BrIAS x ABSP Workshop – Focus on the “Unusual Suspects”
Focus on the “Unusual Suspects”: Exploring Understudied Underrepresented Groups in Representative Democracies
The 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.
About the Workshop
This workshop focuses on the “unusual suspects” of representative democracies — understudied and underrepresented groups whose political participation, representation, and visibility remain limited.
Bringing 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.
Date: 13 March 2026
Location: Boulevard Général Jacques 210, Ixelles, Brussels
Programme
Agenda
- 12:00 – 13:00 Lunch and greetings
13:00 – 13:45
- Kevin Meyvaert (VUB), Eline Severs (VUB), Dimokritos Kavadias (VUB)
The Representational Limits of Representatives – Youth Disconnection and Young MPs’ Visions of Representation in Brussels
Discussants: Giovanni Maggi, Simon Geshef
13:45 – 14:30
- Zoé Lardinois (ULB)
Pathways to Political Candidacy: An Intersectional Study of Political Ambition in Belgium
Discussants: Hannah Oorts, Laura Uyttendale
- 14:30 – 14:45 Coffee break
14:45 – 15:30
- Hannah Oorts (VUB), Eline Severs (VUB), Elly Mansoury (VUB), Kevin Meyvaert (VUB)
Expectation vs. Reality: Being a Young Representative in the Spotlight / Online
Discussants: Zoé Lardinois, Aloïsa Pilloy
15:30 – 16:15
- Giovanni Maggi (ULB)
Mainstreaming Antifeminism in Italy and the United States: Far-Right Agenda Setting in Networked Public Debates (2010–present)
Discussants: Kevin Meyvaert, Thomas Legein
- 16:15 Farewell coffee
Organising Team
Aloïsa Pilloy (UCLouvain) – aloisa.pilloy@uclouvain.be
Simon Geshef (ULB) – simon.geshef@ulb.be
Laura Uyttendaele (ULB) – laura.uyttendaele@ulb.be
Thomas Legein (VUB) – thomas.legein@vub.be