You are hereby cordially invited to attend the PhD defence of Jamie van der Klaauw. The public defence will begin exactly at 13.00. The doors will be closed once the public defence starts, latecomers may be able to watch on the screen outside. There is no possibility of entrance during the first part of the ceremony. Due to the solemn nature of the ceremony, children under the age of 6 are not allowed during the first part of the ceremony.
There will be drinks afterwards, please let us know if you’ll be attending. Location and time of the drinks will be announced later. Please, don’t forget to register.
What: PhD Defence Jamie van der Klaauw: In the Name of the People, Democracy, Government and Representation
When: 21st November 2024, 13:00 – 14:30
Where: Senaatszaal, Erasmus Building (A)
More information: The session will be in English.
Abstract
“In my PhD I develop and rethink the concept of political representation within a democratic context.
As the ultimate measure of any democracy is the people, political representation in a democracy is therefore about the legitimation of rule through a general symbolic operation: ‘in the name of’. We accept procedures, policies, government and rule, if we can understand how these elements are set up with our collective and individuated wellbeing in mind.
However, when contemporary democracies are criticized, it is mostly political representation that is at fault, becoming almost a ‘dirty word’. We often think democracy needs to be saved from representation. Either representation distorts the true will of the people or representation cannot be democratic at all, because it is an ‘elective aristocracy’.
My wager is that we shouldn’t dismiss representation as a democratic political mode. Of course, political representation has practical tensions or paradoxes. But representation is vital for a modern political system that must be grounded in the people – as per democracy – especially when it isn’t clear who belongs to what people at all.
I argue that political representation is the way in which, we, the people, form ourselves, by depicting and speaking ourselves into existence as a political subject. To put it short: no representation, no democracy. Or even more so: no politics.”