Democracy with All the Feels: The Politics of Emotions in Democratic Systems

February 27, 2025
Yale University
Institution for Social and Policy Studies
77 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT

“Democracy with All the Feels” explores the relationships between emotions and political practices (e.g., deliberating, representing, voting, or resisting) and how their interactions affect political agents, shape political judgment, and organize political systems. From a variety of perspectives, the objective of this conference is to reflect critically on the conditions under which emotions can constructively contribute to democracy, especially in times of crisis and uncertainty

PARTICIPANTS’ SCHEDULE

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26

TIME ACTIVITY
6:30 PM Pre-Conference Dinner
The Study at Yale Hotel Penthouse, 1157 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT

 

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27

TIME ACTIVITY
8:30 AM Light breakfast served (Room A001)
9:00 AM Welcome & Introduction
Hélène Landemore & Antonin Lacelle-Webster, Yale University
9:10 AM PANEL 1: Democratic life and its affective ambiguities (Room A002)

  • Michael Morrell, University of Connecticut
    “In Defense of Empathy”
  • Yuna Blajer de la Garza, Loyola University
    “Sharing in Indifference”
  • Antonin Lacelle-Webster, Yale University
    “Collective Hope and Democratic World-Making”

Discussant: Serena Cho, Yale University
Panel Chair: Hélène Landemore, Yale University
10:40 AM Coffee Break (Room A001)
11:00 AM PANEL 2: Navigating losses and defeats in democratic politics (Room A002)

  • Steven Webster, Indiana University
    “Anger, Negative Partisanship, and Joy in the Suffering of Political Others”
  • Katie Stockdale, University of Victoria
    “Hope in a Climate of Fear”
  • Meena Krishnamurthy, Queen’s University
    “From Shattered Dreams to Dreams in the Making: Martin Luther King, Jr. on Transformation Through Democratic Disappointment and Determination”

Discussant: Louise Knops, Université Libre de Bruxelles (remotely)
Panel Chair: Victor Wu, Yale University
12:30 PM Lunch (Room A001)
1:30 PM PANEL 3: The difficulty of being and talking with others

  • Lala Muradova, University of Southampton
    “Intergenerational Empathy and Climate Change”
  • Molly Scudder, Purdue University
    “Cynicism as Contagion, Deliberation as Inoculation?”
  • Michael Neblo & Natalie Miller, Ohio State University
    “Impersonal AI to Reduce Ad Hominem Biases”

Discussant: Valentina Tirloni, Université Côte d’Azur (Visiting Yale)
Panel Chair: Kevin Elliott, Yale University
3:00 PM Coffee Break (Room A001)
3:30 PM PANEL 4: Emotions and political spaces

  • Karen Celis, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
    “Designing Emotion-Sensitive Democratic Interventions”
  • Jennifer Forestal, Loyola University
    “Grievance Citizenship: Mobilization, Resentment, and the Affective Structures of Social Media”
  • Hélène Landemore, Yale University
    “The Power of Love: Civic Friendship and Its Effects in the French Citizens’ Assembly on End-of-Life Issues”

Discussant: Théophile Pénigaud, Yale University
Panel Chair: Shao Lee, Yale University
5:00 PM Adjournment and Break
6:00 PM Conference Reception and Dinner (cocktails at 6:00 pm with dinner seating at 6:30 pm)
Villa Lulu, 230 College Street, New Haven, CT