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Conference Announcement Theme: Re-inventing Liberal Universalisms Type: Research Workshop Institution: Department of Political Science and Communication Studies, University of Greifswald Location: Greifswald (Germany) Date: 26.–27.2.2018 __________________________________________________ Liberalism, even when considered as a manifold and plural political ideology, is still widely regarded as having universal reach in its concepts and arguments. “Universal” here refers to the interweaving of abstract terms assuring continuity throughout fluctuating political agendas. Due to the important role of rationality in liberal anthropology, liberal arguments are also universal and comprehensive in claiming plausibility irrespective of linguistic, cultural or political borders. Still, from a rhetorical perspective, the tension between universal and context-bound claims has remained a constant challenge for liberalism. How has liberal universalism been undone and re-invented in history? This workshop suggests approaching this question through the nexus between liberal universalism and migration – migration in the double sense of a key experience in the formulation of liberal arguments as well as a movement of ideas and languages. The experiences of different cultural contexts have shaped the ideas of many liberal theorists, intellectuals and politicians. Be it in voluntary travels, in the context of migration, or forced exile, the re-integration of novel experiences into the liberal framework can bring to the fore the reinvention of liberal universalism, but possibly also its problematisation and struggle for alternative variants within the liberal universe. But the tension of context-bound and universal claims also comes to the fore when we examine the migration, translation, or adaption of specific liberal arguments, both in political theory and its ideological uses. Elaborating on the links between intellectual and public debates, this workshop will address the historical and contemporary plurality of liberal languages. The reinvention of liberal universalism continues to play an important role in contemporary political imagination. The old challenges that conservatism and state-centred nationalisms once posed have now multiplied and diversified, and tensions with multiculturalism or populism, to name but two, are the rule rather than the exception. In a world of competing ideologies and ideological families, what is the normative reach of liberal claims? “Liberal” has even migrated ideologically as a label to become a pejorative term, which makes for an interesting case study, both from a historical and/or contemporary perspective. Programme Monday, 26 February 9:00 Welcome and Introduction Rosario López, Lenka Strnadová, and Rieke Trimçev 9:15 Session 1 Chair: José María Rosales (University of Málaga) Jussi Kurunmäki (Södertörn University & University of Helsinki) and Jani Marjanen (University of Helsinki): Liberalism, Universalism, and Rhetoric Banu Turnaoglu (University of Cambridge): The Liberal Universalism of the Young Turks 10:45 Coffee Break 11:15 Session 2 Chair: Lenka Strnadová (University of West Bohemia) Wael Abu-Uksa (Hebrew University of Jerusalem): The Language of Liberalism in 19th-Century Arabic: A Conceptual Approach Alexander Weiß (Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg): The History of non-Western Reception of Liberalism and the Question of Universality 12:45 Lunch Break 14:00 Session 3 Chair: Henning Hochstein (University of Greifswald) Nic Miller (University of Lisbon): John Stuart Mill and His Discussants in Hawaii: Liberalism and the Question of Contract Labour Rosario López (University of Málaga): Richard Cobden’s Liberal Mission and the Quest for Universal Peace 15:30 Coffee Break 16:00 Session 4 Chair: Rosario López (University of Málaga) Bakar Berekashvili (Georgian American University, Tbilisi): Imitative Order of Liberal Rhetoric: The Case of Post-Soviet Political Language Eno Trimçev (University of Greifswald): “Into the Hall of Mirrors”: The Re-Invention of Liberalism in Albanian Intellectual Discourse 17:30 Break 18:00 Keynote Address Michael Freeden (SOAS University of London and University of Oxford): Liberal Universalism? Check the Small Print First Chair: Hubertus Buchstein (University of Greifswald) 19:30 Dinner Tuesday, 27 February 9:30 Session 5 Chair: Hubertus Buchstein (University of Greifswald) Wojciech Ufel (University of Wrocł aw): Liberalisation of Democracy in post- 1989 Poland: Imposition, Adaptation, and Rejection? Petr Krčál (University of West Bohemia): Illiberal Discourses of Liberal Regimes: CAQDAS of Presidential and Electoral Discourse in Czech Republic 11:00 Coffee Break 11:30 Session 6 Chair: Lisa Klingsporn (University of Greifswald) Lenka Strnadová (University of West Bohemia): The Construction of Liberalism within Postcommunist Societies: Exploring the Epistemic Limits of Liberal Democracy Rieke Trimçev (University of Greifswald): The Liberalism of Fear in America: Situated Universalism in Judith N. Shklar 13:00 Lunch Break 14:30 Session 7 Chair: Michael Freeden (SOAS University of London and University of Oxford) Victor Kempf (Goethe University, Frankfurt): Radical Rescue: Liberal Democracy, the Threat of Right-wing Populism, and Post-Marxist Counter-Strategies Karsten Schubert (University of Bremen): The Challenge or Migration: For a New Liberal Universalism. A Critique of Christoph Menke’s Radical Republicanism 16:00 Concluding Thoughts & COST Business Meeting 17:00 End of the Workshop 19:00 Dinner Venue Konzilsaal, Universitätshauptgebäude Domstraße 11 17489 Greifswald Germany Organisers Working Group Languages and Ideologies. COST Action CA 16211 RECAST: Reappraising Intellectual Debates on Civic Rights and Democracy in Europe Concepta: International Research School in Conceptual History and Political Thought Department of Political Science & Communication Studies, University of Greifswald Convenors Rosario López, University of Málaga (rosari...@uma.es) Lenka Strnadová, University of West Bohemia (lstr...@kap.zcu.cz) Rieke Trimçev, University of Greifswald (rieke.trim...@uni-greifswald.de) Conference website: https://www.uma.es/costactionrecast/info/110336/wg-2-workshop-1 __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: https://interphil.polylog.org InterPhil List Archive: https://www.mail-archive.com/interphil@list.polylog.org/ __________________________________________________
