BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//The Brussels Institute for Advanced Studies - ECPv6.17.5//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 BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:CEST DTSTART:20280326T010000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:CET DTSTART:20281029T010000 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:20260526T160000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260526T180000 DTSTAMP:20260420T101814Z CREATED:20251204T091346Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260420T101814Z UID:2493-1779811200-1779818400@brias.be SUMMARY:Public Lecture – Big Ideas for Democracy: Péter Krekó DESCRIPTION:Register here\nInformational Autocracies and State-Sponsored Disinformation – On the Possibilities and Limits of Institutionalized Brainwashing\nAbstract\nIn today’s information landscape\, the rise of “spin dictatorships” or informational autocracies shows how state actors\, economic elites\, and digital platforms cooperate to sustain mass persuasion. Instead of relying mainly on repression\, these regimes manage information\, engineer public discourse\, and cultivate perceived legitimacy while preserving a façade of democratic competition. Using advanced digital tools\, they influence public opinion through sophisticated media control and polarization. Despite institutional differences\, the psychological and communicative dynamics of persuasion often converge in different political systems: fragmented media\, partisan echo chambers\, and identity-based mobilization create fertile ground for disinformation.\nGoing beyond a supply-side view of propaganda\, the presentation highlights the demand for deceit. Citizens are not merely passive recipients; many actively embrace narratives that affirm group identities and grievances. In polarized contexts\, information is filtered through loyalty more than accuracy\, reinforcing motivated reasoning. This perspective challenges the democracy-autocracy divide. Informational autocraces emerge fromk democracies when political actors normalize disinformation and erode epistemic standards. Hungary illustrates how media capture and centralized resources can turn political competition into a persuasion machine\, while the United States shows how polarization and market-driven media logics can produce similar distortions without centralized control.\nThe presentation concludes by arguing for a reconceptualization of dictatorship and democracy in the digital age and discussing the general possible cpounterstrategies.   As technological infrastructures increasingly mediate political reality\, the key question is not whether a regime represses dissent\, but how it structures the informational environment in which citizens form beliefs and how much democracies can survive in such an environment.\n\nBio\nPéter Krekó is a behavioral scientist and disinformation expert whose research examines the psychological drivers of belief in disinformation\, its political and institutional consequences\, the dynamics of state-sponsored disinformation\, and effective counterstrategies. He holds a PhD from Eötvös Loránd University\, where he is an Associate Professor and leads the Disinformation and Artificial Intelligence Research Lab. His doctoral dissertation focused on the psychological underpinnings of conspiracy theories.\nHe is a Research Affiliate at the CEU Democracy Institute and a Senior Fellow at the CEU Institute for Advanced Study. He has also been an Engaging Central Europe Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Previously\, he was a PopBack Fellow at the University of Cambridge\, a guest researcher at the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) in Vienna\, a Fellow at iASK Kőszeg\, and an Associate Fellow at the Johns Hopkins SAIS Bologna Center. He has served as a Fulbright Visiting Professor at Indiana University and as a Policy Leader Fellow at the European University Institute.\nKrekó is the owner and director of the Political Capital Institute and leads Hungary’s disinformation hub (HDMO-Lakmusz)\, supported by the European Commission under the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) hosted at the European University Institute. URL:https://brias.be/event/public-lecture-big-ideas-for-democracy-peter-krako/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260526T180000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260526T190000 DTSTAMP:20260420T115728Z CREATED:20260310T171724Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260420T115728Z UID:3177-1779818400-1779822000@brias.be SUMMARY:Book presentation: The Oxford Handbook of Belgian Politics DESCRIPTION:Register here\nBook launch of The Oxford Handbook of Belgian Politics\, a new volume co-edited by Prof. Min Reuchamps (UCLouvain)\, Prof. Marleen Brans (KULeuven)\, Prof. Petra Meier\, (Uantwerpen) and Prof. Emilie van Haute (ULB). \nThe Book launch will bring together members of the diplomatic community\, policymakers\, media representatives\, some of the 97 contributors to the volume\, and guests for an evening of discussion and reflection on the themes explored in the book. \nMore about the Oxford Handbook of Belgian Politics: \nBelgium is a paradoxical case: a country that some argue should not exist\, yet one that has been a model of both democratic innovation and political fragmentation. The Oxford Handbook of Belgian Politics dissects Belgium’s unique institutional architecture\, its complex linguistic and community divides\, and its evolving federal structure. Despite its small size and historically precarious existence\, Belgium has played an outsized role in both political practice and political science scholarship. This volume brings together leading Belgian and international scholars to provide a comprehensive examination of Belgian politics\, offering insights that extend far beyond its borders. \nStructured into five thematic sections\, the Handbook explores key dimensions of Belgian polity\, politics\, and policies. In forty meticulously crafted chapters\, contributors analyze how Belgian politics serves as both an inspiration and a cautionary tale. The country has pioneered electoral reforms\, social policies\, and LGBTQI+ rights\, positioning itself as a laboratory of democratic experimentation. At the same time\, it has experienced extreme governmental instability\, record-breaking coalition negotiations\, and a deeply entrenched partitocracy. Whether viewed as a beacon of democratic resilience or an emblem of institutional gridlock\, Belgium remains a compelling case for understanding the broader dynamics of governance in divided and multilingual societies worldwide. URL:https://brias.be/event/book-presentation-the-oxford-handbook-of-belgian-politics/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Other Events,Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260527 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260601 DTSTAMP:20260504T083200Z CREATED:20251209T084747Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260504T083200Z UID:2556-1779840000-1780271999@brias.be SUMMARY:BrIAS x OHME: Crossing Wires DESCRIPTION:For the second year in a row\, BrIAS partners with OHME to present five days of events at the intersection of arts and society\, with a special emphasis on the BrIAS Season’s theme: democratic challenges. \nThe programme moves between afternoon conferences and evening presentations\, film screenings and music\, with an exhibition to discover throughout the weekend. Whether you want to understand how new technologies are reshaping our democratic systems — and what you can do about it — or explore the role of the arts in reclaiming our cities\, there is a programme for every curiosity.\nFind the full programme here \nArtists\n\nAnna Safiatou Touré\nAnyuta Wiazemsky Snauwaert\nMarcel Top\nMeriem Steiner\nPhilippe Braquenier URL:https://brias.be/event/brias-x-ohme-crossing-wires/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Other Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260529T130000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260529T190000 DTSTAMP:20260506T113541Z CREATED:20260427T161715Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260506T113541Z UID:3735-1780059600-1780081200@brias.be SUMMARY:Public Forum: The Right to the City + BrIAS 26 Closing ceremony DESCRIPTION:Important notice: The Forum and the Closing Ceremony have separate registration links. Click on the images for their respective registration links.\n\nThe Brussels Institute for Advanced Studies (BrIAS) invites you to a forum on The Right to the City: making Brussels culture a space of freedom\, inclusion and democratic resistance.\n\nAbout the Event\nEnglish\nAt a time when democracies are facing increasing fragility\, the role of art and culture in their preservation and reinvention appears more essential than ever. In Brussels\, a global city with remarkable cultural vitality\, this question is particularly pressing: while artistic wealth abounds\, it remains unequally accessible\, and the balances that sustain it are now being tested. \nHow can the cultural sector remain a space of freedom\, inclusion\, and democratic resistance? \nThis forum brings together researchers\, cultural practitioners\, policymakers\, and public administrators to reflect on the links between artistic practices\, cultural policies\, and democratic life. It explores culture both as a mirror of social tensions and as a driver of transformation. \nThe forum focuses on two key dimensions: (1) equality of access to culture as a driver of democratic engagement and social cohesion; (2) artistic autonomy as a driver of democratic freedom and resistance. \nFrançais\nÀ l’heure où les démocraties sont confrontées à des dynamiques de fragilisation\, le rôle de l’art et de la culture apparaît plus essentiel que jamais. À Bruxelles\, cette question est particulièrement vive : la richesse artistique est réelle mais inégalement accessible. \nComment le secteur culturel peut-il rester un espace de liberté\, d’inclusion et de résistance démocratique ? \nLe forum réunit chercheur·euses\, acteur·rices culturels et décideur·euses autour des liens entre pratiques artistiques\, politiques culturelles et vie démocratique. \nNederlands\nNu democratieën steeds meer onder druk staan\, is de rol van kunst en cultuur belangrijker dan ooit. In Brussel is dit bijzonder zichtbaar: de artistieke rijkdom is groot\, maar de toegang blijft ongelijk verdeeld. \nHoe kan de culturele sector een vrijhaven blijven voor inclusiviteit en democratisch verzet? \nHet forum brengt onderzoekers\, cultuurmakers en beleidsmakers samen rond de relatie tussen kunst\, beleid en democratie. \nDate: Friday 29 May 2026\nLocation: Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, 1050 Brussels\nRegistration: https://tally.so/r/NpJ97Q \n\nProgramme\nAgenda\n\n\n13:00 Welcome / Accueil / Onthaal\n13:30 – 14:45 Forum – Part 1\n15:00 – 16:15 Forum – Part 2\n16:30 – 17:30 BrIAS Closing Ceremony with Keynote speech by Carlotta Scioldo\n17:30 Drink\n\n\n\nForum Sessions\nPart 1 – Access to culture as a fundamental right\nDespite mediation efforts\, large segments of the Brussels population remain excluded from cultural participation. This session highlights grassroots initiatives working to make cultural access a civic reality rather than a privilege. \nPart 2 – Artistic autonomy and democratic resistance\nThis session addresses growing pressures on the cultural sector\, including funding constraints and ideological challenges\, and reflects on how to safeguard artistic independence as a pillar of democracy. \n\nClosing Ceremony\n\nWelcome speeches\nProf. Marius Gilbert (ULB)\nProf. Em. Frank Deconinck (BrIAS)\nProf. Serge Jaumain (BrIAS)\nKeynote\nCarlotta Scioldo\nClosing remarks\nProf. Silvia Erzeel (VUB)\nProf. Emilie van Haute (ULB)\n\n\nPartners\nForum organized by BrIAS in collaboration with RABKO\, OHME\, and GRESAC. URL:https://brias.be/event/public-forum-the-right-to-the-city-brias-26-closing-ceremony/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260604T120000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260604T150000 DTSTAMP:20260512T104757Z CREATED:20251209T082923Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260512T104757Z UID:2550-1780574400-1780585200@brias.be SUMMARY:Thursday Seminars by Matthijs Rooduijn DESCRIPTION:The Far-Right Success Story   \nAbstract\nAcross Europe and beyond\, far-right parties are gaining ground. They challenge the political establishment\, reshape public debate\, and appeal to voters from different social and economic backgrounds. What explains their success? Why do their messages resonate with so many people? And what does their rise mean for the future of liberal democracy? In this seminar we will unpack the dynamics behind the rise of the far right. Drawing on insights from research in this field\, we will explore the social and political conditions that fuel their appeal and the strategies far-right parties use to win over voters. One key conclusion is that far right parties have become skilful communicators of captivating narratives about the past and the future\, and about heroes and villains. The talk will also address how mainstream parties respond\, how shifting media landscapes shape this development\, and what this political transformation means for democratic systems.  \nBio\nMatthijs Rooduijn is Professor of Transdisciplinary Social Science at the University of Amsterdam. He studies the political ideas of parties and voters\, the forces that weaken and strengthen liberal democracy\, and the practice of European and Dutch politics.  URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminars-by-matthijs-rooduijn/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260609T160000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260609T180000 DTSTAMP:20260526T081358Z CREATED:20251204T091435Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260526T081358Z UID:2495-1781020800-1781028000@brias.be SUMMARY:Public Lecture – Big Ideas for Democracy: Sergiu Ghergina DESCRIPTION:Democratic Innovations Beyond Established Democracies: Challenges and Developments in Europe\nDemocratic innovations\, especially the direct and deliberative practices\, gained momentum around the world in the last three decades. They slowly moved from experiments or isolated instances to routine tools in national and subnational governance. Their causes\, functioning and consequences have received extensive attention in established democracies. However\, it is less known what happens in other political settings where representative democracy has been recently consolidated\, democratic backsliding is visible or communities still struggle to follow and implement the democratic principles. This presentation provides an overview of the challenges and recent developments of democratic innovations in Central and Eastern Europe\, an area which brings together three types of countries: new democracies\, transition countries and growingly illiberal regimes that were once democracies. The presentation will focus on institutional practices and people’s attitudes towards democratic innovations\, covering thus both the supply and demand side. \nBio\nSergiu Gherghina is a Professor of Comparative Politics at the Department of Politics and International Studies\, University of Glasgow. His research focuses on party politics\, political participation\, legislative behavior\, and democratic innovations. URL:https://brias.be/event/public-lecture-big-ideas-for-democracy-sergiu-ghergina/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260610T114500 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260610T140000 DTSTAMP:20260602T185644Z CREATED:20251209T083025Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260602T185644Z UID:2552-1781091900-1781100000@brias.be SUMMARY:Lunchtime Seminars by Maurits Meijers and Emmy Eklundh DESCRIPTION:Lies\, Damned Lies\, and Politics: How Citizens Make Sense of Political Deception and What it Means for Democracy \nAbstract \nPoliticians across the world are routinely accused of lying. But what do citizens actually understand by political lying\, and does it matter for how they feel about democracy? This lecture presents findings from the DEMO-LIES project on the citizen side of political deception. Drawing on conceptual work on the definition of political lying\, qualitative focus group evidence from Flanders\, and a nationally representative panel diary study conducted in the Netherlands\, I examine three questions. First\, what counts as political lying — and do citizens agree? Second\, how strongly do prior political attitudes shape perceptions of political deception? Third\, what are the downstream consequences of perceiving politicians as liars for citizens’ evaluations of politicians and parties\, their satisfaction with democracy\, and their support for liberal democracy? The findings suggest that perceptions of political lying are deeply partisan\, highly context-dependent\, and consequential: citizens who perceive political lying to be widespread show markedly lower democratic support. The lecture concludes by situating these findings within the broader challenge of political deception for representative democracy.  \nBio\nMaurits Meijers is Research Professor of Political Science at the University of Antwerp. His research examines how representative democracy comes under pressure from political lying\, populism\, and party behaviour\, and how citizens and elites respond. He is Principal Investigator of DEMO-LIES\, an ERC-funded project studying political lying accusations\, how citizens perceive them\, and what they mean for democratic citizenship across Western democracies. \nEurope’s Populist Condition \nIn this talk\, Dr Emmy Eklundh will present her latest book\, Europe’s Populist Condition. Challenging the notion that populism is an anomaly in European politics\, this book argues that the main threat to democracy is the exclusionary nature of European democratic traditions. Drawing on decolonial studies\, feminist theory\, psychoanalysis\, and democratic theory\, the book reveals how liberal democracy in Europe promotes a fantasy of equality while its politics enacts the exact opposite. By exposing these injustices\, the book makes a bold case: populism is not our main problem (or solution)\, but simply another facet of the ills of liberalism. The book is essential reading for understanding the future of democracy in Europe.  \nBio \nEmmy Eklundh is Senior Lecturer at Cardiff University. Her research is located in the interface between European Politics and political and social theory. Emmy uses radical democratic frameworks to further our understanding of democracy in Europe\, the challenges to our current liberal order\, but also the possibilities for democratic reform.  \n  \n  URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminars-by-maurits-meijers/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260618T120000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260618T140000 DTSTAMP:20260602T185728Z CREATED:20260408T125724Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260602T185728Z UID:3699-1781784000-1781791200@brias.be SUMMARY:Book Talk “Under Authoritarian Eyes: Feminist Solidarity and Resistance in Russia and Serbia”  DESCRIPTION:Book Talk “Under Authoritarian Eyes: Feminist Solidarity and Resistance in Russia and Serbia” \nAbstract\nLeandra will present and discuss her recent book “Under Authoritarian Eyes”. Theories of transnational feminism often frame feminist knowledge as a project of Western hegemony to move ideas unilaterally from the “emancipated” West to other parts of the world. How does this framework resonate with feminists in times of authoritarianism? \nIn Under Authoritarian Eyes\, Leandra revisits long-held assumptions of West-East power to understand how power relations influence feminists’ lived reality in authoritarian times. She argues that the focus on transnational power relations within critical feminist scholarship has overshadowed another emerging aspect of power: the rise of authoritarianism in post-communist Europe\, the gender backlash on which it thrives\, and\, consequently\, the risk of co-optability that accompanies it. With a focus on Russia and Serbia\, Leandra finds that in authoritarian contexts\, feminists often reject the view of transnational feminism as merely an extension of Western dominance. In fact\, they argue that this view mirrors the rhetoric of their regimes\, which claim feminism and “gender ideology” are Western strategies to destroy “traditional values” and undermine national sovereignty. In highlighting these dynamics\, Leandra centers domestic over transnational power dynamics to illustrate how arguments that were formulated with an emancipatory aim can contribute to the subjugation of feminists across different political contexts. \nDrawing on over seventy interviews with four generations of feminist activists and scholars in Russia and Serbia\, Leandra offers a nuanced perspective on feminist agency\, revealing how feminists innovate resistance and subversive approaches without reinforcing authoritarian narratives. By emphasizing the importance of solidarity\, shared experience\, and mutual support across borders and regimes\, Under Authoritarian Eyes fundamentally reshapes the discourse on transnational feminism with important implications for democracy and human rights more broadly.  \nBio\nLeandra Bias is a Swiss National Science Foundation Ambizione Fellow at the University of Fribourg. Her research studies how gender\, (de-)democratization\, and political violence interact with each other. Regionally\, Leandra specialises in former communist Europe. She is the recipient of the European Consortium for Political Research 2023 Joni Lovenduski PhD Prize\, and her active engagement in science communication was recognised with the 2022 Young Scholar Award by the Walter Benjamin Kolleg.  URL:https://brias.be/event/research-seminar-with-leandra-bias/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260622T160000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260622T180000 DTSTAMP:20260608T115648Z CREATED:20260518T094309Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260608T115648Z UID:3810-1782144000-1782151200@brias.be SUMMARY:BrIAS Seminars – Naomi Oreskes DESCRIPTION:Register here\nOrganising resistance in Science or: how present politics work to prefigure the collapse of western civilization\nAbstract\nOreskes – historian of (climate and environmental) science – speculated in a 2014 essay (with Erik Conway) (“The collapse of western civilization. A view from Future” Columbia University Press) how scientists in the far future (in 2393) could look at our collective failure to act against climate and ecological crises\, and how our elites provoked the Great Collapse. During the seminar\, Oreskes will look at the current dynamics in the US around climate science\, helping us to gain insights how a science-based priority policy objective became a source of strong political interference\, how science funding and wording were deliberately collapsed\, how scientific missions\, data series and careers were interrupted. She will allow us to get a climpse at the way Science is resisting\, or preparing for the aftermaths. Her contribution is to be seen in line with the public lectures given the last 3 months at the ULB by Salomé Saqué (“Extrême-Droite\, écocide et résistances!”) and Prof. Mark Bray (“Fascism and Anti-fashism in Trump’s US”).\nBio\nHenry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science\nAffiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences\nHarvard University (https://histsci.fas.harvard.edu/people/naomi-oreskes)\nDoctor Honoris Causa ULB (2023) (https://sciences.ulb.be/portraits/scientific-woman-of-the-week-naomi-oreskes)\nVolvo Environment Prize (2025) URL:https://brias.be/event/brias-seminars-naomi-oreskes/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260908T083000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260908T173000 DTSTAMP:20260901T081804Z CREATED:20260724T121515Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260901T081804Z UID:4276-1788856200-1788888600@brias.be SUMMARY:EDMO BELUX 2.0 conference: Countering disinformation\, raising democratic resilience DESCRIPTION:MORNING Countering disinformation by …\n\n\n08:30\nRegistration\n\n\n09:00\n\n Welcome by EDMO BELUX and BrIAS\n Room: Polina Mendeléef seminar hall\n Speakers: Trisha Meyer (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) and Geoffroy Patriarche (UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles)\, EDMO BELUX Co-Leads\, Silvia Erzeel (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)\, BrIAS Programme Co-Director\, Democratic Governance: Challenges and Innovations\n \n\n\n09:10\n\n Quand journalistes et élèves se rencontrent : Regards sur les ateliers de terrain\n When journalists meet students: Observing media literacy workshops in practice\n Room: Polina Mendeléef seminar hall\n Moderator: Valentine François (Média Animation\, EDMO BELUX WP4 Lead)\n Speakers: Faustine Grosjean (Média Animation)\, Jil Theunissen (AJP)\, Valentin Jamet (Lie Detectors)\, Marie Gilson (RTBF)\n This opening panel will be held in French.\n \n\n\n10:00\nTransition and transfer to breakout rooms (parallel tracks)\n\n\n10:10\n\n Analysing deep fakes\, AI slop and disinformation (research track)\n Room: Paul de Knop co-working space\n Moderator: Tom Willaert (Royal Military Academy)\n This session will be held in English. \n Russian ‘slopaganda’ on X\n Speaker: Gabriele Cosentino (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) \n Monitoring AI-Assisted disinformation in Belgium and Luxembourg\n Speaker: Joseph Di Vincenti (Université Libre de Bruxelles)\n \n\n Assessing media literacy needs (media literacy track)\n Room: Polina Mendeléef seminar hall\n Moderator: Sascha Helsper (University of Luxembourg)\n This session will be held in English and French. \n La théorie de l’inoculation en éducation aux médias : Des pratiques éducatives aux effets auto-réalisateurs ?\n Speaker: Martin Culot (Média Animation) \n Protecting the “informed citizen” against disinformation to defend democracy: Reflecting on the discourses shaping EU disinformation mitigation policies\n Speaker: Sabri Derinöz (UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles\, EDMO BELUX WP2 Lead)\n \n\n\n11:10\nBreak and networking\n\n\n11:35\nTransition and transfer to breakout rooms (parallel tracks)\n\n\nRaising democratic resilience by…\n\n\n11:40\n\n Voicing disinformation expertise in public debates? Well\, it’s complicated (research track)\n Room: Paul de Knop co-working space\n Moderator: Geoffroy Patriarche (UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles\, EDMO BELUX Co-Lead)\n Speakers: Sabri Derinöz (UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles\, EDMO BELUX WP2 Lead) and Simon Desplanque (UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles)\n This workshop will be held in English.\n \n\n Equipping citizens (media literacy track)\n Room: Polina Mendeléef seminar hall\n Moderator: Tatiana Debrabandere (CSEM)\n This session will be held in English and French. \n La lutte contre la désinformation comme injonction : Autonomie et recompositions professionnelles dans l’éducation aux médias en Belgique francophone\n Speakers: Cédric Tant and Marie Dufrasne (UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles) \n Media and information literacy trainings for journalists\n Speaker: Sinem Sahin (Lie Detectors)\n \n\n\n12:40\nLunch\n\n\n13:35\nTransition and transfer to breakout rooms (parallel tracks)\n\n\nAFTERNOON Countering disinformation by …\n\n\n13:40\n\n Monitoring climate disinformation\, mainstream media and democratic resilience: Evidence-based responses in Belgium and the EU (fact-checking track)\n Room: Paul de Knop co-working space\n Moderator: Louna Wemaere (QuotaClimat)\n Speakers: Arnaud Benoîts (QuotaClimat) and Sabri Derinöz (UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles\, EDMO BELUX WP2 Lead)\n This panel will be held in English.\n \n\n Researching gender and identity-based disinformation: European perspectives on narratives\, targets and responses (policy track)\n Room: Polina Mendeléef seminar hall\n Moderator: Natália Sabol Tkáčová (Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom)\n Speakers: Rachel Winny (Centre for Information Resilience)\, Leah Nann (Ludwig Maximilians Universität München)\n This panel will be held in English.\n \n\n\n14:40\nTransition and transfer to breakout rooms (parallel tracks)\n\n\nRaising democratic resilience by …\n\n\n14:50\n\n Reinforcing relevant and sustainable fact-checking (fact-checking track)\n Room: Paul de Knop co-working space\n Moderator: Grégoire Ryckmans (RTBF)\n This session will be held in English. \n The elephant in the room: Mapping the research on fact-checking’s business models\n Speaker: Helene Seynaeve (Université Libre de Bruxelles) \n New ways of mediating what is true: How AI reconfigures the role of fact-checkers across different media systems\n Speaker: Paulo Ferracioli (Hanken School of Economics)\n \n\n Mitigating political disinformation (policy track)\n Room: Polina Mendeléef seminar hall\n Moderator: Trisha Meyer (Vrije Universiteit Brussel\, EDMO BELUX Co-Lead)\n This session will be held in English and French. \n Equipping civil society to respond to election-targeted information manipulation\n Speakers: Federico Giulio Sicurella (independent)\, Alisa Schaible (International IDEA) \n Implementation of the Code of Conduct on Disinformation and its integration with the DSA\n Speaker: Amine Bidar (AFP\, DE FACTO and CEDMO) \n Criminaliser le mensonge en politique : Mode d’emploi\n Speaker: Léopold Verlaine Corbion (UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles)\n \n\n\n15:50\nBreak and networking\n\n\n16:15\n\n Digital Services Action: What if we actually enforced the DSA?\n Digital Services Action : Et si on appliquait vraiment le DSA ?\n Room: Polina Mendeléef seminar hall\n Moderator: Joe McNamee (EU Disinfolab)\n Speakers: Aidan O’Brien (DCU\, EDMO Ireland)\, Nikos Sarris (CERTH-ITI\, MEDDMO and EDMO)\, Daniela Alvarado Rincón (DRI)\n This closing panel will be held in English.\n \n\n\n17:15\n\n Closing remarks\n Room: Polina Mendeléef seminar hall\n Speakers: Trisha Meyer (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) and Geoffroy Patriarche (UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles)\, EDMO BELUX Co-Leads\n \n\n\n17:30\nEnd of conference URL:https://brias.be/event/countering-disinformation-raising-democratic-resilience/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260909T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260911T180000 DTSTAMP:20260901T101737Z CREATED:20260724T121515Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260901T101737Z UID:4277-1788944400-1789149600@brias.be SUMMARY:ECOWELFARE: Social dimension of ecologic transition DESCRIPTION:For a detailed version of the programme\, visit the event’s website. \nWednesday 9 September 2026\n\n\n\n11:00\nRegistration opens\n\n\n12:00 – 13:00\nLunch\n\n\n13:00 – 13:30\nWelcome\n\n\n13:30 – 15:00\nOpening Plenary\n\n\n15:00 – 15:30\nCoffee break\n\n\n15:30 – 17:00\nParallel Sessions\nParallel Sessions\nParallel Sessions\n\n\n17:15 – 18:45\nParallel Sessions\nParallel Sessions\nParallel Sessions\n\n\n19:00\nReception\n\n\n\nThursday 10 September 2026\n\n\n\n09:00 – 10:30\nParallel Sessions\nParallel Sessions\nParallel Sessions\n\n\n10:30 – 11:00\nCoffee break\n\n\n11:00 – 12:30\nParallel Sessions\nParallel Sessions\nParallel Sessions\n\n\n12:30 – 13:30\nLunch\n\n\n13:30 – 15:15\nPolicy Roundtable\n\n\n15:15 – 15:45\nCoffee break\n\n\n15:45 – 17:15\nParallel Sessions\nParallel Sessions\nParallel Sessions\n\n\n17:15 – 18:45\nParallel Sessions\nParallel Sessions\n\n\n18:45 – 19:30\nEarly Career Meeting\n\n\n\nFriday 11 September 2026\n\n\n\n09:00 – 10:30\nParallel Sessions\nParallel Sessions\nParallel Sessions\n\n\n10:30 – 11:00\nCoffee break\n\n\n11:00 – 12:30\nParallel Sessions\nParallel Sessions\n\n\n12:30 – 13:30\nClosing URL:https://brias.be/event/social-dimension-of-ecologic-transition/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270107T120000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270107T140000 DTSTAMP:20261030T104150Z CREATED:20260724T121515Z LAST-MODIFIED:20261030T104150Z UID:4278-1799323200-1799330400@brias.be SUMMARY:Thursday seminars: Sara Pina & Lucas Kins DESCRIPTION:Click here or on the image to register\nExtreme right use of social media in election campaigns: Countervailing strategies against mainstream political parties\nby Sara Pina \nThis paper analyses the use of social media by extreme-right candidates during election campaigns. Because established traditional parties are more strongly rooted both socially and in the political system\, something which makes them have wider access to the traditional mass media\, extreme-right parties have made an especially intense and innovative use of social media\, in order to compensate for some deficit of traditional media attention. \nAt the same time\, literature is not consensual about the impact of these strategies in what is called the post-modern campaigns (Norris\, 2000). On the one hand\, it has been shown in some studies that traditional parties continue to have the same or even wider impact in the public sphere than newcomer parties\, what is called normalization. On the other hand\, it has also been argued that equalization of forces sometimes occurs\, with smaller candidates gaining reinforced visibility thanks to the online use\, approaching their communicational power to established ones (cf.\, among all\, Gibson et al.\, 2003; Gibson\, Lusoli and Ward\, 2007; Wright\, 2011; or Lilleker and Jackson\, 2011). \nIn order to explain this variation\, we test the degree to which there is a strong correlation between more extreme messages\, their subsequent visualization and repercussion online\, and their overall impact in the polarization of the public sphere. In order to test empirically these assertions\, we will present a comparative study of the content and strategies developed online by the recently created Portuguese and Spanish newcomer extreme-right parties (Chega and Vox\, respectively) during a series of national elections between 2019 and 2022. \nBio\nSara Pina is a professor at Lusófona University and at FCSH/Universidade Nova de Lisboa\, in their Communication Sciences departments. Her main research areas are mass media ethics and law\, political communication\, and the political use of the internet and social media. She holds a PhD (2018\, University of Lisbon/ICS) on the use of the internet and social media in election campaigns in Portugal and the United States. \nHer academic and professional path has combined research with hands-on political and media experience. She volunteered in Obama’s 2012 campaign\, was a Visiting Researcher at Georgetown University\, and a Research Assistant at CUNY (City University of New York). From 2017 to 2021\, she served as senior advisor to the Portuguese Minister of Justice\, Francisca Van Dunem. Previously\, she was an advisor to the board of the Luso-American Foundation (FLAD)\, where she managed several programs and scholarships in the political and media fields\, and served as editor-in-chief of the Parallel newsmagazine for Portuguese and American readers. She has also worked extensively as a journalist and press and communication advisor\, primarily in the justice and political fields. \nShe is the author of two books\, co-author of two others\, and has published scientific articles as well as short fiction. Her academic background also includes a Master’s in Media and Society from FCSH/Universidade Nova de Lisboa and a degree in International Journalism from the School of Journalism in Porto. She has completed specialization and postgraduate studies at several foreign institutions\, including the French School of Public Management (ENA/Paris)\, the Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution\, the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna\, and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. \nhttps://www.ulusofona.pt/docentes/maria-sara-folhadela-figueiredo-pina-1641 \nBeyond Conflict: Cooperation Framing in Political Elites’ Communication\nby Lucas Kins \nContemporary democracies are often portrayed as being weighed down by increasing animosity among elites and citizens. As a result\, political communication scholarship has become increasingly precise in conceptualising and measuring how hostility manifests in elite discourse (Dodeigne\, 2025). This focus on negativity is understandable: conflict is intrinsic to political competition and attracts significant attention from both traditional and social media (Poljak & Muraille\, 2026). However\, in most countries\, day-to-day political communication is neither negative nor uncivil\, the latter usually being driven by a handful of actors\, and found especially in social (e.g.\, X) and/or partisan media (Druckman et al.\, 2019). Despite this\, we know far less about how political elites represent positive social relations toward their opponents—a particularly important question as affective polarisation is increasingly shown to reflect out-party dislike rather than in-party attachment (Garzia & Ferreira da Silva\, 2025). Drawing on party scholarship on elite cooperation cues (Wagner & Harteveld\, 2024)\, I put forth the concept of affiliative framing\, which describes communication that portrays interparty interactions in terms of cooperation\, mutual respect or belonging\, and depict political opponents as legitimate counterparts with whom positive social relations are possible. I distinguish affiliative framing from adjacent concepts such as positive campaigning and civility\, and develop a multidimensional framework capturing the quality of the relationship\, its basis of engagement\, and its depth. By shifting attention from whether political actors cooperate to how relations between political opponents are represented\, the concept provides a framework for analysing how positive cross-partisan relations are made visible in political communication. \nBio\nLucas Kins is a postdoctoral researcher in Political Science at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). He completed his PhD in 2025 with the support of an FNRS grant (Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique). His doctoral dissertation examined the digital communication strategies of major political parties in Belgium. More broadly\, his research focuses on digital campaigning and its implications for party organisations\, as well as on political cleavages\, polarisation\, and representation in partisan social media communication. In 2022\, he co-founded the Social Media Lab at Sciences Po ULB. URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminar-sara-pina/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270114T120000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270114T140000 DTSTAMP:20261021T092259Z CREATED:20260724T121515Z LAST-MODIFIED:20261021T092259Z UID:4279-1799928000-1799935200@brias.be SUMMARY:Thursday seminar: Lala Muradova & Alberto López Ortega + Joke Mathieu DESCRIPTION:Book launch: Cambridge Elements on Gender and Politics\nby Lala Muradova and Alberto López Ortega \nThis book argues that contemporary dating contributes to increasing gender-based political polarisation in modern societies. As heterosexual men’s and women’s political beliefs diverge\, especially around feminism and gender equality\, romantic encounters become sites of tension and conflict. Men often encounter women supporting (either directly or indirectly) feminist ideals\, while women frequently face dismissive or sexist attitudes\, fuelling frustration and hostility on both sides. These dynamics intensify political divides within intimate settings\, shape individuals’ attitudes and reinforces broader societal polarisation. Our theoretical claims are tested through a multi-method design that combines survey and experimental data with quantitative text analysis of individual responses to an open-ended question from respondents in the UK. The findings highlight the role of romantic contexts in sustaining gendered political polarisation. \nBio\nLala Muradova is Associate Professor in Political Psychology and Democracy at the University of Southampton (UK)\, where she is a member of the steering committees of the Centre for Democratic Futures and the Centre for Behavioural Experimental Action and Research (C-BEAR). Her research sits at the intersection of political psychology\, political communication\, and democratic innovations. \nLala is the author of Empathy and Political Reasoning: How Empathy Promotes Reflection and Strengthens Democracy (Cambridge University Press\, 2025)\, and of journal articles published in European Journal of Political Research\, Political Communication\, PLoS ONE\, and Political Studies\, among others. Dr Muradova holds a PhD in Social Sciences from KU Leuven\, Belgium (2021)\, and her doctoral thesis received the 2021 Best Political Science PhD Award from the Belgian and Dutch Political Science Associations\, as well as an honorary mention for the APSA/ICA Political Communication Dissertation Award. \nDo Voting Advice Applications Make Better Citizens? From Political Knowledge to Vote Choice: Evidence from “De Stemtest” and “De Jongerenstemtest” during the 2024 Elections \nby Joke Mathieu \nVoting Advice Applications (VAAs) have become one of the most widely used information tools in election campaigns. Their democratic promise is considerable: VAAs are expected to inform voters\, mobilize them\, and help them vote in line with their preferences. Yet whether they deliver on these promises remains debated. This BrIAS talk brings together a series of studies on two real-world VAAs used during the 2024 Belgian elections: “De Stemtest” and the youth-oriented “De Jongerenstemtest”. Drawing on randomized experiments embedded in the YouVoice panel study of young citizens aged 16–30\, complemented by panel data on natural VAA use during the campaign\, it examines the influence on party position knowledge\, ideological knowledge\, turnout motivation\, internal political efficacy\, and party preferences. The findings show that VAAs can strengthen young voters’ political knowledge and engagement\, particularly when the tool is tailored to a young audience\, with some indications that less politically sophisticated users benefit most. The BrIAS talk concludes by discussing what these results imply for the democratic value of VAAs and for their design. \nBio\nJoke Matthieu is a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Democratic Futures (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) and the M2P research group (University of Antwerp). Her research interests include inequalities in political socialization processes and more general research on political behavior. She has published recently in the European Journal of Political Research\, Politics and Gender\, Political Behavior\, and West European Politics. URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminar-lala-muradova-alberto-lopez-ortega-joke-mathieu/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270121T080000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270121T160000 DTSTAMP:20261021T093155Z CREATED:20261008T150556Z LAST-MODIFIED:20261021T093155Z UID:4588-1800518400-1800547200@brias.be SUMMARY:Conference ABSP-VPW-BrIAS: Belgium: The State of the Federation DESCRIPTION:Belgium: The State of the Federation\nProgramme TBD soon. URL:https://brias.be/event/conference-absp-vpw-brias-belgium-the-state-of-the-federation/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270121T160000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270121T200000 DTSTAMP:20261012T082410Z CREATED:20260724T121515Z LAST-MODIFIED:20261012T082410Z UID:4280-1800547200-1800561600@brias.be SUMMARY:Opening Ceremony 2027 DESCRIPTION:  \n \nClick on the image to RSVP. Alternative link here. \nProgramme\n\n\n\n16:00–16:15\nWelcome speeches\, BrIAS directors and university authorities\nProf. Em. Frank Deconinck\, BrIAS co-director\, VUB\nProf. Serge Jaumain\, BrIAS co-director\, ULB\n\n\n16:15–16:30\nWelcome speeches\, Vice-Rectors\nProf. Marius Gilbert\, Vice-Rector of research and valorisation\, and vice-rector for culture and scientific mediation\, ULB\nProf. Pieter Ballon\, Vice-Rector of research\, VUB\n\n\n16:30–17:15\nRoudtable democratic solutions\n\n\n17:15–17:30\nInterlude\n\n\n17:30–17:45\nWelcome speech\, programme directors\nProf. Silvia Erzeel\, VUB\nProf. Emilie van Haute\, ULB\n\n\n17:45\nReception\n\n\n\n  URL:https://brias.be/event/opening-ceremony-2027/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270125T093000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270125T123000 DTSTAMP:20260724T121516Z CREATED:20260724T121516Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260724T121516Z UID:4281-1800869400-1800880200@brias.be SUMMARY:Junior Scholar Event: writing session DESCRIPTION:More Details TBD soon. This event may be subject to modifications in schedule and content. URL:https://brias.be/event/junior-scholar-event-writing-session/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270128T120000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270128T140000 DTSTAMP:20261014T121347Z CREATED:20260724T121516Z LAST-MODIFIED:20261014T121347Z UID:4282-1801137600-1801144800@brias.be SUMMARY:Thursday seminar: Raul Magni-Berton & Clara Egger + Yasemin Uluşahin DESCRIPTION:Book launch: Direct Democracy Institutions in a Globalized World. The New Democratic Frontier\nby Raul Magni-Berton and Clara Egger \nThis book titled Direct Democracy Institutions in a Globalized World. The New Democratic Frontier challenges the idea that representative democracy is the pinnacle of political development and redefines its conceptual boundaries. The authors argue that when citizens can directly initiate and veto constitutional changes\, democracy enters a new phase – direct democracy – as a distinct political system. Using original data and comparisons across six countries and 15 U.S. states\, the book shows that direct democracies foster legitimacy\, stability and engagement. Combining historical\, institutional and empirical insights\, the book reframes democracy’s future and offers a timely guide for expanding citizen power in the 21st century. This book is of key interest to scholars and students of democratic regimes\, reform and democratization and\, more broadly\, comparative politics. \nBio\nRaul Magni-Berton est professeur de sciences politiques à l’Université catholique de Lille\, et titulaire de la Chaire Démocratie directe comparée. Il travaille dans le champ de l’économie politique et la politique comparée\, dans des thématiques autour de la démocratie\, la violence politique\, les droits politiques. Récemment\, ses recherches et son activité au sein de la société civile se sont concentrées sur la démocratie directe et la subsidiarité ascendante. \nClara Egger is Assistant Professor of Global Governance at Erasmus University Rotterdam\, where she works on crisis governance and (de) democratization processes. She coordinates the Horizon Europe project TWIN4DEM\, which explores how computational methods can help understand and safeguard democratic institutions. Her research combines comparative work on direct democracy with research on international and crisis governance\, using an international political economy approach. \nWhose Voice to Believe When Authorities Disagree? Misinformation\, Populism and Conspiracy Mentality\nby Yasemin Uluşahin \nWhat happens when authorities tell us different things on critical issues such as our health? Today\, there is rarely a single voice telling citizens what to do and how to react. More often\, multiple voices with claims to authority enter the public sphere at once\, each presenting itself as acting in the public interest\, and citizens must decide whom to trust. This is what happened in September 2025\, when President Trump stated at a White House press conference that Tylenol (acetaminophen) use during pregnancy is linked to autism\, a claim quickly contested by obstetricians. In Study 1 (N = 444)\, US adults placed the two voices\, Trump and scientists\, relative to one another\, which we call relative categorisation. In two pre-registered experiments\, we tried to shift that placement by changing how distant scientists seemed from ordinary people (Study 2\, N = 382) or the institutional setting they spoke from (Study 3\, N = 188). Relative categorisation was the strongest predictor of belief that Tylenol is safe\, explaining close to half the variance (R² = .48\, .44 and .42)\, regardless of political orientation or 2024 vote. Populist attitudes were common across the political spectrum but predicted belief only weakly (R² = .03)\, and most of the link with conspiracy mentality disappeared once categorisation was taken into account. Our manipulations made people feel closer to scientists\, but trust and belief did not change. Populism and conspiracy thinking both describe a contest between the people and the elite\, yet they do not say who belongs in each camp. Our findings suggest that who citizens categorise as part of “the elite” is central to whom they choose to believe. \nBio\nYasemin Uluşahin is a FNRS Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Université libre de Bruxelles\, affiliated with the Center for Social and Cultural Psychology (CeSCuP). She received her PhD in Social and Political Psychology from the University of St Andrews. Her research examines how social identities and shared representations shape belief formation and political engagement. She is particularly interested in intergroup relations\, leadership processes\, conspiracy beliefs\, and populism. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods\, she investigates how group dynamics and identity leadership influence trust in information and engagement with political discourse. URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminar-book-launch-direct-democracy-institutions-in-a-globalized-world-the-new-democratic-frontier/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270201T093000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270201T123000 DTSTAMP:20260724T121516Z CREATED:20260724T121516Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260724T121516Z UID:4284-1801474200-1801485000@brias.be SUMMARY:Junior Scholar Event: writing session DESCRIPTION:More Details TBD soon. This event may be subject to modifications in schedule and content. URL:https://brias.be/event/junior-scholar-event-writing-session-2/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270202T120000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270202T140000 DTSTAMP:20261015T090545Z CREATED:20260724T121516Z LAST-MODIFIED:20261015T090545Z UID:4285-1801569600-1801576800@brias.be SUMMARY:Thursday seminar: BIFD Jolanda Jetten + BIFD Andrew Chadwick DESCRIPTION:Living in an unequal world: Consequences for societies’ social and political vitality\nby Jolanda Jetten \nSocietal inequality has been found to have pernicious effects reducing mental and physical health and decreasing societal cohesion. However\, this work lacks compelling\, theory-driven explanations for why inequality has these effects and when and for whom these effects are likely to emerge. These are important gaps because to respond effectively to inequality we need a holistic understanding of its effect on individuals as well as the collectives within which they are embedded and that structure their interactions with one another. A social psychological analysis can help to fill the gaps in this picture in at least three ways: (1) by pointing to the processes that explain why inequality has negative effects for individuals and societies\, (2) by emphasising the relevance of subjective perceptions of inequality\, and (3) by identifying the group dynamics that underpin the negative effects of inequality. I will present a range of studies and contexts where we have examined the effect of objective measures of inequality as well as perceptions of inequality on outcomes such as well-being\, the desire for more\, the wish for a strong leader\, prosocial behaviour\, and the endorsement of conspiracy theories. The findings underscore the notion that inequality may have even more far-reaching consequences than believed until now. Investigating the effects of inequality on citizens’ socio-political behaviour may be increasingly relevant in the light of today’s turbulent political and social landscape. \nBio\nJolanda earned her PhD from the University of Amsterdam in 1997 and has held academic positions at the University of Queensland and the University of Exeter. She returned to the University of Queensland in 2007 as a Research Fellow and has since held ARC Future and UQ Development Fellowships\, as well as the Belgian Francqui Fellowship (2018) and ARC Laureate Fellowship (2019–2024). Her research examines group processes\, social identity\, and intergroup relations\, particularly their effects on mental health and well-being. She also studies economic inequality\, collective responses to societal change\, and resilience following disasters.\nJolanda has served as co-Chief Editor of leading journals and held presidential roles in professional societies. Her honours include the Spearman Medal\, Kurt Lewin Medal\, and Lifetime Achievement Award from the European Association of Social Psychology. She is a Fellow of ASSA and has served on Australian and European research councils\, as well as the Australian Government’s BETA academic panel. \nAI and the New Politics of Protective Epistemic Sovereignty\nby Andrew Chadwick \nIn this talk\, I will introduce the concept of protective epistemic sovereignty (PES)\, an ‘umbrella’ concept for making sense of some key challenges AI poses and how polities might respond. PES concerns AI’s role in social and civic harms that have communicative\, informational\, and knowledge-based dimensions. It explicitly recognises that governance institutions can intervene either to regulate AI directly or to coordinate and cultivate regulatory PES norms among non-state actors operating at multiple levels. Public attitudes about AI’s future have entered a more balanced phase: the boosters and the refusers are joined by a growing group of the uncertain and the worried. Concerted activity to embed PES is therefore likely to be a necessary political response to AI in future. \nBio\nAndrew Chadwick (PhD\, London School of Economics and Political Science) is Professor of Political Communication in the Department of Communication and Media at Loughborough University and a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences. He studies how digital media are implicated in social and political power in four main areas: political mobilisation\, political engagement\, deception and dis/misinformation\, and news and journalism.\nHis work has won multiple international awards from the American Political Science Association\, the International Communication Association\, and the American Sociological Association. In addition\, The Hybrid Media System: Politics and Power (Oxford University Press\, 2013; 2nd Edition\, 2017) received the International Journal of Press/Politics Best Book Award\, which recognises an outstanding book over a ten year period. Earlier books include Internet Politics: States\, Citizens\, and New Communication Technologies (Oxford University Press\, 2006) and The Handbook of Internet Politics (Routledge\, 2009; co-edited with Philip N. Howard).\nAndrew has published more than 120 academic research articles\, book chapters\, public reports\, reviews\, and press articles and is series editor for Oxford Studies in Digital Politics\, which he launched in 2010. In recent years\, he has advised various policymaking bodies\, including for example the UK Department of Digital\, Media\, Culture and Sport (DCMS) Counter-Disinformation Policy Forum\, the Government Office for Science Rapid Project on AI-driven disinformation\, and the DCMS’s scoping for the BBC Royal Charter Review and its implementation phase. URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminar-bifd-jolanda-jetten-bifd-andrew-chadwick/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270204T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270205T180000 DTSTAMP:20261012T082227Z CREATED:20260724T121531Z LAST-MODIFIED:20261012T082227Z UID:4286-1801731600-1801850400@brias.be SUMMARY:Workshop CERIM-BrIAS: The end of affective polarization? DESCRIPTION:Affective polarisation has received enormous scholarly attention in the last decade. First introduced by the seminal article by Iyengar and colleagues in 2012\, the concept of affective polarisation captures the affective distance between political in- and out-groups. While originally applied to the context of the United States\, it has long spread across the world\, including to European political science (Reiljan\, 2020; Wagner\, 2021). In the meantime\, however\, the initial scholarly excitement about affective polarisation seems to have given way to growing scepticism about the accuracy\, conceptual depth and explanatory value of the concept. \nWhile originally assumed to contribute to the study of the deteriorating state of Western liberal democracies\, more recent findings cast doubt on this causal relationship (Broockman et al.\, 2023; Voelkel et al.\, 2023). Furthermore\, despite repeated criticism of the measurement of AP as the spread between like-dislike scores towards political parties (see Röllicke\, 2023; Maes et al.\, 2024; Bernaerts\, 2025)\, it remains the gold standard of the field with new measurement suggestions (e.g. Campos & Federico\, 2025; Finkel et al.\, 2021; McMurtrie et al.\, 2024) struggling to systematically replace it. At the same time\, political theorists increasingly question the current use of the concept of affective polarisation and problematise the sometimes overly simplistic ways in which it has been related to democracy (Schedler\, 2023; Rostbøll\, 2024). \nAll of this begs the question: Has affective polarisation been used as a catch-all term to grasp broader divisions and conflict in society which fails to grasp the underlying phenomena of interest – such as democratic demise\, interpersonal friction or intergroup conflict? Or have we arrived at a pivotal moment in the study of affective polarisation where the concept grows into adulthood\, requiring new ways to approach the concept and its broader study? \nIn this multidisciplinary workshop\, we want to pay attention to both the conceptual questions (what exactly is it we are trying to grasp with the concept of AP?)\, the measurement problems (are we actually measuring what we claim to be measuring?) but also the broader question of relevance (should we re-shift our attention to other concepts for studying the broader questions we are tackling?). \nWe specifically aim to bring together different theoretical and empirical perspectives from different disciplines to generate new insights into the role of affective polarisation in the decline and erosion of democracy worldwide. \nProgramme\nThursday\, 4 February 2027\n\n\n\n12:00–13:00\nArrival and Lunch\n\n\n13:00–13:30\nIntroduction by Kamil Bernaerts & Lena Röllicke\n\n\n13:30–15:00\nPanel 1: What exactly is Affective Polarisation and what do we measure?\nManuel Almagro\nAlexa Bankert & Leonie Huddy\nFelix Grundwald\, Arndt Leininger & Nelly Buntfuß\nLarissa Knöchelmann et al.\n\n\n15:00–15:15\nCoffee Break\n\n\n15:15–16:45\nPanel 2: How “bad” is it really?\nJoe Phillips et al.\nJoseph Noonan\nManuel Kogel\n\n\n16:45–18:00\nBreak and transfer to roundtable location (tbc)\n\n\n18:00–19:30\nRoundtable: The end of Affective Polarisation? by Jérémy Dodeigne\, University of Namur\nEelco Harteveld\, University of Amsterdam\nAndres Reiljan\, University of Tartu\nLuana Russo\, Maastricht University\n\n\nAround 19:30\nWorkshop Dinner\nPlace tbc\n\n\n\nFriday\, 5 February 2027\n\n\n\n9:00–10:30\nPanel 3: Differences between (legitimate) policy disagreement and affective polarisation\nHenry Maes\nGreta Gross & Swen Hutter\nSvend-Erik Skaaning & Cem Mert Dalli\n\n\n10:30–10:45\nCoffee Break\n\n\n10:45–12:15\nPanel 4: Rethinking depolarisation?\nJasper Neerdaels & Artemis Tsoulou-Malakoudi\nSam Fuller & Gal Bitton\nMark Brandt & Abigail Cassario\nAmalía Nestoris\n\n\n12:15–13:00\nLunch\n\n\n13:00–14:30\nPanel 5: Should we study something else – or study affective polarisation differently?\nJoão Areal & Anna Petherick\nRuben Scheunders\nMelanie Schiller\, Valerie Knöpker & Romy Mennen\n\n\n14:30–15:00\nWrapping Up\n\n\n\n \n\n\n      URL:https://brias.be/event/workshop-cerim-brias-the-end-of-affective-polarization/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270208T093000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270208T123000 DTSTAMP:20260724T121531Z CREATED:20260724T121531Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260724T121531Z UID:4287-1802079000-1802089800@brias.be SUMMARY:Junior Scholar Event: writing session DESCRIPTION:More Details TBD soon. This event may be subject to modifications in schedule and content. URL:https://brias.be/event/junior-scholar-event-writing-session-3/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270211T120000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270211T140000 DTSTAMP:20261021T093709Z CREATED:20260724T121531Z LAST-MODIFIED:20261021T093709Z UID:4288-1802347200-1802354400@brias.be SUMMARY:Thursday seminar: BIFD Stathis Kalyvas + BIFD Frank Mols DESCRIPTION:Violent Political Conflict\nby Stathis Kalyvas \nWe study and speak of different forms of political violence\, from torture to ethnic conflict\, from war to genocide\, from crimes against humanity to terrorism\, using a profusion of “natural categories” that have emerged organically\, are politically charged\, and ultimately impede our understanding of this deplorable yet universal form of collective human behavior. I propose\, present\, and discuss a new way to rationalize this field of political activity and to minimize our categories. I argue that this conceptual move allows us to analyze\, but importantly also to describe\, the complex landscape of political violence more effectively. \nBio\nStathis N. Kalyvas is Gladstone Professor of Government and fellow of All Souls College at Oxford. He was\, until 2018\, the Arnold Wolfers Professor of Political Science at Yale University\, where he founded and directed the Program on Order\, Conflict\, and Violence and co-directed the Hellenic Studies Program. In 2019 he founded the T. E. Lawrence Program on Conflict and Violence at All Souls College. He is the author\, among others\, of The Rise of Christian Democracy in Europe (Cornell University Press\, 1996) and The Logic of Violence in Civil War (Cambridge University Press\, 2006). His work has received multiple awards and he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2008 and the British Academy in 2020. Since December 2023 he also serves as Chairman of the Board of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center. \nCollective Amnesia in Political Science Research\nby Frank Mols\nAs Thomas Kuhn observed in his 1962 book ‘The Structure of Scientific Revolution’ the paradigmatic axioms that underpin “normal science” are periodically overthrown and replaced. Research\, so Kuhn argued\, should hence not be seen as linear and cumulative. Pitirim Sorokin expressed a similar view in his 1956 book ‘Fads and Foibles in Modern Sociology and Related Sciences’. In his 1992 article ‘Sociological Amnesia: The Noncumulation of Normal Social Science’\, Herbert Gans went even further\, arguing that sociological studies often report findings reported previously\, and without acknowledging this. Gans identified six factors contributing to what he described as collective amnesia in social science research. In this paper I will review these factors and use research into support for far-right parties to evaluate whether this literature (including my own contributions to this literature) suffer from collective forgetfulness. More specifically\, I argue this literature grapples with two challenges\, namely (a) the tendency to ignore highly relevant earlier work (thus making it possible to ‘reinvent the wheel’) and (b) the tendency to ignore new insights (thus stifling innovation). I will conclude by considering two possible collective amnesia causes\, namely a strict ‘division of labour’\, and academic incentive structures that inadvertently disincentivise ‘deep learning’. \nBio\nFrank Mols is Senior Lecturer in the School of Political Science and International Studies at The University of Queensland\, Australia. His research interests include elections\, voting\, populist radical right parties\, leadership\, political communication\, political behaviour and evidence-based policy.\nFrank’s research has been published in leading international journals\, including Leadership Quarterly\, European Journal of Political Research\, Political Psychology\, Public Administration\, West European Politics\, Journal of Common Market Studies\, Evidence and Policy\, China Quarterly\, Journal of Social Issues\, Frontiers in Communication\, Australian Journal of Political Science\, and the Australian Journal of Public Administration.\nHis 2017 book The Wealth Paradox (co-authored with Jolanda Jetten and published by Cambridge University Press) has attracted international attention and praise for having debunked pervasive myths about populist parties and their voter base. URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminar-bifd-stathis-kalyvas-bifd-frank-mols/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270215T093000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270215T123000 DTSTAMP:20260724T121532Z CREATED:20260724T121532Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260724T121532Z UID:4289-1802683800-1802694600@brias.be SUMMARY:Junior Scholar Event: writing session DESCRIPTION:More Details TBD soon. This event may be subject to modifications in schedule and content. URL:https://brias.be/event/junior-scholar-event-writing-session-4/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270218T120000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270218T140000 DTSTAMP:20261021T094440Z CREATED:20260724T121532Z LAST-MODIFIED:20261021T094440Z UID:4290-1802952000-1802959200@brias.be SUMMARY:Thursday seminar: BIFD Yasin Koç DESCRIPTION:TITLE TBC\nby Yasin Koç \nBio\nYasin Koc holds a PhD in social psychology from the University of Sussex and is Assistant Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Groningen. Recognised as a Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science\, he has also held visiting research positions at Princeton University and Université Paris Nanterre. His research focuses on marginalised identities and intergroup relations\, with the aim of improving the well-being and social status of minoritised groups and fostering more equitable relations.\nUsing experimental\, qualitative\, and mixed methods\, he examines how disadvantaged groups navigate unequal social systems and how advantaged groups can be mobilised to recognise inequality and support social change. He recently completed an FMSH-funded study on multiple marginalisation among older queer migrants from Turkey in France. He currently leads the NWO-funded project Reimagining Intergroup Apologies\, which explores community-centred approaches to intergroup apologies and social cohesion in contexts of polarisation and historical conflict. URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminar-bifd-yasin-koc/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270222T093000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270222T123000 DTSTAMP:20260724T121547Z CREATED:20260724T121547Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260724T121547Z UID:4291-1803288600-1803299400@brias.be SUMMARY:Junior Scholar Event: writing session DESCRIPTION:More Details TBD soon. This event may be subject to modifications in schedule and content. URL:https://brias.be/event/junior-scholar-event-writing-session-5/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270225T120000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270225T140000 DTSTAMP:20261021T095037Z CREATED:20260724T121547Z LAST-MODIFIED:20261021T095037Z UID:4292-1803556800-1803564000@brias.be SUMMARY:Thursday seminar: Sofia Serra-Silva + Oscar Mazzoleni DESCRIPTION:Book launch: Open Parliaments: The Reality of Public Engagement in European Democracies\nby Sofia Serra-Silva\nDemocratic institutions are under strain. The bond between citizens and political institutions has significantly frayed\, and parliaments\, long positioned as the institutional heart of representative democracy\, find themselves at the center of this legitimacy crisis. This book asks whether they can be part of the solution. Can parliaments deliver on their commitments to openness and public engagement? Do their efforts live up to their promises\, or do they amount to symbolic transformation without structural change? \nOpen Parliaments makes no prior assumption that they can. Instead\, it asks how\, where\, when\, and to what extent parliaments deliver on their promise to open up\, and who can access and participate in these newly opened spaces. To answer these questions\, the analysis draws on a comparative study of twenty-one European parliaments and two in-depth case studies\, Austria and France\, where novel institutional engagement practices have been embedded in parliamentary life. \nThis book reveals empirically how legislative institutions have achieved only a narrow openness: doors technically unlocked but never truly open\, information formally disclosed\, participation nominally possible. Yet this openness proves neither accessible nor inclusive. Content remains difficult to read and navigate for ordinary citizens\, participatory instruments are not designed nor equipped to make participation consequential\, and engagement consistently skews toward those already proximate to power. Caught between the temptations of engagement myopia and magical thinking\, parliaments offer citizens a performance of openness rather than its substance. \nBio\nSofia Serra-Silva is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences\, University of Lisbon. She holds a PhD in Comparative Politics (2020)\, and her research examines how political institutions and citizens engage within the contemporary globalized digital landscape. Her work has been published in leading journals including Party Politics\, Policy & Internet\, Parliamentary Affairs\, Journal of Legislative Studies\, South European Society and Politics\, European Politics & Society\, and Mediterranean Politics\, among other outlets. She is currently Principal Investigator (PI) of the FCT-funded project Bridging the Gap: A New Approach to Understanding Citizen Attitudes and Perceptions Towards the Portuguese Parliament (ref. 2023.12063.PEX). \nDemocratic weaponizing: the challenge of the contemporary radical right\nby Oscar Mazzoleni \nFor most of the twentieth century\, the enemies of democracy were easy to recognize: fascist and authoritarian movements openly sought to abolish parliaments\, elections and individual rights. The radical right of the twenty-first century doesn’t reject democracy. It weaponizes it. As scholars have pointed out\, it turns democratic institutions\, procedures and core concepts (tolerance\, equality\, solidarity\, freedom and democracy itself) against the pluralist and universalist substance they were meant to protect. The words stay the same\, but their content is replaced. So far\, though\, this literature has judged the radical right almost entirely against participatory or procedural-liberal ideas of democracy\, asking whether it is a corrective or a threat. This lecture argues that this framing is important but misses the socio-economic component. Research shows that a significant part of the European and American public defines democracy as including material security and social rights (e.g. Davis\, Gaddie and Goidel 2022). Taking this public view seriously means that labor-market protection\, welfare chauvinism and immigration aren’t just policy issues. They’re contested parts of what democracy is represented\, and this is where actors of radical right achieve better support. \nBio\nOscar Mazzoleni is a professor in political science at the University of Lausanne. His current interests are devoted on political parties\, populism\, nationalism\, regionalism\, electoral studies\, and Swiss politics in comparative perspective. His last book is “The radical right and demographic populism” (ed. with K. Koxha)\, Manchester University Press\, 2026. URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminar-book-launch-open-parliaments-the-reality-of-public-engagement-in-european-democracies-oscar-mazzoleni/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270301T093000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270301T123000 DTSTAMP:20260724T121547Z CREATED:20260724T121547Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260724T121547Z UID:4293-1803893400-1803904200@brias.be SUMMARY:Junior Scholar Event: writing session DESCRIPTION:More Details TBD soon. This event may be subject to modifications in schedule and content. URL:https://brias.be/event/junior-scholar-event-writing-session-6/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270302T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270304T180000 DTSTAMP:20260909T113838Z CREATED:20260724T121547Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260909T113838Z UID:4294-1803978000-1804183200@brias.be SUMMARY:WIAS-BrIAS workshop: Democratic Governance in Transition. Interdisciplinary Approaches to Polarization\, AI\, and Inclusion DESCRIPTION:More Details TBD soon. This event may be subject to modifications in schedule and content. URL:https://brias.be/event/wias-brias-workshop-democratic-governance-in-transition-interdisciplinary-approaches-to-polarization-ai-and-inclusion/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270302T150000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270302T160000 DTSTAMP:20261014T121627Z CREATED:20260909T113034Z LAST-MODIFIED:20261014T121627Z UID:4359-1803999600-1804003200@brias.be SUMMARY:BIFD Osman Kıratlı DESCRIPTION:Do the People Consider Democracies as More Reliable International Allies?\nby Osman Sabri Kıratlı \nThis project investigates whether citizens prefer democracies as allies and whether they regard democratic institutions as a signal of alliance reliability. To test these expectations\, I field preregistered conjoint experiments on over 8\,000 respondents in the United States\, Germany\, Japan\, South Korea\, and Turkey\, and additional surveys are planned for three more countries. In the experiments\, respondents choose between hypothetical allies that vary in electoral competition\, executive constraints\, press freedom\, membership in international organizations\, military power\, economic size\, and religion. The results show that publics in all five countries prefer allies that have democratic attributes. Among the various democratic regime components\, citizens are most sensitive to electoral competition\, as fully competitive democracies receive substantially stronger support than partners with limited competition. Independent media\, constraints on the executive\, and extensive membership in international organizations also make an ally considerably more attractive. Democratic attributes raise reliability expectations and\, to a lesser extent\, perceptions of the ally’s international standing\, both of which partly account for this democratic premium. Further analyses reveal that the democratic ally preference is particularly pronounced among citizens who value democracy and weaker among isolationists. The results also reveal\, however\, that religious affiliation remains a core\, and in some contexts the primary\, factor in alliance preferences. \nBio\nOsman Sabri Kiratli is an associate professor of International Relations at the Waseda Institute of Advanced Study\, Waseda University\, Tokyo. Previously\, he worked as an associate professor at Bogazici University\, Istanbul. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst\, MA\, and also served as a Humboldt Research Fellow at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center.\nHis academic expertise includes political behavior\, international political economy\, international organizations\, foreign aid\, and European Union and Turkish politics. He is a member of the Steering Committee of the Standing Group on International Relations and has published extensively in leading political science journals\, including Perspectives on Politics\, The Review of International Organizations\, Political Behavior\, European Journal of Political Research\, European Union Politics\, Public Opinion Quarterly\, JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies\, Party Politics\, and Political Studies. URL:https://brias.be/event/bifd-osman-kiratli/ LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium CATEGORIES:Programme Events END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR