Trinity is launching a new public lecture series, entitled “Democracy at a crossroads”, which will discuss the contemporary challenges democracy is facing around the world, such as populism, economic inequality, and AI.
Further topics to be dealt with include the increasing wealth divide and its impact on 2024 elections, the role of social media in democracy’s maintenance and disintegration, moral political issues that cause disturbances in democracies and analysis of important elections taking place this year.
There will be four lectures in the series, running each Thursday between 3 and 24 October. Each lecture will cost €7 to attend and can be booked on the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy website. They will take place in the JM Synge Theatre in the Arts Block from 7pm to 8.30pm.
The talks will be delivered by Trinity academics, including Dr Marvin Suesse from the Department of Economics and Dr David Landy from the Department of Sociology.
The first lecture deals with how economic inequality affects voter participation, while the second and third lectures discuss the “moral limits of democracy” and social media’s role in this.
The final event, entitled “Election Watch 2024: A Global Perspective”, will consist of a panel discussion of political scientists who will offer analysis of the current state of global democracy as well as predictions for its future.
This series of lectures comes after a wave of electoral victories for right-wing parties across Europe, most recently with Austria’s Freedom Party in the country’s legislative elections and Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland winning in two state-wide elections.
The latter’s win marks the first time a far-right party has won an election in Germany since the Nazi Party held power.
Head of the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy wrote in a statement that “with significant elections taking place in 2024 and democracy facing unprecedented challenges, this series offers crucial insights”
“By examining these issues from multiple perspectives, we aim to foster meaningful dialogue and deepen public engagement with these important topics”, he concluded.
