🎤 Keynote Speech – Political Representation and the Invention of Modern Politics | Brussels, Belgium | November 2023 🇧🇪
The REDIRECT project hosts a keynote lecture by Alfio Mastropaolo, full professor of Political Science at the University of Turin and member of the REDIRECT Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).
This keynote examines the historical and theoretical foundations of political representation and its central role in shaping modern politics. Drawing on Norbert Elias’s civilizing process, it traces how conflicts over state monopoly evolved into institutionalized practices such as elections, representation, and public debate.
📌 Key Themes Explored:
-
The emergence of representation through elite agreements, the rise of professional politicians, and the organizational role of political parties
-
Competing theories of representation: from elite-driven models to constructivist approaches
-
Representation as an active claim-making process rather than a passive mechanism
-
The distinction between loyalised and occasional forms of representation in contemporary politics
📍 Location: Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Belgium
📅 Date: November 2023
👤 Speaker: Alfio Mastropaolo, University of Turin – REDIRECT SAB
#PoliticalRepresentation #StateMonopoly #Elections #ProfessionalPoliticians #ConstructivistTheory