Democracy (2017-8)

Our theme for the academic year 2017-8 was 'Democracy'

Democracy has become the dominant political system in the twenty-first century. Not only does the majority of the world's population live under democratic rule, many theorists and commentators consider democracy to be the most effective form of government for large and complex societies.

But is this necessarily the case? And what are the origins of democracy in Europe, North America and beyond? At a time when democracy is threatened by far-right movements and authoritarian leaders, there is an urgent need for us to understand where democracy came from and what it means to different people.

This year's theme explored democracy from many different angles, including:

• The ideological and philosophical origins of democracy
• The rise and fall of democratic political systems
• Leadership and power in modern democracies
• The importance of democracy for an understanding of 'modernity' and the modern world
• The relationship between democracy and (neo-)liberalism
• The challenges of 'exporting' democracy and democratic 'values' in the modern age
• Democracy, pluralism and minorities

Events and Activities

You can read about events and activities held during the year in the following blog posts:

Summary and podcasts from our inaugural roundtable (20 September 2017)

Writing ‘the Troubles’ (22 September 2017)

Rupture, Repression, Repetition? A conference on the Algerian War at the University of Leeds (25 September 2017)

Vincent Tiberj discusses generational change in politics (29 September 2017)

Malte Rolf explores postwar Soviet visions of modernity (5 October 2017)

Rise and fall of the postcard: a history of visual culture in modern tourism (15 October 2017)

Lorena de Vita on the 1952 reparations agreement between Germany and Israel (18 October 2017)

Esra Özyürek on Muslims, the Nazi past and the German national character (1 November 2017)

Jake Blanc on rural democracy in 1980s Brazil (15 November 2017)

Seminar double-bill on the politics and geography of South Asia (29 November 2017)

Students tackle the Catalan crisis in the first CSMCH Discussion Group (22 January 2018)

Peter Jackson explores Franco-British relations after World War One (3 February 2018)

CSMCH-IASH colloquium on the Indian left (5 February 2018)

Students explore Israeli and Palestinian collective memories (1 March 2018)

Czechoslovak New Wave film screening series (8 March 2018)

Sonja Levsen on authority and democracy in postwar Western Europe (9 March 2018)

Malcolm Petrie on Scottish politics and the European question (24 March 2018)

Rana Mitter on postwar reconstruction in China (4 April 2018)

Book Launch: Felix Boecking, 'No Great Wall: Trade, Tariffs, and Nationalism in Republican China, 1927-1945' (9 April 2018)

CSMCH Discussion Group screens Goodbye Lenin (10 April 2018)

Intimate Politics: Fertility Control in a Global Historical Perspective (11 June 2018)