Rethinking Democracy in an Age of Pandemic
As the world grappled to deal with the fallout from COVID-19, this special series of workshops explored the impact of the pandemic on democracies worldwide. The workshops were organised by the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute in partnership with the Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities at Columbia University.
Over one panel discussion and five workshops, we considered whether the crisis is changing how we think about nations and borders. We discussed the implications for the marginalised groups hit hardest and interrogated the role of inequality in this public health emergency. We examined the implications of the new normal on the everyday, as billions of people worldwide adjusted to living in some state of lockdown. Finally, with access to the conventional means of protest lost and the news media under potentially catastrophic economic pressures, we asked if democracy can function without the public sphere.
The series engaged international speakers and participants comprised of academics, journalists, authors, arts practitioners, civic society representatives, activists and policy makers.
The Behind the Headlines discussion 'Democracy in an Age of Pandemics' kicked off the series on Monday the 27th April at 19:30pm in Dublin, and provided a taster for the range of topics what will follow.
A Rethinking Democracy in an Age of Pandemic free online curriculum developed out of the series was launched in December 2020. The curriculum includes webinar recordings as well as suggested readings and related resources.
To mark the launch of the Rethinking Democracy in an Age of Pandemic curriculum, the Trinity Long Room Hub and Society of Fellows and Heyman Centre invited three speakers back to reflect on developments and future challenges in three podcast episodes recorded in November and December 2020. Find out more about the podcasts here.
The Rethinking Democracy in an Age of Pandemic series and podcasts built upon the issues addressed in 2018-19 Global Humanities Institute on the crises of democracy funded by the CHCI (Consortium of Humanities Centres and Institutes) and the A.W. Mellon Foundation. Both the Trinity Long Room Hub and the Heyman Centre were involved in this project with partners from Brazil, India and Croatia. See the Crises of Democracy Curriculum here.
Explore the series:
- Behind the Headlines: Democracy in an Age of Pandemic│Listen here │Watch here
- Nations and Borders │Listen here
- Marginalised Groups │Listen here│Watch here
- Inequality │Listen here│Watch here
- The Everyday │Listen here│Watch here
- Democracy Without a Public Sphere│Listen here│Watch here
Rethinking Democracy Podcast
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