Post-Truth Politics: Impacts on the Public Sphere and the Quality of Public Deliberation

This workshop forms the first event of the new Jean Monnet Network “Post-Truth Politics and the (De-)Legitimation of European Integration”. The workshop firstly explores conceptual questions around post-truth politics.

A plethora of terminology is in circulation, ranging from post-truth, disinformation, to fake news and ‘political bullshit’. How can these different concepts be defined and applied to the (de-)legitimation of European integration? These conceptual questions are key to identifying the consequences of post-truth politics on public deliberation and EU legitimacy. What is often overlooked in discussion of post-truth politics is the often gendered and racialized dynamics shaping public debates about the EU.

Post-truth or “political bullshit” also targets the marginalisation and exclusion of especially women and people of colour (O’Dwyer, 2018). The discussion of the conceptual challenges of post-truth will then lead into a discussion of post-truth politics during Brexit, exploring in particular the exclusionary dynamics of the EU debate in the UK that have resulted in some cases in violent and abusive discourse directed disproportionately at women and people of colour.

The final programme will follow shortly. The workshop is free to attend but for catering purposes please register for the event.