Renewing the Social Contract | Conference 2024

Renewing the Social Contract

The Challenge of Inclusivity and Democratic Government in Social Contract Theory 

International Conference

Center for Critical Democracy Studies, The American University of Paris

December 17-19, 2024

December 17

CO3 Horizon Europe Consortium: Resilient Social Contracts for Democratic Societies

* Participants in the International Conference on December 18-19, are also welcome to attend the Consortium presentations

December 18-19

International Conference: Renewing the Social Contract: The Challenge of Inclusivity and Democratic Government in Social Contract Theory

Keynotes | Myriam Hunter-Henin (UCL), Albert Weale (UCL)

Organizers

• Stephen Sawyer | ssawyeraup.edu
• Roman Zinigrad | rzinigradaup.edu
• Nathanaël Colin-Jaeger | ncolinjaegeraup.edu
• Emilia Palonen | emilia.palonenhelsinki.fi
• Anna Björk | anna.bjorkdemoshelsinki.fi

Tuesday, December 17

CO3 Horizon Europe Consortium: Resilient Social Contracts for Democratic Societies

* Participants in the International Conference on December 18-19, are also welcome to attend the Consortium presentations

9h00-9h30 - Welcome & Coffee

09h30-10h45 - T2.1

• Nathanaël Colin-Jaeger AUP | Overview of Social Contract Theories
• Stephen Sawyer AUP | Sociological Social Contracts

Other proposals for T2.1

10h45-11h00 - Break

11:00-12:15 - T2.4

• Cristiano Gianolla University of Coimbra | States, Empires, Post-colonialism and the Social Contract
• Other proposals for T2.4

12h15-13h30 - Lunch

13h30-14h45 - T2.3

• Emilia Palonen University of Helsinki | Polarization and the Social Contract
• Pınar Uyan Semerci & Emre Erdoğan Bilgi University | Rethinking “Social Contract” in the Times of Polycrisis

14h45-15h00 - Break

15h00-16h15 - T2.2

• Claudia Wiesner Fulda University & Ruzha Smilova Sofia University | Social Contract in the European Union

16h15-17h30 - Discussion of WP2 // Links with WP3

17h30-19h00 - Break

19h00 - Dinner

___________________________________________

December 18-19

International Conference: Renewing the Social Contract: The Challenge of Inclusivity and Democratic Government in Social Contract Theory

Keynotes | Myriam Hunter-Henin UCL, Albert Weale UCL

Wednesday, December 18

9h00-9h30 - Coffee

09h30-11h00 - Session 1. Social Contracts Revisited

9h15-9h30 - Welcome remarks

11h00-11h15 - Break

11h15-12h45 - Parallel Sessions 2 & 3

• Session 2. Post-colonial Perspectives on the Social Contract
• Session 3. Social Contract in Non-ideal Conditions

12:45-14:00 - Lunch

14h00-15h30 - Parallel Sessions 4 & 5

• Session 4. Les fondements du contrat social (in French)
• Session 5. Alternative Social Contracts

15h30-16h30 - Coffee & discussion break

16h30-17h30 - Keynote

• Albert Weale UCL | Political Contracts and Democratic Values: What Can Constitution Making Tell Us?

17h30-19h00 - Reception at AUP

___________________________________________

Thursday, December 19

9h00-9h30 - Coffee

9h30-11h00 - Parallel Sessions 6 & 7

• Session 6. Critiques des théories traditionnelles du Contrat Social (in French)
• Session 7. Capitalism, Public Reason and the Social Contract

11h00-11h15 - Break

11h15-12h45 - Keynote

• Myriam Hunter-Henin UCL | The Regulation of Religious Interests: A Test for the Resilience of Social Contract Theory

14h00-15h30 - Parallel Sessions 8 & 9

• Session 8. Constitutional Norms and The Social Contract
• Session 9. Capitalism, Democracy, and the Social Contract

12:45-14:00 - Lunch

15h45-17h00 - Session 10. Extending the Social Contract

17h00-17h15 - Break

17h15-18h00 - Concluding round table discussion:

• Anna Björk Demos Helsinki
• Nathanaël Colin-Jaeger AUP
• Emilia Palonen University of Helsinki
• Stephen Sawyer AUP
• Roman Zinigrad AUP

Session 1. Social Contracts Revisited

• Chair | Annabelle Lever SciencesPo
• Zachary Swirski McMaster University | Hegel’s Rabble and Nomadic Becomings
• Fabien Lechevalier Université Paris-Saclay | Crafting the Future: A New Social Contract for the Digital Age
• Olivia Custer AUP | Consent to the Social Contract in the Wake of #metoo

Session 2. Post-colonial Perspectives on the Social Contract

• Chair | Delphine Dogot Université Catholique de Lille
• Alnusf Marzouq Kuwait University | The Global Aspect in the Racial Critique of Social Contract Theory
• Vanda Amaro Dias & Cristiano Gianolla University of Coimbra | The Articulation of Mythologies Through the Social Contract in Empires, Nation-States and Europe: Challenges to Democratisation in Modern Liberal Polities
• Andrew Stewart Chapman University | Counterstories and the Social Contract

Session 3. Social Contract in Non-ideal Conditions

• Chair | Emilia Palonen, University of Helsinki
• Daniel Smilov Sofia University | The Concept of Social Contract in the Theories of European Integration
• Ana Matan University of Zagreb | Realist Utopia for a Compound Democratic Community of States
• Théophile Pénigaud Yale University | Engaging with the Non-ideal Behind the Veil of Ignorance

Session 4. Les fondements du contrat social (in French)

• Chair | Mona El Khoury AUP
• Clara Lucas Centre Émile Durkheim, ScPo Bordeaux | Le Contrat social jaune : Rousseau et les Gilets jaunes
• Simone Leotta LIER-FYT/EHESS | Du nouveau sous l’ancien ? Le statut de la « religion civile » dans le Contrat social
• Maude Vidal EHESS | Contrat social et norme fondamentale, Kelsen lecteur de Vaihinger

Session 5. Alternative Social Contracts

• Chair | Zach Freig UC Berkeley
• David Peters AUP | James Wilson’s Revolutionary Critique of and Alternative to Contract Theory
• Kevin Leportier Université de Caen Normandie | Freedom, Crises, and Liberal Social Contracts
• Clémence Pellissier Trinity College Dublin | The Social Contract versus Autonomy? A Study on Arendt’s Critique of Rousseau’s Theory

Session 6. Critiques des théories traditionnelles du Contrat Social (in French)

• Chair | Zona Zarić AUP
• Léa Antonicelli SciencesPo | Une critique féministe intersectionnelle de l’utilité publique pour refonder un contrat social inclusif
• Djamel Chikh Ottawa University | Le contrat social, une ambition universaliste et des écueils historicistes
• Valentin Avenard Université de Nantes | En finir avec un contrat social

Session 7. Capitalism, Public Reason and the Social Contract

• Chair | Leora Dahan Katz Hebrew U
• Tonci Kursar University of Zagreb | How to Restore Democratic Capitalism as a Social Contract? Controversies of Streeck’s Understanding of ‘Interregnum’
• Elias Moser University of Graz | Nozick’s Individualist Anarchist and a Libertarian Argument for Redistribution
• Cyril Hédoin Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne | Living in Disagreement: Public Reason and Jurisdictional Rights

Session 8. Constitutional Norms and The Social Contract

• Chair | Roman Zinigrad AUP
• Mohsin Bhat QMUL School of Law | Adjudicating Belonging: Citizenship and the Identity of the Constitutional Compact
• Vandana Singh USLLS | Jurisprudential Foundation of Rule of Law through Prism of Social Contract Theory
• Tamar Hostovsky Brandes Ono Academic College | Is solidarity necessary for democracy?

Session 9. Capitalism, Democracy, and the Social Contract

• Chair | Mirjam Dageförde AUP
• Peter Hägel AUP | Customizing Social Contracts for Consumer Society?
• Anja Thomas Hochschule Fulda/University of Lille/EUI | A Question of the Underlying Social Contract? About the Differentiated Impact of Populism on Policy-Making in Proportional and in Majoritarian Democracies
• Elijah Okpanachi Federal University of Lafia, Nigeria | Democracy in the 21st Century: Current Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities for Democratic Governance

Session 10. Extending the Social Contract

• Chair | Nathanaël Colin-Jaeger AUP
• Aviezer Tucker University of Ostrava | Panarchy: Non-territorial Contractarianism
• Nefeli Lefkopoulou Sciences Po | Renewing the Social Contract Through City Empowerment
• Xhejn Xhindi Université libre de Bruxelles | Influences of Social Contract Theory in Bruno Latour: From Early Works to Politics of Nature
• Oliver Feltham AUP | Locke’s state of nature as colonial practice: social contract and ecology