Othering and Polarisation 2020

The physical workshop has been rescheduled to 7 – 11 June 2021

‘Othering’ and polarisation have immediate and potentially severe consequences for politics across Europe – in terms of Populist denigration of sub-groups but also when politics is so divided that each side will not listen to the other (e.g. Brexit in the UK). Unfortunately, relevant theory, knowledge and perspectives on these phenomena are splintered across many disciplines, ones that normally do not talk to each other. This workshop would bring together researchers from many disciplines covering social, political, psychological, economic and cultural aspects. It also includes researchers with interdisciplinary bridging skills, including participatory approaches, philosophy and social simulation. As well as plenaries and group discussions the workshop will utilise world café and fishbowl sessions to encourage connections. It has the ultimate aim of building a more complete and nuanced understanding of the phenomena, but the workshop would only be the starting point for this. The workshop will work to produce (a) a ‘map’ of how the different contributions from these fields ‘fit’ together (or otherwise), (b) a list of identified research challenges (c) an agreed joint plan of work and (d) early prototypes of integrative agent-based social simulations to try to bring the aspects together within some dynamic frameworks.

Please find more information n the website of Othering and Polaristaion