BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//The Brussels Institute for Advanced Studies - ECPv6.17.0//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-CALNAME:The Brussels Institute for Advanced Studies
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://brias.be
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for The Brussels Institute for Advanced Studies
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:Europe/Brussels
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+0100
TZOFFSETTO:+0200
TZNAME:CEST
DTSTART:20250330T010000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0200
TZOFFSETTO:+0100
TZNAME:CET
DTSTART:20251026T010000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+0100
TZOFFSETTO:+0200
TZNAME:CEST
DTSTART:20260329T010000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0200
TZOFFSETTO:+0100
TZNAME:CET
DTSTART:20261025T010000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+0100
TZOFFSETTO:+0200
TZNAME:CEST
DTSTART:20270328T010000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0200
TZOFFSETTO:+0100
TZNAME:CET
DTSTART:20271031T010000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260521T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260521T150000
DTSTAMP:20260420T090853Z
CREATED:20251209T082825Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260420T090853Z
UID:2548-1779364800-1779375600@brias.be
SUMMARY:Thursday Seminars by Jakob Ohme
DESCRIPTION:How to study platform influences on digital democracies\nAbstract\nDigital platforms do not merely host democratic debate — they structure visibility\, shape information flows\, and influence how political opinions are formed. To understand these effects\, we need theory-driven and longitudinal approaches that trace communicative processes over time\, combining digital trace data\, sequence-based analyses\, and innovative data access methods. This talk presents a theoretical perspective on how to study the influence of digital platforms by using data donation exposure trajectories gathered around the 2025 German federal election.  \nBio\nJakob Ohme leads the interdisciplinary Digital News Dynamics research group at Weizenbaum Institute\, which explores the impact and dissemination of professional journalism on digital platforms versus other sources such as influencers or artificial intelligence. Jakob’s work emphasizes the changes digital and mobile communications bring to news consumption and political engagement\, particularly across different generations. He is dedicated to advancing digital methodologies in political communication and journalism research\, notably through the innovative use of digital trace data. Jakob is also a co-principal investigator in the #DSA40 Collaboratory\, focusing on collaborative access to platform data under the EU’s Digital Services Act. He previously held positions at the University of Amsterdam’s ASCoR and at the University of Southern Denmark\, where he earned his PhD.  \n 
URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminars-by-jakob-ohme/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260511T100000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260511T130000
DTSTAMP:20260427T091517Z
CREATED:20260115T114539Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260427T091517Z
UID:2900-1778493600-1778504400@brias.be
SUMMARY:Public Lecture – Big Ideas for Democracy: Petra Ahrens
DESCRIPTION:Register here\nThe international norm of Gender-Sensitive Parliaments: Navigating Inequality and Inclusion in Democracies under Pressure\nBio\nPetra Ahrens is Academy of Finland Research Fellow at Tampere University\, Finland. Her research focuses on gender policies and politics in the European Union and its institutions\, gender equality in Germany\, gender-sensitive parliaments\, and transnational civil society. Alongside articles\, she is the author of Actors\, Institutions\, and the Making of EU Gender Equality Programs (Palgrave Macmillan\, 2018)\, co-editor\, with Lise Rolandsen Agustín\, of Gendering the European Parliament. Structures\, Policies\, and Practices (Rowman & Littlefield / ECPR Press\, 2019)\, and co-editor\, with Anna Elomäki and Johanna Kantola\, of European Parliament’s Political Groups in Turbulent Times (Palgrave Macmillan\, 2022).  \nThis event will also feature a roundtable discussion with politicians: \n\nKathleen Depoorter (N-VA)\nHannelore Goeman (Vooruit)\nNadia Naji (Groen)\nVincent Van Peteghem (cd&v)\nEva De Bleeker (Anders.)\nLine De Witte (PVDA)
URL:https://brias.be/event/public-lecture-big-ideas-for-democracy-petra-ahrens/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260506T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260506T150000
DTSTAMP:20260504T083231Z
CREATED:20251209T082747Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260504T083231Z
UID:2546-1778068800-1778079600@brias.be
SUMMARY:Lunchtime Seminars by Mark Brandt
DESCRIPTION:The unintended consequences of depolarization treatments (in the US)\nAbstract\nMany interventions exist for reducing toxic polarization. However\, a possibility is that these interventions that aim to help political opponents get along have unintended side effects. For example\, they may increase other forms of intolerance\, reduce civic engagement\, or reduce people’s willingness to confront prejudices or misinformation. We tested these possibilities in a preregistered experiment with a large sample of US Americans (data collection ongoing\, current N > 1500). Participants are randomly assigned to one of two intervention conditions known to reduce polarization or a control condition. After answering questions related to polarization\, anti-democratic attitudes\, and support for violence (the primary outcomes)\, participants answered questions bout their prejudices towards a variety of social groups\, their willingness to confront prejudice and misinformation\, and their willingness to engage in politics (the possible side effects). Because data collection is ongoing\, I do not yet know the results. I look forward to sharing them with you all.  \nBio\nMark Brandt is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Michigan State University and is currently a fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study. His research goal is to understand the causes and consequences of political\, religious\, and moral beliefs that can ultimately be leveraged to reduce conflict and promote a more fair\, just\, and free society.    \n 
URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminars-by-mark-brandt/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260505T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260505T180000
DTSTAMP:20260420T115457Z
CREATED:20251204T091258Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260420T115457Z
UID:2491-1777996800-1778004000@brias.be
SUMMARY:Public Lecture – Big Ideas for Democracy: Tània Verge
DESCRIPTION:Register here\nWhen We Are Not in the Room:  Designing Feminist Institutional Change for Resilience and Reactivation \nFeminist institutionalism has long shown that feminist institutional change is rarely one-shot\, given the “genderedness” of organisations/institutions (Benschop & Verloo\, 2006)\, the “nested newness” of reform efforts (Mackay\, 2014)\, and multiple forms of resistance (Tildesley\, Lombardo & Verge\, 2022). Recent work argues that inclusive reforms tend to follow cycles of repetition through which change is sedimented (Cianetti\, 2024). This resonates with Benschop & Verloo’s metaphor of “Sisyphus’ sisters” – organising so each restart begins from a slightly stronger position –\, with Mackay’s (2014) memory-keepers who periodically force recollection\, and with Sara Ahmed’s (2017: 12) insight that “repetition is the scene of a feminist instruction.”  \nThe Catalan case offers unusually clear evidence that while feminist insider activists in executive office can rewrite the gendered rules of the game and effectively implement transformative state feminism\, much feminist change remains deeply embodied – dependent on insider feminist activists’ presence at veto and coordination nodes\, with sufficient expertise and overlapping membership in the feminist movement. Nearly two years on\, following a change of administration\, drift is very visible: new formal and informal gendered rules thin out or are abandoned\, coordination venues are downgraded\, veto power is not exercised\, and technocratic “add-women-and-stir” mainstreaming is back.   \nFrom a dual practitioner-academic perspective as former Minister of Equality and Feminisms\, Government of Catalonia (2021–2024) and feminist institutionalist scholar\, this paper reflects on the extent to which feminist governance can be designed to endure in the absence of feminist insider activists or be relaunched swiftly when they are back in the room. In doing so\, I discuss the gendered legacies seeded\, including: entrenchment across venues and duplicated authority to counter “remembering the old”; memory infrastructures to counter “forgetting the new”; and broadened legitimacy coalitions/audiences to ease the “liability of newness” and embed new feminist logics of appropriateness. This reflection is particularly relevant amid the global dismantling\, backsliding\, and watering-down of feminist policies across governments – whether far-right or centre-left executives – as well as universities and other institutional arenas.  \nBio\nTània Verge is a Full Professor of Politics and Gender at the Department of Political and Social Sciences\, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF\, Barcelona)\, where she led the Equality Unit between 2014 and 2021 and coordinated the Minor in Gender Studies. Between May 2021 and August 2024\, she served as Minister of Equality and Feminisms of the Government of Catalonia\, and between May 2024 and February 2026 she was an MP in the Parliament of Catalonia. Her main area of research is gender and politics\, with a focus on how political parties and parliaments are shaped by gender dynamics and on resistance to the adoption and implementation of equalities policies. Her consultancy and governmental practice have also given her new insights into the possibilities and limitations of feminist institutional redesign.
URL:https://brias.be/event/public-lecture-big-ideas-for-democracy-tania-verge/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260430T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260430T150000
DTSTAMP:20260407T084343Z
CREATED:20251209T082711Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260407T084343Z
UID:2544-1777550400-1777561200@brias.be
SUMMARY:Thursday Seminars by Cristina Leston-Bandeira
DESCRIPTION:Are parliaments at risk of becoming irrelevant?\nAbstract\nParliaments have been conceptualised as a core institution of our representative democracies – they are meant to embody the link between public and governance. However\, in a context of declining levels of trust\, increased polarisation and misinformation\, are they increasingly becoming irrelevant in people’s imaginary? Parliaments drive their legitimacy from the representative link\, but this has become increasingly at odds with 21st century societal expectations towards communication and politics. Over the past couple of decades\, we have seen an extraordinary development of public engagement activities and services by parliaments\, in an attempt to redress mistrust. But has this been meaningful? In this lecture\, I will reflect on the efforts parliaments have undertaken to breach the gap with citizens and consider the extent to which this has strengthened the relationship between public and institution. Drawing in particular from the recent suite of 8 Guides on Citizen Engagement for Parliaments\, I will identify the key challenges that institutions such as parliaments face in keeping their relevance and the main areas that still require development. Finishing on a positive note\, I will identify best practice in parliamentary efforts towards ensuring their work stays relevant to the public. \nBio\nCristina Leston-Bandeira is Professor of Politics at the University of Leeds\, UK\, and the Chair and co-founder of the pioneering International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN). She is a leading scholar on parliaments and public engagement and was awarded the UK Political Studies Association 2025 Sir Isaiah Berlin Prize for her outstanding professional contributions to political studies.
URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminars-by-cristina-leston-bandeira/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260429T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260429T180000
DTSTAMP:20260310T141508Z
CREATED:20251204T091145Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260310T141508Z
UID:2489-1777478400-1777485600@brias.be
SUMMARY:Public Lecture – Big Ideas for Democracy: Luana Russo
DESCRIPTION:Register here\nPolitical Identity as a Feature of Democracy: Belonging\, Rejection\, and Absence \nPolitical identities are often taken for granted as attachments to parties or ideological camps. Yet citizens differ profoundly in how much politics matters to who they are\, in whether they define themselves through belonging or rejection\, and in whether politics plays any role in their self-concept at all.  \nThis public lecture draws on original comparative research in Western Europe to rethink political identity as a multidimensional phenomenon structured by importance\, direction\, and absence. It distinguishes between positive political identities rooted in belonging\, negative political identities driven by opposition and moral rejection\, and low-salience identities marked by detachment from politics.  \nBy examining how these forms of political identity relate to emotions\, stereotypes\, participation\, and satisfaction with democracy\, the lecture sheds light on why some citizens are mobilized\, others polarized\, and still others disengaged.  \nThe talk concludes by reflecting on what the balance between belonging\, opposition\, and detachment means for the health of contemporary liberal democracies.  \nBio\nLuana Russo is Associate Professor in Political Behavior and Quantitative Methods at Maastricht University\, where she currently also serves as co-Director of CERiM (Centre for European Research in Maastricht). Luana’s research interests focus on elections\, political attitudes and behaviors\, political psychology\, affective polarization\, and negative partisanship. She is dedicated to understanding how individuals form and express their political preferences and form their social identities and affiliations\, particularly within the context of contemporary political polarization.
URL:https://brias.be/event/public-lecture-big-ideas-for-democracy-luana-russo/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260422
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260424
DTSTAMP:20260323T160521Z
CREATED:20260323T160521Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260323T160521Z
UID:3510-1776816000-1776988799@brias.be
SUMMARY:Festival of Public Policy Transformation
DESCRIPTION:Registration\nhttps://register.event.ulb.be/events/TAP/ \nDetails TBC
URL:https://brias.be/event/festival-of-public-policy-transformation/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260409T124500
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260409T150000
DTSTAMP:20260323T155742Z
CREATED:20251209T082629Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260323T155742Z
UID:2542-1775738700-1775746800@brias.be
SUMMARY:Thursday Seminars by Sabri Derinöz
DESCRIPTION:Unpacking the Framing of Democracy in EU Institutional Discourses on Disinformation Mitigation \nAbstract\nHow do European institutions frame democracy in their discourses and policies about disinformation mitigation? Disinformation is often presented by EU institutions as a threat to democracy that must be resolved (Navarro et al.\, 2025)\, which has led to the development of multiple intervention strategies. Some scholars consider that\, in the context of democratic backsliding\, European institutional discourses defend “a technocratic legalistic perspective [of democracy] over a democratic pluralist one” (Oleart & Theuns\, 2023). This presentation examines how key European institutional documents addressing disinformation (and its mitigation) participate in constructing specific understandings of democracy\, particularly through the central place they attribute to information and to the ecosystem that produces and circulates it (the media\, the public sphere). Drawing on a pragmatist understanding of the sociology of public problems\, where problems are constructed through discourse\, and their framing lead to design specific solutions (Cefaï\, 1996; Widmer\, 2010; Arquembourg\, 2016)\, the analysis focuses on how these documents mobilise notions such as informed citizenship\, public debate and quality information and how these discourses outline a specific democratic imaginary that might influence the range of responses considered appropriate to address contemporary democratic challenges.  \nBio\n Sabri Derinöz is a researcher in media and communication studies who focuses on the construction of public problems through discourse. He is currently part of the EDMO BELUX consortium\, which aims to mitigate disinformation through a multidisciplinary approach. 
URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminars-by-sabri-derinoz/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260408T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260408T180000
DTSTAMP:20260316T074035Z
CREATED:20251209T084230Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260316T074035Z
UID:2554-1775664000-1775671200@brias.be
SUMMARY:Public Lecture – Big Ideas for Democracy: Isaac Owusu-Mensah
DESCRIPTION:Register here\nEnhancing Quality Electoral Governance for Democratic Consolidation in Ghana’s Fourth Republic\nAbstract\nGhana has made significant progress with democratic governance since returning to multiparty politics in 1992. Since then\, competitive election has been the driving force behind its journey to democratic institutionalization. Yet what has obscured scholarly analysis is the grandiose web of activities that underpins and sustains the overall institutional framework of which voting and electoral competition occurs. It notes how Ghana’s electoral process and administration have been largely shaped by the embedded rules formulated\, executed and adjudicated disputes arising within the electoral game. The rule-bound system\, which defines and directs the electoral process and its management has fostered transparency\, inclusive participation\, trust and confidence of stakeholders in the electoral process and served as the vehicle for institutionalizing Ghana’s electoral democracy. Despite the rule-embedded institutional framework of the electoral process architecture\, certain dimensions of it have failed to secure legitimacy/credibility of the elections. Reforms that innovate appropriate technological and other normative measures to build electoral governance’s capacity to produce credible election process and outcome will deepen the institutionalization of Ghana’s electoral democracy. \nBio\nProfessor Isaac Owusu-Mensah is the Head of the Department of Political Science at the University of Ghana\, Legon. He previously served as Director of Research at the Office of the President of the Republic of Ghana and as Senior Programme Manager at the Konrad Adenauer-Stiftung. His research focuses on democratic governance and electoral politics in Ghana\, with numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals and academic books. Professor Owusu-Mensah has also served as a Guest Lecturer at international institutions including Humboldt University in Berlin\, the University of Auckland\, and the University of Waikato in New Zealand. \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://brias.be/event/public-lecture-big-ideas-for-democracy-isaac-owusu-mensah/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260402T150000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260402T170000
DTSTAMP:20260316T081216Z
CREATED:20251209T082502Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260316T081216Z
UID:2540-1775142000-1775149200@brias.be
SUMMARY:Thursday Seminars by Mark Bray
DESCRIPTION:This Seminar is part of our regular Thursday seminar series\, which normally take place at Lunchtime on Thursdays. This seminar will\, however\, exceptionally take place on Thursday afternoon at 15:00 and instead of Lunch we will offer an aperitif afterwards. By registering via the link you will register for the entire Thursday seminar series and receive weekly outlook invitations to our seminars. In case you want your name removed from the list after this event please send an email to Anja.Garone@vub.be \nFascism and Anti-Fascism in Trump’s United States \nAbstract\nMark Bray will speak about mounting authoritarianism in the United States through the lens of his experience fleeing the country after being targeted by the far right as a “domestic terrorist professor” for the publication of his 2017 book Antifa. He will analyze how the American far right has evolved over the past decade\, how antifascist movements have responded\, and what resistance to Trump and ICE looks like in the US today. Bray will situate such developments in a larger historical context and discuss what they mean for the future of far right politics in the US and Europe.  \nBio\nMark Bray is a historian of Modern Europe at Rutgers University focusing on themes of radicalism\, political violence\, and\, more recently\, scams. He is the author of the New York Times Bestseller Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook and The Anarchist Inquisition: Assassins\, Activists and Martyrs in Spain and France among other works. 
URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminars-by-mark-bray/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260326T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260326T150000
DTSTAMP:20260323T155016Z
CREATED:20251209T082422Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260323T155016Z
UID:2538-1774526400-1774537200@brias.be
SUMMARY:Thursday Seminars by Alvaro Oleart and Philippe Braquenier
DESCRIPTION:Why AI Technosolutionism Harms Democracy and Deliberation \nAbstract\nTechnology has recently entered the scene of deliberative democracy\, both as a subject of deliberation and as a way to improve deliberative processes. The hegemonic position in this debate within the deliberative democracy community appears to be that\, while it is not a bulletproof solution\, technology—and more specifically AI—holds the potential to make deliberation and democracy better. The article takes stock of the latest developments in relation to technology and deliberation\, focusing specifically on the European Citizens’ Panels and Google’s Habermas Machine. We argue that the current trend is characterised by technosolutionism\, and that introducing technology as a ‘solution’ to ‘fix’ some of the ‘problems’ within the deliberative democracy community reinforces its depoliticisation and disintermediation. Deliberative technosolutionism moves the discussion away from the systemic desirability of minipublics\, sidelines a mass politics conception of democracy\, and leaves unquestioned the political economy of AI. By contrast\, democracy needs to be oriented towards mass politics and collective actors rather than reproducing the narrow conception of democracy and deliberation upon which minipublics are built.  \nBio:  \nAlvaro Oleart is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Political Science and the Institute for European Studies of the Université Libre de Bruxelles. His research focuses on the relationship between political conflict and democracy through a decolonial lens in the context of the European Union by analysing the discourse in the European public spheres\, citizen participation processes\, political parties\, the media\, civil society and transnational social movements from both an empirical and normative perspective. He is the author of the books “Framing TTIP in the European Public Spheres: Towards an Empowering Dissensus for EU Integration” (Palgrave\, 2021) and “Democracy Without Politics in EU Citizen Participation: From European Demoi to Decolonial Multitude” (Palgrave\, 2023).  \nDemocracy Under the Dark Enlightenment: Art\, Photography and the Erosion of Democratic Institutions\nAbstract\nThis session brings together artistic practice and political inquiry in the framework of the Democracy Lab residency co-organised by Ohme and BrIAS.   \nPhilippe Braquenier will open with a presentation of his artistic practice and methodology\, and will then present NRx\, his new project currently in development. Taking Curtis Yarvin’s neo-reactionary “Dark Enlightenment” philosophy as a critical framework\, NRx examines the state of democratic institutions in Brussels\, the capital of Europe and a symbolic heart of the progressive West. Through black-and-white photography and video\, Braquenier documents sites of democratic fragility as a means of making visible the slow erosion of the structures and values that underpin democratic life.   \nThis talk is an open invitation to dialogue. In the framework of his residency\, Braquenier is seeking to connect with BrIAS fellows whose research intersects with questions of democratic backsliding\, institutional trust\, political theory\, and civic culture.   \nBio\nPhilippe Braquenier is a Belgian visual artist based in Brussels. Fascinated by knowledge – how it is collected\, used\, shared and stored\, his work explores our obsession with information at a time when data is becoming ever more omnipresent yet increasingly invisible. With a restrained and impassive perspective\, he connects these ideas to broader questions of evolution\, heritage\, and the precarious nature of the digital revolution.  \nHe holds a Bachelor in photography from the HELB and worked in the advertising industry until 2016. Since his shift to artistic practice\, he has exhibited at the Aperture Foundation in New York\, the Belgian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2018)\, and the JIMEI x Arles International Photo Festival\, among other institutions and galleries. He was a finalist for the Louis Roederer Discovery Award at Les Rencontres d’Arles in 2020.  \nwww.philippebraquenier.com  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminars-by-alvaro-oleart/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260319T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260319T150000
DTSTAMP:20260216T085633Z
CREATED:20251209T082302Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260216T085633Z
UID:2536-1773921600-1773932400@brias.be
SUMMARY:Thursday Seminars by Rebekka Kesberg
DESCRIPTION:Foes or Fellow Citizens? Perception of Democratic Legitimacy and Political Polarization\nBio\nRebekka Kesberg is a senior researcher at the University of Sussex (United Kingdom) and the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands). She completed her PhD in social psychology at Ulm University (Germany)\, where she studied how human values shape perception\, attitudes\, and behavior.  \nFollowing her PhD\, she worked on the international and interdisciplinary UNDPOLAR project\, which investigated political polarization in European democracies. She is currently the principal investigator of Valuing Democracy: The Role of Democracy as a Superordinate Identity in the Justification of Political Violence\, funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council. This project examines how citizens in the UK perceive democracy and the extent to which identifying as a democrat influences their attitudes and behaviors\, particularly in relation to the justification of political violence. The project also tests interventions aimed at strengthening democratic support across political divides.  \nRebekka is also a researcher in the Horizon Europe-funded project PushBackLash\, which explores anti-gender backlash and democratic pushback. Her research within the project focuses on anti-gender movements and the narratives they disseminate on social media to create perceptions of threat\, mobilize support and undermine democratic governance.  \nHer work combines insights from psychology and political science to better understand how social dynamics shape democratic life and political conflict. She aims to inform both academic debates and public understanding on how to build and maintain resilient democracies.  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminars-by-rebekka-kesberg/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260318T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260318T180000
DTSTAMP:20260223T094530Z
CREATED:20251204T091012Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260223T094530Z
UID:2485-1773849600-1773856800@brias.be
SUMMARY:Public Lecture – Big Ideas for Democracy: Edson Tandoc
DESCRIPTION:Register here\nFake news and Asian perspectives: Lessons learned\, problems persisting\, and emerging threats\nThis presentation reexamines the evolving landscape of misinformation and disinformation\, focusing on the Asian region\, drawing on insights from the COVID-19 pandemic\, and extending into the current period shaped by rapid technological advancements\, such as the rise of GenAI. Building on almost a decade of research on media and disinformation in Singapore and collaborations across Asia\, this presentation revisits how different Asian countries responded to the infodemic during COVID-19\, highlighting the interplay between media systems\, government regulations\, and cultural contexts in shaping the spread and reception of online falsehoods. While some lessons have been learned\, persistent challenges remain\, and new threats are emerging. As GenAI tools become more accessible and sophisticated\, they introduce new challenges to information integrity and democratic processes. \nBio\nEdson C. Tandoc Jr. is Professor at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore\, where he is also the founding Director of the Centre for Information Integrity and the Internet (IN-cube) and the Associate Chair for Research. He serves as the Chair of the Journalism Studies Division of the International Communication Association.\n\nA former newspaper journalist\, his research focuses on the impact of journalistic roles\, emerging technologies\, and audience feedback on the news gatekeeping process. He also studies how people make sense of critical incidents in journalism and participate in reconsidering journalistic norms\, as well as how changing news consumption patterns facilitate the spread of fake news—especially in the age of communicative AI. His recent books include Analyzing Analytics: Disrupting Journalism One Click at a Time (2019) and co-editor of Critical Incidents in Journalism: Pivotal Moments Reshaping Journalism around the World (2020).\n 
URL:https://brias.be/event/public-lecture-big-ideas-for-democracy-edson-tandoc/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260313T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260313T170000
DTSTAMP:20260226T140346Z
CREATED:20260226T140244Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260226T140346Z
UID:3130-1773403200-1773421200@brias.be
SUMMARY:BrIAS x ABSP Workshop – Focus on the “Unusual Suspects”
DESCRIPTION:Focus on the “Unusual Suspects”: Exploring Understudied Underrepresented Groups in Representative Democracies \nThe Election\, Public Opinion and Parties Working Group of the ABSP and the Brussels Institute for Advanced Studies (BrIAS) organise a workshop on Exploring Understudied Underrepresented Groups in Representative Democracies. \n\nAbout the Workshop\nThis workshop focuses on the “unusual suspects” of representative democracies — understudied and underrepresented groups whose political participation\, representation\, and visibility remain limited. \nBringing together scholars working on youth representation\, political ambition\, antifeminism\, and far-right agenda-setting\, the workshop explores the structural and discursive limits of political representation\, with particular attention to intersectionality\, online visibility\, and generational disconnection. \nDate: 13 March 2026\nLocation: Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels \n\nProgramme\nAgenda\n\n\n12:00 – 13:00 Lunch and greetings\n\n13:00 – 13:45\n\nKevin Meyvaert (VUB)\, Eline Severs (VUB)\, Dimokritos Kavadias (VUB)\nThe Representational Limits of Representatives – Youth Disconnection and Young MPs’ Visions of Representation in Brussels\nDiscussants: Giovanni Maggi\, Simon Geshef\n\n13:45 – 14:30\n\nZoé Lardinois (ULB)\nPathways to Political Candidacy: An Intersectional Study of Political Ambition in Belgium\nDiscussants: Hannah Oorts\, Laura Uyttendale\n\n\n14:30 – 14:45 Coffee break\n\n14:45 – 15:30\n\nHannah Oorts (VUB)\, Eline Severs (VUB)\, Elly Mansoury (VUB)\, Kevin Meyvaert (VUB)\nExpectation vs. Reality: Being a Young Representative in the Spotlight / Online\nDiscussants: Zoé Lardinois\, Aloïsa Pilloy\n\n15:30 – 16:15\n\nGiovanni Maggi (ULB)\nMainstreaming Antifeminism in Italy and the United States: Far-Right Agenda Setting in Networked Public Debates (2010–present)\nDiscussants: Kevin Meyvaert\, Thomas Legein\n\n\n16:15  Farewell coffee\n\n\n\nOrganising Team\nAloïsa Pilloy (UCLouvain) – aloisa.pilloy@uclouvain.be\nSimon Geshef (ULB) – simon.geshef@ulb.be\nLaura Uyttendaele (ULB) – laura.uyttendaele@ulb.be\nThomas Legein (VUB) – thomas.legein@vub.be
URL:https://brias.be/event/brias-x-absp-workshop-focus-on-the-unusual-suspects/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Other Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260312T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260312T150000
DTSTAMP:20260310T125910Z
CREATED:20251209T082221Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260310T125910Z
UID:2534-1773316800-1773327600@brias.be
SUMMARY:Thursday Seminars by Colette Brin
DESCRIPTION:Challenges of human-centric journalistic innovation in the era of artificial intelligence\nAbstract\nWhile generative AI promises efficiency gains in newsgathering\, production\, verification\, and audience engagement\, it also raises significant concerns regarding accuracy\, bias\,transparency\, and professional autonomy. Drawing on a review of public service media AI initiatives and expert insights from Europe and Canada\, as well as a series of media stakeholder interviews conducted in Quebec in 2025\, this talk will address the challenges of human-centric journalistic innovation. Journalists’ responses remain ambivalent: AI tools are increasingly used\, yet widely distrusted\, reinforcing the necessity of a robust “human-in-the-loop” approach and substantial re-skilling that combines technical literacy with core journalistic values such as critical judgment\, contextual knowledge\, and integrity. \nBio\nColette Brin is a Professor at Université Laval’s Département d’information et de communication and Director of Centre d’études sur les médias\, a nonprofit research unit founded in 1992. Her research and teaching focus on recent and ongoing changes in journalism\, through policy and organizational initiatives\, as well as citizens’ news practices. She coordinates the Canadian study for the Digital News Report with the Reuters Institute. \nColette is co-lead of the Arts\, Media and Cultural Diversity Axis at OBVIA\, an international responsible AI research network based in Quebec\, and a member of several research teams in Quebec and Canada.
URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminars-by-colette-brin/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260310T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260310T180000
DTSTAMP:20260310T141524Z
CREATED:20251204T142619Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260310T141524Z
UID:2499-1773158400-1773165600@brias.be
SUMMARY:Public Lecture – Big Ideas for Democracy: Omar Gueye
DESCRIPTION: \nRegister here\nDemocracy and resilience in Africa : Case study of Senegal\nAbstract\nFollowing the political and societal debates that have been taking place around the world since the 1960s\, the project explores issues specific to Africa in the context of nation building\, decolonisation and/or neocolonisation: underdevelopment and precariousness; socio-political changes; the Cold War and Pan-Africanism; the paradigm of the ‘Fathers of Nations’ and the project of the ‘Sons-Presidents’; the desire for societal change and the paradigm of a rebellious youth; social conflicts and the legacy of the May 1968 movement; political instability; the frequency of civil and military coups; constitutional reforms and controversial elections. \nThrough the case of Senegal\, the study explores Africa’s political resilience in the face of democratic challenges\, chronic political instability and recurring crises. It questions the so-called ‘Senegalese exception’\, marked by early political and democratic practice\, a tradition of elections and the mobilisation of avant-garde actors embodied by: reliable institutions; a republican army; dynamic political parties; committed citizens; an active civil society; and a mobilised youth. The reflection focuses on both the resilience and the future of a continent where people aspire to better democracy and well-being despite a context of uncertainty and continuous change. \nBio\nProf. Omar Gueye is a Professor of History at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar and a cultural consultant. He holds a Ph.D. in Modern and Contemporary History from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar\, a Ph.D. in Social History from the University of Amsterdam\, and an MBA in Cultural Heritage Management from Senghor University in Alexandria. Omar GUEYE has gained diverse experience and participated in scientific exchange programs as a Fellow at Harvard University\, Fulbright Fellow at the University of Michigan\, Fernand Braudel Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence (EUI)\, Fellow at the Institut des Études Avancées in Paris (IEA)\, fellow at WIKO – Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin\, Director of Studies-Associate at the Fondation-Maison-des-Sciences-de-l’Homme (FMSH) in Paris\, and Visiting Professor at Sorbonne and the Sciences Po Paris. His research primarily focuses on questions of labor and social conflicts in post-war Senegal and French West Africa\, and their sociopolitical implications in colonial and postcolonial States. He has authored several books and peer-reviewed book chapters. He is currently working on the legacy of the May 1968 global event in Senegal and Africa\, the relationship between trade unionism and politics\, and the odyssey of the African youth and women in the sixties and beyond.
URL:https://brias.be/event/public-lecture-big-ideas-for-democracy-omar-gueye/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260305T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260305T150000
DTSTAMP:20260226T084020Z
CREATED:20251209T082128Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260226T084020Z
UID:2532-1772712000-1772722800@brias.be
SUMMARY:Thursday Seminars by Kata Dozsa
DESCRIPTION:Children as Climate Citizens – Presentism with Long-Term Interests \nAbstract: \nBased on her book\, Kata Dozsa presents the concept of “children as climate citizens” across three key avenues of participation: climate governance\, grassroots youth social movements\, and climate litigation. Presentism is a defining feature of children’s climate citizenship: children living today are directly and disproportionately affected by climate change\, with immediate and future consequences for their rights\, well-being\, and everyday lives. At the same time\, these experiences are framed within a broader set of long-term considerations: rather than identifying children solely through vulnerability\, they are recognised as political and legal actors whose meaningful participation in decision-making and knowledge sharing contributes to sustainability and the protection of democratic values in society. (Dozsa\, K (2023) Children as Climate Citizens. Routledge.)  \nBio:  \nKata Dozsa is a postdoctoral researcher at the Brussels School of Governance where she conducts empirical research in the Curiae Virides project on transnational ecological litigation. She has also worked as adjunct professor at Vesalius College BA Programme in International Law and held a Summer School on Climate Change Litigation in 2024. She holds a PhD in law from University of Antwerp. Her research focuses on children’s rights\, intergenerational justice and climate change. Kata Dozsa is the author of the book “Children as Climate Citizens” (Routledge\, 2023)\, and she has numerous publications\, including in the 2020 and 2023 editions of the European Yearbook on Human Rights. She was awarded the 2022 Sustainability Research Award for her contribution to climate change policy-development in Belgium. \nPolitical socialisation and the climate crisis\nAbstract:\nThis presentationi instroduces the theoretical basis of the KIDSONCLIMATE project\, as well as an update on the fieldwork currently underway. The project aims to explore how the emotions that learning about the climate crisis can elicit in children and pre-adolescents can influence their attitudes towards democracy and their own sense of political efficacy. \nTo this end\, it draws on literature in political science\, political sociology\, and social psychology to examine the links between emotional responses – particularly feelings of betrayal and distress\, hope or commitment – to the climate crisis\, and perceptions of the responses of different political actors to this situation. The project focuses specifically on a population of young people described as “average”\, neither activist nor apathetic\, in order to bring visibility to a group that has been little studied in research on these issues. In particular\, it proposes to explore how adults’ views on children’s competence\, voices\, and legitimacy on these issues can impact the development of forms of political interest\, political competence\, and feelings of political efficacy among children and young people. \nBio:\nKatharine Throssell is currently a Marie Curie Fellow at UCLouvain. Her research focuses on political learning among children and young adolescents\, with a particular emphasis on active socialisation\, identities\, and political narratives aimed at children. She is the author of Child and Nation (Peter Lang\, 2015)\, which examines the impact of everyday nationalism on the construction of worldviews among primary school children.
URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminars-by-kata-dozsa/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260303T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260303T180000
DTSTAMP:20260226T100950Z
CREATED:20251204T090909Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260226T100950Z
UID:2483-1772553600-1772560800@brias.be
SUMMARY:Public Lecture – Big Ideas for Democracy: Liza Mügge
DESCRIPTION:  \nRegister here\nBeyond Strongmen: Masculinities\, Backlash\, and the Future of Democracy\nAbstract\nAcross Europe and beyond\, new “strongman” politics mobilize resentment\, revive sexist stereotypes\, and turn certain masculinities into weapons against gender equality and democracy. What happens to democracy when dominance\, aggression\, and exclusion are sold as the only “real” masculinity? This lecture asks how we can understand—and undo—the backlash. Drawing on insights from two EU‑funded projects\, Push*Back*Lash and MEN4DEM\, I explore how violence and inequality is normalized\, and why this matters for democratic life. \nBut the lecture is equally about alternatives: how inclusion\, diversity\, and empathy can ground more realistic and appealing models of masculinity. I argue that defending democracy requires transdisciplinary alliances among researchers\, policy makers\, activists\, and artists who co‑create knowledge and practice. Through concrete examples—legislative theatre\, participatory workshops\, and political cartoons—I show how playful\, collaborative methods can challenge backlash\, open spaces for care and solidarity\, and help re‑imagine masculinities for democratic futures. \nBio\nProf. Liza Mügge is Professor in Politics of Diversity at the political science department of the University of Amsterdam. She leads several international research projects funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and the European Commission (Horizon Europe) (see politicsofdiversity.eu). She is founding editor of the European Journal of Politics & Gender. \n  \n 
URL:https://brias.be/event/public-lecture-big-ideas-for-democracy-liza-mugge/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260226T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260226T150000
DTSTAMP:20260205T093208Z
CREATED:20251209T082047Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260205T093208Z
UID:2530-1772107200-1772118000@brias.be
SUMMARY:Thursday Seminar by Gaston Meskens
DESCRIPTION:The Possibility of Global Governance\nAn ethics of care for our contemporary coexistence.  \nAbstract\nThe Possibility of Global Governance is a reflective exercise in the applied philosophy of ethics\, and to some extent also in the poetics of ethics. My aim is to present a normative ethics idea open for reflection and discussion\, namely that the possibility of fair and effective global governance should be perceived from out of an ethics of care perspective – caring for human relationships in making sense of the complexity of complex problems – and that this possibility becomes ‘unlocked’ and enabled with the realisation of methods of politics\, science and education that would allow a fair dealing with the complexity that binds us\, inspired and motivated by that ethics of care perspective. These methods can be characterised as deliberative democracy as a collective reflection and learning process\, transdisciplinary and participatory scientific research and policy advice and education for a reflexive cosmopolitanism. \nThe idea is that these advanced methods of democracy\, scientific research and education together do hold that ‘possibility’: they make our global connectedness in complexity ‘visible’ and are at the same time inspired by it; they stimulate our sense of social and political engagement and at the same time make that engagement practically possible; they take into account the vulnerability of the specific roles we take on and assign to each other in society but at the same time provide the possibility to take our responsibility in those roles … Some proposed aspects of this ‘advanced’ method of global governance are realistic or do even exist already today in some fragmented or ‘light’ form or policy ambition\, as it is the case with transdisciplinarity in scientific policy advice or local public participation in decision making. Others are plainly utopian in terms of their possible realisation in the current situation\, like global deliberative democracy or the relativisation of the sovereignty of the nation state in global (international) politics. \nObviously it would be naive to think that a positive narrative of care ethics for global governance could lead directly to concrete changes for the better. One can understand that most protagonists of political power in the politics of today have little desire to enter into dialogue about the justification of their power\, as they see it as legitimised by the traditional political systems in which they operate. The initiative for advanced thinking about global governance will have to come from people who\, in solidarity and inspired and motivated by an ethics of care vision such as the one proposed here\, want to draw closer to engage in dialogue about the workings of politics\, science\, the market and education. The avant-garde of their solidarity lies in their willingness to see our coexistence not as a cynical society of conflict and competition\, but as a society that\, today more than ever\, is characterised by our connectedness in complexity\, by our sense of engagement in reflection and deliberation to give meaning to it\, and by the recognition of the vulnerability of our roles that we assign to each other in the process. The idea of ‘cosmopolitanism as capability’ will be foundational in this vision. Only when we are prepared to reflect on our own position and behaviour ‘in that whole world of concern’ will we be able to see all other people as being of equal moral standing\, simply because then we will not only see them as having equal moral standing in their own right\, but because we can then consider them as also having an equal right to act upon a moral responsibility. \nBio\nGaston Meskens is a ‘philosophical activist’ and artist with a background in science.\nHe holds master’s degrees in theoretical physics and nuclear engineering and a doctoral degree in moral philosophy from the University of Ghent (Belgium). In his philosophical research\, he works part-time with the Science\, Technology and Society research group of the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK CEN and with the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy of Ghent University. At Ghent University\, his research focuses on a human rights perspective related to intellectual capacity building in the interest of global sustainable development governance. At SCK CEN\, his research and outreach is concerned with the ethics of science and technology in general and with the ethical aspects of dealing with nuclear technology in particular.  His Seminars on Ethics of Science and Technology are part of multiple international training programmes and university curricula.\nGaston Meskens has built up more than twenty years of experience in transdisciplinary research related to the ethics of governance of issues such as sustainable development\, energy\, climate change and radioactive waste management and with working in and around the policy processes of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)\, the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD)\, the United Nations Non-Proliferation Treaty process (UN-NPT) and of the research-related activities of the European Commission. Since 2006\, he is member of the steering committee of the Constituency of Research-oriented Independent Non-Governmental Organisations towards the UNFCCC (the constituency that represents the global scientific world in the United Nations Climate Change negotiation process).\nMore info: https://www.normsanddialectics.net/why/
URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminar-by-gaston-meskens/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260224T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260224T180000
DTSTAMP:20260216T120555Z
CREATED:20251204T090734Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260216T120555Z
UID:2481-1771948800-1771956000@brias.be
SUMMARY:Public Lecture – Big Ideas for Democracy: Marija Radoman
DESCRIPTION:  \nRegister here\nBuilding Democracy: Emotions and the Student Movement in Serbia 2024/25\nMy presentation focuses on the experiences and emotions of students involved in the student protests in Serbia 2024/25. The research looks at how emotions shaped both the mobilization of the movement and the students’ collective identity. What began as a student response to the collapse of a canopy in the city of Novi Sad quickly grew into a large-scale social and political movement. The timeframe of the research is limited: the results cover the period from the start of the protests in November 2024 to April 2025\, even though the protests are still ongoing. \nIn the first part of my talk\, I will explain the broader context\, the challenges faced by student and citizens in their struggle for a democratic society\, and the authoritarian tendencies of the goverment. I will also give a short overview of the dynamics of the protests and key events that kept them going\, explaining different protest stages. In the second part\, I will present some findings from research conducted by the team at the Institute for Sociological Research\, Faculty of Philosophy\, University of Belgrade. My research focus was on the role of emotions in the students’ participation in the protests\, and more broadly\, on how emotions contribute to shaping a new political generation in a post-socialist context. The study is based on 32 semi-structured interviews with students participating in the protests. I hypothesize that the student movement\, with its direct democratic practices\, independence from political parties\, and collective life on occupied faculties across the country\, represents alternative forms of democratic organization\, shaped through emotional experiences\, and represents the emergence of a new political generation. \nBio\nMarija Radoman is a PhD sociologist with over a decade of experience in gender and queer studies\, political values\, LGBTQ+ rights\, and research methodologies. Her academic work focuses on the intersections of social structures and individual experiences. She currently serves as a Research Associate at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade\, affiliated with the Institute for Sociological Research.
URL:https://brias.be/event/public-lecture-big-ideas-for-democracy-marija-radoman/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260219T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260219T150000
DTSTAMP:20260205T093309Z
CREATED:20251209T081950Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260205T093309Z
UID:2528-1771502400-1771513200@brias.be
SUMMARY:Thursday Seminars by Franziska Höhne
DESCRIPTION:Stating the obvious? Far-right frames of climate change acceptance in the European Parliament\nAbstract\nIn a rapidly warming world\, climate obstruction has become a central challenge of global governance – exacerbated by the rising influence of far-right actors. Far-right ideology is understood as inherently incompatible with climate policy\, particularly when interpreted through a populist lens. When considered a thin-centred ideology\, the complexity of climate governance clashes with Manichean\, anti- cosmopolitan worldview of the populist far-right.  \nYet\, recent scholarship paints a more nuanced picture. Not only has the European far-right shifted from primary to secondary obstruction\, i.e. from denial to response scepticism\, some parties have also been found to selectively embrace international climate cooperation. This variation remains underexplored.  \nBuilding on research that highlights the role of contextual factors over ideology for far-right stances on climate policy\, this paper compares the impact of domestic factors such as issue salience\, green party strength\, and office opportunities. In a comparative case study design\, the paper analyses justifications provided in MEPs’ speeches and voting records\, supplemented by interviews with far-right MEPs and their staff. Understanding the nuances of far-right climate obstructionism is essential for a comprehensive grasp of the phenomenon and for designing effective responses. \nBio\nFranziska Höhne is a PhD researcher in the field of International Relations\, based at Goethe University Frankfurt\, and is currently affiliated as a visiting researcher at CEVIPOL\, ULB. Her research is situated at the far-right climate nexus\, with a focus on the international institutions intended to govern the climate crisis. For her PhD thesis\, she analyses how far-right parties in Europe approach international climate policy\, what influences their positions and how we can explain variance between the parties. Franziska Höhne obtained a M.Sc. degree in Global Studies from Gothenburg University in 2021 and a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Erfurt in 2019.
URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminars-by-franziska-hohne/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260212T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260212T150000
DTSTAMP:20260205T093127Z
CREATED:20251209T081803Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260205T093127Z
UID:2526-1770897600-1770908400@brias.be
SUMMARY:Thursday Seminars by Bruno Castanho Silva and Giulia Fuochi
DESCRIPTION:Second Class: Public Opinion Perceptions of Naturalized Citizens’ Rights and Duties \nBio\nBruno Castanho Silva is an Assistant Professor for Methods in Empirical Social Research at the Institute of Sociology and Otto-Suhr Institute of Political Science at the Free University of Berlin\, Germany. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the Central European University (Budapest\, Hungary) and is also an Executive Board member of the Methods Excellence Initiative (MethodsNET). Bruno’s research uses a variety of quantitative and computational methods to study issues connected to populism and radicalism\, social media and politics\, and the representation of underrepresented groups. His work has been published in journals such as the American Political Science Review\, American Journal of Political Science\, and Political Analysis\, among others.  \nAbstract\nCitizenship has once again become a politicized issue across developed countries\, at the same time as demographic changes lead to higher numbers of dual and naturalized citizens. However\, empirical political research has dedicated little attention to natural-born citizens views’ on those topics. This paper argues that naturalized citizens\, while in theory having (almost) all the legal rights of natural-born ones\, are still seen as second-class citizens in European countries when it comes to their rights\, but are expected to fulfil their whole share of citizenship obligations. It tests these expectations with a survey experiment fielded in four EU countries (n ca. 2\,000 per country)\, in which respondents indicate how much they approve of certain rights and obligations for natural-born or naturalized citizens\, and of long-term non-citizen residents. Findings indicate that the public has less tolerance for naturalized citizens who are critical of the country to vote and participate in politics\, but holds them to the same level of duty as the natural-born when it comes to serving the military in case of foreign threats. These findings shed the first empirical light on the  re-emerging politicized issue of citizenship rights in Europe and beyond.  \n\nDeprovincialization and other pathways to intergroup and societal harmony\nBio\nGiulia Fuochi is assistant professor and researcher in social psychology at the University of Padova. Her work explores how people relate to others across group boundaries\, with a focus on prejudice\, intergroup contact\, mindfulness\, and openness toward diversity. She has published extensively on these topics in international journals.  \nAbstract \nRecent decades have seen a rise in identity-based polarization in several democratic societies\, exacerbating conflict among social groups. One process that may counteract this trend could be that of deprovincialization\, a shift in perspective through which individuals come to view their own group’s norms and values as less absolute or superior\, while becoming more open to and accepting of cultural differences. Deprovincialization typically emerges from positive intergroup contact – i.e.\, interactions between members of different social groups – but also entails a strong component of cognitive change\, transforming how people interpret social diversity and group or national identity. This presentation will first shed light on the concept of deprovincialization\, also illustrating its links with intergroup variables (intergroup contact\, prejudice\, and anxiety)\, socio-political dispositions (right-wing authoritarianism\, social dominance orientation) and other individual tendencies (curiosity\, values) through network analysis. Second\, results from latent profile analysis\, a person-centered approach that identifies latent subgroups of individuals based on similar patterns of responses across variables\, will show how deprovincialization tends to cluster within profiles characterized by cognitive flexibility\, curiosity\, pro-diversity and anti-hierarchy beliefs. Third\, the potential behavioral outcomes of deprovincialization in an experimental setting will be explored: participants exposed to an audio clip designed to elicit deprovincialization – compared to those assigned to an active control condition – reported lower levels of national ingroup identification (i.e.\, Italians)\, and\, more importantly\, stronger intentions to engage in collective action to improve the conditions of the outgroup (i.e.\, Arab people living in Italy). Overall\, these findings highlight deprovincialization as a core mechanism for social change\, fostering openness toward diversity and pluralism\, reducing ethnocentrism\, and mobilizing advantaged groups to support disadvantaged ones. 
URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminars-by-bruno-castanho-silva-and-giulia-fuochi/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260211T100000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260211T140000
DTSTAMP:20260126T102123Z
CREATED:20260120T095854Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260126T102123Z
UID:2921-1770804000-1770818400@brias.be
SUMMARY:Political Masculinities in Europe – Public Panel
DESCRIPTION:Register here \nAbout the Event\nHow do ideas about “proper” masculine behavior in politics shape who speaks\, who leads\, and whose interests count in European democracies? This public roundtable in gathers members of the International Advisory Board of the project Political Masculinities in Europe—with panelists from Poland\, Italy\, Sweden\, and the US/UK and expertise in socialization\, interventions\, social movements\, violence\, backlash\, gender and sexuality —to discuss how political masculinities are constructed\, reinforced\, and contested across countries and political institutions. Aimed at academics\, students\, and policymakers\, the panel will unpack how these often implicit norms sustain gendered political inequalities and consider what it would take to change them. \n\nProgramme\n\n10:00 – 10:30 Welcome coffee\n10:30 – 12:00 Panel session\n\nWelcome speech Prof. Karen Celis (VUB / BrIAS)\, WP4 Leader\nChair Dr. Liza Mügge (University of Amsterdam / Senior Fellow BrIAS)\n\nPanelists \n\nProf. Philip Ayoub (University College London)\nDr. Tomasz Besta (University of Gdańsk)\nProf. Elin Bjarnegård (University of Uppsala)\nDr. Vera Lomazzi (University of Bergamo)\n\n12:00 – 14:00 Lunch\n\n\nThis panel is part of a VICI-project funded by the Dutch Research Council (VI.C.231.0390)
URL:https://brias.be/event/political-masculinities-in-europe-public-panel/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260204
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260207
DTSTAMP:20260129T123802Z
CREATED:20260129T123802Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260129T123802Z
UID:2969-1770163200-1770422399@brias.be
SUMMARY:3rd BrIAS Conference on Smart Agriculture
DESCRIPTION:We wish to invite you to the 3rd Brussels Institute of Advanced Studies conference on Smart Agriculture BrIAS Agri2026 which will be held on the 4-6th of February 2026 in Brussels. The BrIAS Agri2026 is a recurrent annual event for a multidisciplinary scientific community to present and discuss the most recent studies on smart agriculture. This year\, our collaborators at Research Station for Vegetable Production (Proefstation voor de Gronteteelt) will welcome us for a visit of their facilities on the afternoon of the 6th February. Limited places are available\, click here for more information! \n\n\n\nTopics\n\nModelling and control for the smart agriculture of tomorrow.\nAutomated remote sensing and estimation for agriculture\nSustainable approaches for bio-aggressors control: plant protection molecules and biotechnologies\nPlant-omics and bioinformatics for sustainable agriculture\nPolicy makers corner: cross-talk among regulatory bodies in agriculture\nMetrology for agriculture\nCrop Protection\nInsect Farming Technologies\nRobotics and technologies for precision farming\nBreeding and automatic phenotyping\nModelling of agroecological systems\nAutomatic support to decisions for agriculture\nData-driven approaches for smart agriculture
URL:https://brias.be/event/3rd-brias-conference-on-smart-agriculture/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Other Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260203T130000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260203T150000
DTSTAMP:20260204T095836Z
CREATED:20251209T081635Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260204T095836Z
UID:2524-1770123600-1770130800@brias.be
SUMMARY:Thursday Seminars by Gefjon Off
DESCRIPTION:Young men’s and women’s gender equality attitudes – a Gen Z gender divide?\nBio\nGefjon Off is a postdoctoral researcher at Hamburg University. Previously\, she was a postdoctoral researcher at Leuphana University of Lüneburg and a PhD student at Gothenburg University. Her research takes a comparative approach to the study of gender and political behavior. It is published in form of a Cambridge Element\, and as journal articles in the European Journal of Political Research and West European Politics\, amongst others. 
URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminars-by-gefjon-off/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260202T170000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260202T190000
DTSTAMP:20260216T120513Z
CREATED:20251204T091101Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260216T120513Z
UID:2487-1770051600-1770058800@brias.be
SUMMARY:Public Lecture – Big Ideas for Democracy: Amanda Machin
DESCRIPTION:  \nRegister here\nDemocracy and the More-Than-Human Carnivalesque\nAbstract\nFrom corporate zombies to mermaids to dead bees\, political protests have frequently featured comic\, ironic\, grotesque\, absurd and profane moments of the carnivalesque. Carnivalesque activities are said to open heterotopic spaces in which dominant values are subverted\, conventions are transgressed\, and civil disobedience is catalysed. The carnivalesque is interesting for scholars of democracy not only because it entails the production of the common and the enactment of critical citizenship\, but also because it involves the active cultivation of difference. To participate in the carnivalesque is not only to witness otherness but to become other. By dressing up as fantasy figures\, absurd halflings or extinct species\, activists ostensibly perform the more-than-human. In this lecture I consider the appearance of the carnivalesque in protests and its democratic capacity and implications. Do carnivalesque protests challenge political boundaries and promote hybrid identities? Or\, since carnivals are restricted to certain times and places\, do they on the contrary remind us of the rules\, and reinforce the existing order? I point to the dangers of both dismissing and romanticizing the carnivalesque. \nBio\nAmanda Machin is Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Agder in Kristiansand\, Norway. She is interested in the dynamics\, theories\, discourses\, imaginaries\, protests\, identifications\, performances and bodies of ecological and radical democratic transformation and has researched these topics in various positions at universities in UK and Germany before she moved to Norway in 2022. She has published five books including Bodies of Democracy: Modes of Embodied Politics (Transcript 2022) and Negotiating Climate Change: Radical Democracy and the Illusion of Consensus (Zed Books\, 2013). With Marcel Wissenburg she has recently completed editing the collection Environmental Political Theory in the Anthropocene for Edward Elgar. Amanda is also an editor for the journal Environmental Politics and the co-ordinator of a project on the governance of twin transition (RECODE MLG\, funded by Horizon Europe). She also participates in projects on populism in the Nordics (POL-AID\, funded by the Norwegian Research Council) and the project Democracy and Controversy in the green transition (funded by the MWW Foundation).
URL:https://brias.be/event/public-lecture-big-ideas-for-democracy-amanda-machin/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260129T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260129T150000
DTSTAMP:20260204T095643Z
CREATED:20251209T081457Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260204T095643Z
UID:2522-1769688000-1769698800@brias.be
SUMMARY:Thursday Seminars by Leonardo Puleo
DESCRIPTION:Party-Based Illiberalism in Europe: Why Is Illiberalism Gaining Ground in European Party Systems?\nAbstract\nIlliberalism has entered its hype phase\, increasingly invoked to describe diverse challenges to democracy. Yet the debate remains fragmented between those who treat it as an ideology—often as elusive as liberalism itself—and those who restrict it to the practices of governing actors. Moreover\, existing research focuses on a recurring set of “usual suspects\,” primarily far-right parties\, thereby overlooking potential diffusion among mainstream actors.  \nThe project Party-Based Illiberalism (IllibEU) advances a parsimonious definition of party-based illiberalism as a combination of negative stances toward (i) minorities\, (ii) civic and freedom rights\, and (iii) the horizontal accountability of power—three core pillars of liberal democracy. Contemporary illiberalism may have distinct foci: the most visible manifestations clearly stem from the far right\, yet others may be linked to different ideological orientations—for example\, neoliberal legacies that compress civic and freedom rights. Consequently\, IllibEU treats the ideological correlates of illiberalism as an eminently empirical question to be traced across time and space.  \nThe project combines two analytical levels. First\, a large-N design (12 countries) will map political parties’ illiberal supply by integrating manifesto data and expert-survey indicators (V-Party\, CHES). This broad comparative exploration will test expectations regarding structural socio-economic factors as well as political triggers of contemporary illiberalism (e.g.\, competition with the far right\, polarization\, homogenization of political supply). It will also provide a cartography of contemporary illiberalism\, enabling tests of spatial diffusion dynamics across Europe. In addition\, the large-N analysis will disentangle country-specific peaks in the salience of illiberalism\, offering crucial guidance for structuring a more fine-grained analysis.  \nThe second component of the project consists of an in-depth exploration in four countries. It will examine the implementation of illiberal practices—and instances of resistance and opposition—in IT\, DK\, FR\, and PL through the analysis of governmental decrees and parliamentary debates. The country-level focus will also enable an investigation of the diffusion of illiberal ideas not only within party systems but also across civil society\, assessing the pervasiveness of illiberal think tanks\, CSOs\, and NGOs and their connections with institutional actors.  \nBio\nLeonardo Puleo is a postdoctoral researcher at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). His research examines party competition and voting behavior\, with a particular focus on contemporary challenges to liberal democracy. His new project\, IllibEU: Party-Based Illiberalism in Europe\, funded by the FNRS\, explores the emergence and diffusion of illiberal ideas and practices across European party systems. His work has appeared in several peer-reviewed journals\, including West European Politics\, Political Studies\, Party Politics\, and Democratization.  \n 
URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminars-by-leonardo-puleo/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260122T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260122T203000
DTSTAMP:20260115T083624Z
CREATED:20251204T163153Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260115T083624Z
UID:2503-1769083200-1769113800@brias.be
SUMMARY:2026 Season Opening Ceremony
DESCRIPTION:The Brussels Institute for Advanced Studies is thrilled to invite you to the opening ceremony of the 2026 BrIAS season on Democratic Governance. The evening will feature a pre-ceremony book launch\, welcome speeches and a keynote talk\, a concert\, and finally\, a reception.\nClick here to register now\n\nProgramme\nAgenda\n\n\n12:00 – 14:00 Pre-Ceremony Book Launch\nDemocratic Commitment: Why Citizens Tolerate Democratic Backsliding\, Prof. Natasha Wunsch (University of Fribourg)\, Oxford University Press\nDiscussant: Prof. Luca Tomini (ULB)\n\nCeremony\n\n16:00 – 16:30 Welcome speeches by BrIAS directors and university authorities\nProf. Em. Frank Deconinck\, BrIAS Co-Director\nProf. Serge Jaumain\, BrIAS Co-Director\nProf. Marius Gilbert\, Vice-Rector for Research and Valorisation and Vice-Rector for Culture and Scientific Mediation\, ULB\nProf. Pieter Ballon\, Vice-Rector for Research\, VUB\n16:30 – 16:45 Introduction to the 2026 BrIAS Theme\nProf. Silvia Erzeel\, BrIAS Programme Co-Director\nProf. Jasper Van Assche\, BrIAS Programme WP Leader\nCamilla Colombo\, OHME Co-Director\n16:45 – 17:00 Singing interlude\nSabine Kabongo\n17:00 – 17:45 Opening speech\nSam van der Staak\, Director of the Regional Europe Programme\, IDEA International\n18:00 Concert\nPerformance by Simon Vaskou (piano) BEETHOVEN Sonate n°23\, op 57 « Appassionata »\n18:30 Reception
URL:https://brias.be/event/2026-season-opening-ceremony/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260115T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260115T150000
DTSTAMP:20260204T095816Z
CREATED:20251209T081239Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260204T095816Z
UID:2520-1768478400-1768489200@brias.be
SUMMARY:Thursday Seminars by Anton Jager
DESCRIPTION:Hyperpolitics\nHyperpolitics\, or Political Engagement in the New Century \n Abstract\nWhat do the January 6th invasion of the Capitol and the anti-racist demonstrations of mid-2020 have in common? Both birthed some of the largest protest movements in American history\, but also diminished rapidly after their initial\, pre-revolutionary peak. This lecture reads the recent political sequence through the concept of ‘hyperpolitics’. In contrast to previous types of post-politics or mass politics\, ‘hyperpolitics’ stands for a distinctly novel mode of political commitment characteristic of the 2010s\, in which a formerly apolitical public sphere finds itself intensely repoliticized\, imposing itself on other domains such as the private\, cultural\, or economic. The return in question yet also runs across parameters that are more low-cost\, low-entry\, and low-duration than previous twentieth-century types\, in stark contrast Max Weber’s typology of politics as the ‘slow boring of hard boards.’  \n Bio\nAnton Jäger is a lecturer at University College\, Oxford and a columnist for The New York Times.  
URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminars-hyperpolitics-by-anton-jager/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260108T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260108T150000
DTSTAMP:20260204T095807Z
CREATED:20251209T080835Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260204T095807Z
UID:2517-1767873600-1767884400@brias.be
SUMMARY:Thursday Seminars by Ruben Van Severen
DESCRIPTION:How Citizens View Alternatives to Representative Democracy\nAbstract\nThis talk gives a broad overview of the research conducted within my PhD on how citizens view alternatives to representative democracy at a time of pervasive dissatisfaction with representative institutions. Such alternatives include models that increase the role of experts\, models that strengthen citizen involvement through participatory practices\, and\, in some cases\, models that imply a move away from democracy through support for autocratic leaders. The talk progresses from general to more specific contexts. It begins by examining how stable support for (representative) democracy is in times of crisis and whether such crises increase openness to alternative\, non-democratic systems. It then turns to how citizens evaluate additions to representative democracy\, such as participation tools like referendums and panels\, and whether preferences shift when these tools are applied to ideologically polarized issues. The final part considers how these attitudes play out in practice in a concrete local setting in Belgium\, with particular attention to the perspective of cynical citizens. Throughout the talk\, special attention is given to both psychological explanations and contextual influences. I conclude by distilling three overarching lessons of the PhD and discussing what they reveal about citizens’ preferred ways of complementing representative democracy in the future.   \n  \nBio\nDr. Ruben Van Severen is a political psychologist and postdoctoral researcher affiliated with both the Department of Social Psychology and the Department of Public Governance and Management at Ghent University. His research focuses on citizens’ preferences for alternative decision-making models beyond representative democracy. He investigates what these preferences entail\, how they shift in response to societal times of crisis\, and which psychological factors shape them\, including political cynicism and ideological beliefs.  \nDue to the interdisciplinary nature of his work\, Ruben’s research has been published in journals such as the Policy Studies\, Political Research Exchange\, and Social Psychology\, European Journal of Political Research\, Government Information Quarterly. He is also part of a large-scale project in Flanders on local democratic innovations (https://participatievedemocratie.be/en/).  \n  \n 
URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminars-by-ruben-van-severen/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR