Citizens, politicians, experts and the mass media
in the Federal Republic of Germany and Western Europe

Friday, June 3, 2022, 9.30-16.30u
UvA UB, Singel 425, Amsterdam, Doelenzaal

How did citizens, politicians, experts and the mass media try to make sense of postwar democracy and political representation? Which communicative practices and modes of interaction did they use to express their (self-)perceptions and expectations? These questions and more are at the heart of our workshop.

Researchers will discuss their work on the political history of the Federal Republic of Germany and Western Europe, which invites comparative reflection. On top of that, the workshop aims to contribute to both the integration of vernacular understandings of de-mocracy in postwar political history, and to recent research on the scientization and me-diatization of the political.

The four panels discuss a range of topics, including the articulation and imagination of popular expectations of democracy on the platform of the mass media (radio, television and the tabloid press), (normative) conceptions of professional politics and dialogue, ur-ban perspectives on the construction of political identity and political legitimacy and ex-pert notions of democracy and political representation.

Programme and information on how to register can be found here