The CCDS events program commenced with a lecture entitled, “How Should Republicans Conceive of Transnational Solidarity?” given by Dr. Miriam Ronzoni in conjunction with the Contemporary European Democratic Theory lecture series. In her paper of the same title, Ronzoni suggests that, while solidarity has historically been understood in either too simple or too complex a fashion, it is possible to conceive of solidarity beyond borders without conceding to a cosmopolitan political project.
The following lecture, “The Democratic Boundary Problem—A Function Sensitive View” given by Dr. Eva Erman, asked the question of how to delineate the demos: who, in other words, should take part in decision-making?
Dr. Jamila Mascat subsequently gave a lecture, “Towards a Theory of Postcolonial Justice.” Mascat’s paper set forth the question of what it means to do postcolonial justice, and responded by locating postcolonial justice as in conversation with transitional justice – in particular, reparations projects – as well as distributive justice and global justice.
CCDS Visiting Fellow, Dr. Carlo Burelli and his coauthor, Dr. Enrico Biale gave a lecture, “Should the People Control Public Spending? A Normative Assessment of Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendments,” critiquing the recent trend of BBCAs and noting their high democratic costs.
CCDS next hosted Dr. Chiara Cordelli, who discussed her recent, award winning book, “The Privatized State.” Focusing on a single chapter, which raises questions about legitimacy and private actors, Cordelli argued that private actors can fail to exercise their power legitimately even when they have been legitimately authorized and that this provides an important reason to limit certain forms of privatization, even when privatization could lead to desirable outcomes.
Dr. Annabelle Lever gave a talk entitled, “Democracy in Selection,” in which she discussed lottery systems in democratic societies and noted that they may be ill-equipped to address structural problems that require commitments to equality that stretch beyond the realm of individual opportunity.
Dr. Jennifer Boittin returned to CCDS to give a lecture on her forthcoming book, “Undesirable: Passionate Mobility and Women’s Defiance of French Colonial Policing, 1919-1952.” In it she explored the state’s capacity to control women in colonized regions, then known as French West Africa and French Indochina, with a particular focus on those who were at least in part independently mobile and experienced social censure.
In connection with the D.Rad Project, CCDS hosted the “D.Rad Symposium: Trends of Radicalization in Europe and Beyond,” in which the 17 members of the consortium presented their research on trends of radicalization in Europe and the Middle East. Highlights from the day-long symposium include discussion of lone wolf operations and the impersonal nature of radical movements in the digital space.
The final CCDS event of the year saw Dr. Marc Hecker discusses his recent book, “The Twenty Years’ War: Jihadism and Counterterrorism in the XXIst Century” in which he and his coauthor analyze the lessons that can be drawn from the past 20 years.
These lectures were recorded and can be accessed through the CCDS website.