CSD Seminar with Prof. Colin Crouch (University of Warwick)

Rethinking Political Identity: Citizens and Parties in Europe

Almost everywhere in western Europe the political identities that had emerged by mid-20th century to enable most citizens to ally themselves with particular parties have worn themselves out. In central and eastern Europe such identities have barely developed. The seminar will trace how parties adjusted their electoral appeals to cope with this decline (if at all), will track the emergence of new identities, and relate these changes to a changing political geography as society has moved from industrialisation, to industrialism, and to ex-industrialism and post-industrialism.

Colin Crouch is an external scientific member of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies at Cologne and professor emeritus of the University of Warwick. He previously taught at the London School of Economics and Political Science, the University of Oxford (Fellow of Trinity College), and the European University Institute, Florence. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, and of the Academy of Social Sciences, and a member of the Accademia delle Scienze di Torino. His most recent books include The Globalization Backlash (2019); Will the Gig Economy Prevail? (2019); Manifesto for Social Europe (2020); Post-Democracy after the Crises (2020); Rethinking Political Identity: Citizens and Parties in Europe will be published during 2025.

The event will take place in-person. If you have any questions, please email the seminar convener, Dr Jac St John, Lecturer in Politics and International Relations (stjohnja@westminster.ac.uk)

The Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD), established in 1989, is based in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Westminster. At the Centre, academics working in politics and international relations undertake socially engaged, methodologically diverse and often interdisciplinary research that aims to address a range of critical political challenges in relation to democracy worldwide.

CSD has a longstanding international reputation for research excellence through a programme of publications, events and collaborations with academics, practitioners, policymakers, and activists. Research in Politics and International Studies at CSD was ranked 4th highest in the UK for impact in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.

The Centre has established numerous collaborations with scholars and universities around the world and has hosted encounters with public intellectuals including Luc Boltanski, Judith Butler, Stuart Hall, Bruno Latour, Richard Rorty, Quentin Skinner, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Charles Taylor, James Tully, and Michael Walzer. The CR Parekh lecture, instituted by Lord Bhikhu Parekh, has included lectures by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arundhati Roy, and Ashis Nandy.

CSD recognises that responding to contemporary social and political challenges requires engagement beyond the academy, so actively welcomes dialogue and collaboration with researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and activists around the world. The Centre is directed by Professor Nitasha Kaul.

Host or Publisher This seminar is organised by the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD).