Trinity Research in Social Sciences, in partnership with its member schools and disciplines, has launched a weekly series "COVID-19 and a Changing Society". These will feature insights from across the social sciences from Trinity academics and international Social Scientists.
This is the fifth event in the series and is co-hosted with the Department of Political Science.
In Covid-19 and Challenges to Democracy, we will discuss the political implications of the Covid-19 pandemic given that it comes at a time of rising xenophobia and intolerance, thriving populist parties, decreased citizen confidence in democratic institutions, and democratic backsliding in some countries. What additional challenges to democracy has the Covid-19 outbreak brought? Are there any opportunities that may arise in terms of addressing some of these challenges?
The event will be chaired by Daphne Halikiopoulou who has published extensively in the fields of radical nationalism, the politics of exclusion, and the cultural and economic determinants of far right party support. Gizem Arikan will talk about how perceived threats influence public opinion towards strong leadership, prejudice and intolerance. Zoltan Fazekas (in collaboration with Jens Olav) will present results from a recent survey concerning the effects of the partial school opening in Denmark on families’ health, emotional well-being, government support, and economic situation. Constantine Boussalis will discuss how the news media have been covering the Covid-19 crisis and how politics plays a role in the coverage and its implications for misinformation and conspiracy theorizing. Roman Gabriel Olar will discuss the implications of the pandemic for authoritarian governance and human rights.
