Identity Politics and Demos Making in a Period of Transformations

Abstract

After the first breakthrough of the democratic idea in the city-states of ancient Greece and a second transformation of the concept of democracy in the nation-states of the modern world, democracy is currently undergoing a third period of transformations. These are caused by phenomena labeled with categories such as ‘globalization’, transnationalization or Europeanization. The complex socio-cultural diversity that these phenomena entail is altering historically established domains of political rule. With the shifting of functional boundaries and the re-definition of collective identities, the empirical ground for meeting the democratic postulate that there should be an approximate congruence between political decision-makers and those groups of persons affected by the decisions made has become shaky. In consequence, the meaning of the first semantic component of the concept of democracy requires a thorough re-examination: How is the demos to be conceived of? Our panel aims at shedding light on the identity politics underlying current attempts at redefining, renewing or reaffirming the demos in contemporary Europe and North America. It will offer contrasting assessments of the dynamics underlying the construction and reproduction of political identities under conditions of increased cultural heterogeneity and shifting collective allegiances. Contributions to the panel may both focus on the bottom-up articulation of new identities, as well as discuss institutional strategies designed for coping with the impact of sweeping structural changes on democratic allegiances.

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