large, as the burden of the proof easily falls on the dissenters and as a mere criticism of such sovereignty claim is swiftly described as an antipatriotic attack. Ironically, similar arguments have been and still are pursued in the successful Catalan case.
Ever since the adoption of the 1978 Constitution, after the retrieval of democracy, such tension has conditioned Spanish politics. In this article, I will pay attention to some recent parliamentary debates and to their most significant antecedent, namely a session on self-determination held at the Basque Parliament in 1990. The discussions are full of interesting theoretical remarks, innovative in some cases, unoriginal in others. From the point of view of parliamentary rhetoric, there are a great many cases of vibrant and eloquent speeches covering the whole spectrum of political views on secession and democracy. An intriguing pattern has come into sight: in most debates the constitutionalist positions have won the battle of ideas but lost the votes.
Focusing on the Basque case, my aim is to show that the self-determination debates have left the regional parliament in an odd position, as a number of the adopted measures, by challenging the constitutional order, seem to go clearly beyond its institutional capacity. Furthermore, as a result of this gamble with constitutional rules, the traditional political division along nationalist lines has gained a new dimension in public life. Each victory by the nationalist parties has been solemnly proclaimed in parliament to embody the truest and genuine expression of the political will of the Basque people – an imaginary construct not corresponding with the constitutional concept of the Basque citizenry.
I will argue that it is constitutionally doubtful that parliamentary resolutions of this kind rightfully represent the political will of the people. Yet to criticise this assumption has become tricky. The parliamentary proceedings show how powerful the nationalist rhetoric has become in parliament and in public life at large, as the burden of the proof easily falls on the dissenters and as a mere criticism of such sovereignty claim is swiftly described as an antipatriotic attack. Ironically, similar arguments have been and still are pursued in the successful Catalan case.
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In Marja Jalava, Stefan Nygård and Johan Strang, eds., Decentering European Intellectual Space. Leiden: Brill
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In Jussi Kurunmäki, Jeppe Nevers and Henk te Velde, eds., Democracy in Modern Europe: A Conceptual History. New York and Oxford: Berghahn
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Estudio introductorio, 'Franklin D. Roosevelt: retórica, economía y política del New Deal' (IX-LI), a Franklin D. Roosevelt, Discursos políticos del New Deal, edición y traducción de J. M. Rosales. Madrid: Tecnos, 2019, LI + 187 páginas
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Estudio preliminar, 'Experiencia constitucional e identidad cívica', a Dolf Sternberger, Patriotismo constitucional (pp. 11-52), traducción y notas de Luis Villar Borda. Bogotá: Universidad Externado de Colombia, Serie de Teoría Jurídica... more
Estudio preliminar, 'Experiencia constitucional e identidad cívica', a Dolf Sternberger, Patriotismo constitucional (pp. 11-52), traducción y notas de Luis Villar Borda. Bogotá: Universidad Externado de Colombia, Serie de Teoría Jurídica y Filosofía del Derecho, 2001, 170 páginas.
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The first edition of the RECAST Training School focuses on an interdisciplinary review and assessment of the historical contingencies, theoretical ramifications, and methodological choices involved in the nexus of issues of civic rights... more
The first edition of the RECAST Training School focuses on an interdisciplinary review and assessment of the historical contingencies, theoretical ramifications, and methodological choices involved in the nexus of issues of civic rights and democracy. The goal of this first edition of the Training School is to open to discussion a range of possible approaches concerning the interrelation(s) of rights and democracy, and to look at the multifaceted questions, whose answers depend in part on specific political circumstances and in part on the evolution of notions of rights and democracy as complex and contingent efforts and ideas, rather than as a stringent, dogmatic, unified or constant intellectual or political agenda and theory. The syllabus proposed by this edition's trainers and the successive versions of the programme can be found at: https://www.uma.es/costactionrecast/info/114362/ts-2018-edition/ Submission of Proposals This announcement and call for applications invites doctoral candidates and early career investigators (within 8 years after completing a PhD) to submit abstracts touching on the above matters from the broad fields of social sciences and humanities, including politics, philosophy, political theory, history, history of ideas, law, art and aesthetics, gender studies, area studies. PhD students should submit an abstract of not more than 500 words summarising their PhD project and how it links to the themes of RECAST. A short CV of not more than 150 words should also be submitted, all in one single file. Early career investigators should, similarly, submit an abstract of not more than 500 words of their ongoing or proposed research project. A short CV of not more than 150 words should also be submitted, all in one single file. Deadline: Wednesday, 24 October 2018 by an e-mail sent to both the Convenor of this edition, Prof. Maria Marczewska-Rytko (m_marczewska@yahoo.com), and RECAST Vice-Chair, Assoc. Prof. Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark (sia@peace.ax).
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Imagining the relation of democracy and rights as spontaneous, or even unproblematic, disregards their plural argumentative uses, the dissensual features of their relationship, and the many obstacles that hinder their fulfilments in... more
Imagining the relation of democracy and rights as spontaneous, or even unproblematic, disregards their plural argumentative uses, the dissensual features of their relationship, and the many obstacles that hinder their fulfilments in practice. Furthermore, the close relationship of democracy and rights becomes utterly understandable through their tension and opposition.
Democracy is, indissolubly, a form of government and a political ideal. As a form of government it is conceived as a rights-based political regime. As an ideal, democracy matches the highest aspirations of rights claims, namely the realization of human rights. In either case the array of expectations on democracy has grown magnificently, and overwhelmingly, in recent times. To think about democracy means to think about rights, and the reverse can be easily argued. However, this apparent semantic, and even practical, fluidity from rights to democracy conceals their complex conceptual and institutional configurations.
Rights are, likewise, legal norms and institutional devices, as well as moral values and political ideals. These four conceptual dimensions are combined, and confused, in ordinary practices and political debates. Most frequently, they are usually conflated as institutional realities and moral values, in spite of having different kinds of justifications. This is especially revealing in the case of human rights, which are reductively argued as any of those dimensions.
This is the first workshop in a series of activities of Civic Constellation II, scheduled for the four years 2015 to 2018, aimed at the cooperation of project members and open to the participation of other scholars. The workshop welcomes paper proposals dealing with methodological and thematic issues in the study of democracy and rights, paying special attention to their reciprocal links. Some twenty papers will be selected for the programme.
Convenors
Manuel Toscano (mtoscano@uma.es) and José María Rosales (jmrosales@uma.es)
Deadline for submitting to both convenors
Paper proposals: titles and up to 150-word abstracts, Monday, 2 November 2015
Extended abstracts, or outlines, of accepted proposals: up to 1000 words, Monday, 23 November 2015
Democracy is, indissolubly, a form of government and a political ideal. As a form of government it is conceived as a rights-based political regime. As an ideal, democracy matches the highest aspirations of rights claims, namely the realization of human rights. In either case the array of expectations on democracy has grown magnificently, and overwhelmingly, in recent times. To think about democracy means to think about rights, and the reverse can be easily argued. However, this apparent semantic, and even practical, fluidity from rights to democracy conceals their complex conceptual and institutional configurations.
Rights are, likewise, legal norms and institutional devices, as well as moral values and political ideals. These four conceptual dimensions are combined, and confused, in ordinary practices and political debates. Most frequently, they are usually conflated as institutional realities and moral values, in spite of having different kinds of justifications. This is especially revealing in the case of human rights, which are reductively argued as any of those dimensions.
This is the first workshop in a series of activities of Civic Constellation II, scheduled for the four years 2015 to 2018, aimed at the cooperation of project members and open to the participation of other scholars. The workshop welcomes paper proposals dealing with methodological and thematic issues in the study of democracy and rights, paying special attention to their reciprocal links. Some twenty papers will be selected for the programme.
Convenors
Manuel Toscano (mtoscano@uma.es) and José María Rosales (jmrosales@uma.es)
Deadline for submitting to both convenors
Paper proposals: titles and up to 150-word abstracts, Monday, 2 November 2015
Extended abstracts, or outlines, of accepted proposals: up to 1000 words, Monday, 23 November 2015
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Interdisciplinarity and Pluralism: The Practice of Intellectual History and Conceptual History Institute of Intellectual History, University of St Andrews 3–5 September 2015 A Civic Constellation II Workshop in Cooperation with St... more
Interdisciplinarity and Pluralism: The Practice of Intellectual History and Conceptual History
Institute of Intellectual History, University of St Andrews 3–5 September 2015
A Civic Constellation II Workshop
in Cooperation with
St Andrews Institute of Intellectual History
and
Concepta: International Research School in Conceptual History and Political Thought
Over the last few decades, the aims and approaches for the study of the history of ideas have been under close scrutiny and constant redefinition. Either as part of a deliberate reflection or in the course of research on different topics, the meaning and goals of the history of ideas have been critically reviewed and questioned. As a result, the contours of the field remain fluid; plurality and interdisciplinarity are the most prominent features of both intellectual and conceptual history, the two most prominent branches of the history of ideas as currently practised.
Within intellectual history and conceptual history interdisciplinarity is frequently used as a catchword instead of a methodological engine of meaningful research. As such, the practice and contingency of interdisciplinarity in research and teaching challenge an otherwise sound theoretical justification of historical practice. From this perspective, some scholars have viewed the heterogeneity and diversity that define intellectual and conceptual history as weaknesses, and therefore as reasons to strengthen the frontiers between approaches and academic disciplines.
This workshop seeks to reflect on the role that interdisciplinarity and methodological pluralism play in the practice of intellectual and conceptual history, with the aim of intensifying the debate between them and exploring their relevance to the practice of other disciplines. Ultimately, this also opens up new paths for curricular innovation. Hence we welcome proposals addressing these issues either specifically or as part of broader research agendas in intellectual history and in conceptual history, from political theory and philosophy to international relations.
Deadline for submitting proposals (titles and up to 150-word abstracts): 5 August 2015
Keynote Speakers
Prof Kari Palonen (University of Jyväskylä)
Prof Richard Whatmore (University of St Andrews)
Organisers
The Civic Constellation II: Debating Democracy and Rights, www.uma.es/civicconstellation
Institute of Intellectual History, University of St Andrews, www.intellectualhistory.net
Concepta: International Research School in Conceptual History and Political Thought, www.concepta-net.org
Convenors
Dr Rosario López, Universities of St Andrews and Málaga (rl49@st-andrews.ac.uk)
Prof José María Rosales, University of Málaga (jmrosales@uma.es)
Institute of Intellectual History, University of St Andrews 3–5 September 2015
A Civic Constellation II Workshop
in Cooperation with
St Andrews Institute of Intellectual History
and
Concepta: International Research School in Conceptual History and Political Thought
Over the last few decades, the aims and approaches for the study of the history of ideas have been under close scrutiny and constant redefinition. Either as part of a deliberate reflection or in the course of research on different topics, the meaning and goals of the history of ideas have been critically reviewed and questioned. As a result, the contours of the field remain fluid; plurality and interdisciplinarity are the most prominent features of both intellectual and conceptual history, the two most prominent branches of the history of ideas as currently practised.
Within intellectual history and conceptual history interdisciplinarity is frequently used as a catchword instead of a methodological engine of meaningful research. As such, the practice and contingency of interdisciplinarity in research and teaching challenge an otherwise sound theoretical justification of historical practice. From this perspective, some scholars have viewed the heterogeneity and diversity that define intellectual and conceptual history as weaknesses, and therefore as reasons to strengthen the frontiers between approaches and academic disciplines.
This workshop seeks to reflect on the role that interdisciplinarity and methodological pluralism play in the practice of intellectual and conceptual history, with the aim of intensifying the debate between them and exploring their relevance to the practice of other disciplines. Ultimately, this also opens up new paths for curricular innovation. Hence we welcome proposals addressing these issues either specifically or as part of broader research agendas in intellectual history and in conceptual history, from political theory and philosophy to international relations.
Deadline for submitting proposals (titles and up to 150-word abstracts): 5 August 2015
Keynote Speakers
Prof Kari Palonen (University of Jyväskylä)
Prof Richard Whatmore (University of St Andrews)
Organisers
The Civic Constellation II: Debating Democracy and Rights, www.uma.es/civicconstellation
Institute of Intellectual History, University of St Andrews, www.intellectualhistory.net
Concepta: International Research School in Conceptual History and Political Thought, www.concepta-net.org
Convenors
Dr Rosario López, Universities of St Andrews and Málaga (rl49@st-andrews.ac.uk)
Prof José María Rosales, University of Málaga (jmrosales@uma.es)
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The Workshop "Migration, Rights and Democracy: Conceptual Reappraisals" is the second of a series of three workshops to be organized by Working Group 3: Concepts of COST Action CA 16211 Reappraising Intellectual Debates on Civic Rights... more
The Workshop "Migration, Rights and Democracy: Conceptual Reappraisals" is the second of a series of three workshops to be organized by Working Group 3: Concepts of COST Action CA 16211 Reappraising Intellectual Debates on Civic Rights and Democracy in Europe (RECAST). This workshop focuses on the concepts and the theoretical frames at work when issues revolving around migration in Europe are concerned. Our departure point is that not only is migration a key issue in European politics but also that discussions about it have implications for re-conceptualizing rights and democracy. The analysis of this topic is of the utmost importance and urgency in Europe, calling for the participation not only of academics, but also policy-makers, as well as political and civil society actors (NGOs, activists). This is clearly shown by the recent refugee crisis and the ethico-political impacts it had in several European Union countries. It spawned not only a self-reflection on Europe as either upholding human rights and hospitality or becoming a closed "fortress", but also a political polarization, fueling in some countries rightwing, exclusionary populism. Indeed, those recent developments have shown how international obligations of states to respect the rights of migrants and refugees have become increasingly contested and challenged in domestic as well as European level politics. While migration, democracy and rights are all political and contested concepts, with different histories, meanings and usages, we are particularly interested in examining the political, legal, institutional layouts and relations of these concepts and the understandings they can imply. The workshop invites conceptual investigations and theoretical (and or practical) explorations on the question. Migration is considered as a locus for conceptual debates and unraveling the tensions between claims, norms, policies and practices related to democracy and rights. Thus we propose a critical reflection on the concepts that are used when migration, democracy and rights are studied or discussed (by scholars, politicians or other social actors) as well as on the historical transformations of these debates-assessing the way we think of migration and aiming to determine whether we are still using today the same conceptual tools and theories as we did in the past, or if significant conceptual and theoretical changes have happened in the last decades.