Change of Epoch or Epoch of Change? Innovation and Change in South European Politics and Society

In recent decades, Southern Europe has been affected by multiple developments linked to processes of change dictated by internal transformations and by external shocks and crises. The region has condensed the diverse, often antithetical, scopes of social and political change worldwide. It thus serves as fertile breeding ground for research on change in the three dimensions of politics, polity, and policy. Southern European countries have undergone diverse trajectories in terms of democratic consolidation and party system institutionalisation. However, since 2008 they have experienced similar economic, social and political pressures. These include political crisis and policy-making failures at home that have marked the domestic push for change and political renewal. Furthermore, the economic and financial crises, the migration crisis and the pandemic have acted as catalysts for change. All have required emergency solutions in contexts already stressed by internal tensions. Then, the region’s nature as the EU's southern frontier and its distinctive structures of welfare provision demand innovative institutions and policies to handle the multidimensional challenges arising from these different crises. The change has affected many dimensions of political action and social coexistence, from the restructuring of the party system, to the renewal of the political class, to government formulas, public policies, the sphere of rights, the fabric of society and the mobilisation of citizens. The literature has investigated many of these aspects of change, often placing them in the context of various crises and in the perspective of emergency and to a certain extent, forced solutions. The multiple pressures and crises, endogenous and exogenous, affecting Southern Europe have made the region in recent decades a formidable laboratory for political and social change. Should scholars therefore study the region not only from an emergency perspective, but from the perspective of structural change and, possibly, innovative practices? Ultimately, Southern Europe may have been pushed towards accelerated change. It could represent a privileged observation point for understanding mechanisms of innovation that have found extreme cases in the region, yet from which other regions are not exempt. In other words, Southern Europe could become a laboratory for a much deeper understanding change and innovation in Europe. This Section aims to analyse innovation and change in the politics, policy and polity of Southern Europe. Geographically, it covers Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain and Turkey. Section Chairs seek descriptive and causal Papers addressing homogeneity and heterogeneity of change and innovation processes. Papers should focus on the main (aggregate, country-specific, individual-level) factors explaining change and innovation in the region. Section Chairs are open to Panels proposing theoretical-conceptual elaborations and original empirical analyses of change processes and innovative practices in single countries. We also seek comparisons within the region, or comparisons with other countries or other regions beyond Southern Europe. The Section welcomes contributions across a range of disciplines (political science, political economy, management studies, sociology, social psychology, social policy, communication studies, ethnography, IR), and across a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives and methodological approaches. Panels addressing one or several of the following topics would particularly fit the Section: ▪️ ‘Narratives of change’: political communication and public discourses on change and innovation ▪️ Changing values, preferences and opinions ▪️ The factors driving innovation ▪️ Political actors responding to change ▪️ Electoral change and realignment ▪️ Institutional change and democratic innovation ▪️ Change and innovation in Public administration ▪️ The innovative capacity of south European welfare states ▪️ Policy change and policies promoting innovation ▪️ The effects of innovation in a political and social context ▪️ Change and innovation in the politics of rights. Panel 1: Multiple crises and changes in individual attitudes and behaviours towards politics, policy and polity in Southern Europe Chair: Alessandro Pellegata, University of Milan Panel 2: Affective and political polarization in Southern Europe Chair: Mariano Torcal, Universitat Pompeu Fabra Panel 3: Taking stock of the rise of radical left and left-wing populist parties in Southern Europe Chair: Raul Gomez, University of Liverpool Co-chair: Luis Ramiro, UNED Panel 4: Party (democratic) innovations in Southern Europe and beyond: Types, impacts and evolution Chair: Fabio Garcia Lupato, University Complutense of Madrid Panel 5: Italian politics after the 2022 general election: Government, parties and legislators in a reformed parliament Chair: Luca Pinto, University of Bologna Panel 6: Policy advice and policy analytical capacities in Southern Europe Chair: Giliberto Capano, University of Bologna Co-chair: Andrea Pritoni, University of Turin Panel 7: Green and just transition in South European countries: Policy reforms and political challenges Chair: Ekaterina Domorenok, University of Padua Panel 8: Paths and spaces of policy innovation in migrant reception and integration in Southern Europe Chair: Tiziana Caponio, University of Turin