Populism and Theopolitical Charisma
From Occupy Wall Street to Brexit, contemporary, global forms of populism have allied with claims and counter-claims to sovereignty and territorial borders. In 2019, demonstrations in Chile, Hong Kong, and Lebanon have further attested to political crises of representing “the people” across liberal-democratic and authoritarian states. Imaginaries of public opinion and the vox populi loom large in the upcoming 2020 elections in the U.S, having already attracted electorates this past year in Brazil, Italy, Britain, and Canada. Throughout these contexts and elsewhere, the rise of populisms has intensified discussion around critiques of authority, expertise, individualism, and liberalism.
This workshop features original research papers by graduate students of the University of Toronto and of the University of Chicago that address the theopolitical elements of populist movements and expressions worldwide. These papers deal with past as well as present forms of populism. What histories of charismatic politics and theology shape the promises and perils of populism? What forces of authority unsettle and exceed the normative political imagination of “the people”? What forms of media, technology, and representation mobilize populist imaginaries and movements? How are such populisms shaped into scenes of protest, potential anarchic formations, and demagogic images of “the people”?
The workshop is jointly organized by V. Napolitano (University of Toronto), S. Coleman (University of Toronto) and Angie Heo (University of Chicago).
When: May 7 & 8th. Please note, this is a closed event for invited participants and discussants.
Speakers:
“Narcoseries: Fiction, Truth Effects and Populist Fantasy in Mexico’s Drug War”
“Unholy Smokes: Tear Gas and the Sacrament of State Violence”
“A History of Tunisian Populism: Tunisianité and its Consequences”
“Preaching in the Streets of Sodom: Revival, Apocalypse, and Contagion”
“Playing in the Uncanny: In Search of the Otherwise of Poland’s Jewish Revival”
“The Political Theology of Charisma: Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as Case Study”
Commentators Include: Maria José de Abreu (Columbia University), Yasmin Moll (University of Michigan), Anthony Petro (Boston University) & Geneviève Zubrzycki (University of Michigan)