Social contract approaches seek to explain the origins of political obligations but are also recognized as tools of social change. In the face of classic social contract philosophers, who maintained that normative legitimacy may be grounded in hypothetical agreement, recent accusations of exclusivity and anthropocentrism have challenged contract theories’ relevance. And yet, in spite of these challenges, contract theories have experienced a resurgence. This conference seeks to engage with this second wave of theories and reflect on the challenges of inclusivity and democratic government within contract theory from an interdisciplinary perspective.

International Conference

Center for Critical Democracy Studies, The American University of Paris

December 18-19, 2024

Presentation

Social contract approaches seek to explain the origins of political obligations but are also recognized as tools of social change. Social contract theory “provides a test for distinguishing what is fair from what is oppressive, for distinguishing choice from subordination, and for exposing adaptive/deformed preferences […] and also as a practical tool to spur individual and social action” (Walsh). In the face of classic social contract philosophers, who maintained that normative legitimacy may be grounded in hypothetical agreement, recent accusations of exclusivity and anthropocentrism have challenged contract theories’ relevance. And yet, in spite of these challenges, contract theories have experienced a resurgence.This conference seeks to engage with this second wave of theories and reflect on the challenges of inclusivity and democratic government within contract theory from an interdisciplinary perspective. How should contract theory be amended in the context of contemporary transformations of democracy? How can we develop alternative theories considering the need for gradual transformation to consider contestation? How can social contracts be thought of as resilient?

The conference languages are English and French.

Keynote Speakers

Myriam Hunter-Henin, Professor of Comparative Law and Law & Religion, UCL Faculty of Laws

Albert Weale, Professor of Political Theory and Public Policy, UCL Department of Political Science

Guest registration

https://forms.gle/Fk6Tav8PbWrh9UNb7

Schedule

Wednesday, December 18

9h00-9h30 - Coffee

9h15-9h30 - Welcome remarks

09h30-11h00 - Parallel Sessions 1 & 2

• Session 1. Social Contracts Revisited
• Session 2. Post-colonial Perspectives on the Social Contract

11h00-11h15 - Break

11h15-12h45 - Parallel Sessions 3 & 4

• Session 3. Social Contract in Non-ideal Conditions
• Session 4. Alternative Social Contracts

12h45-14h00 - Lunch

14h00-15h30 - Parallel Sessions 5 & 6

• Session 5. Les fondements du contrat social (in French)
• Session 6. Social Contract in Crisis

15h30-16h30 - Coffee & discussion break

16h30-17h30 – Keynote.

• Albert Weale UCL | Political Contracts and Democratic Values: What Can Constitution Making Tell Us?

17h30-19h00 - Reception at AUP

Thursday, December 19

9h00-9h30 - Coffee

9h30-11h00 - Parallel Sessions 7 & 8

• Session 7. Critiques des théories traditionnelles du Contrat Social (in French)
• Session 8. Capitalism, Public Reason and the Social Contract

11h00-11h15 - Break

11h15-12h45 - Keynote

• Myriam Hunter-Henin UCL | The Regulation of Religious Interests: A Test for the Resilience of Social Contract Theory

12h45-14h00 - Lunch

14h00-15h30 - Parallel Sessions 9 & 10

• Session 9. Constitutional Norms and The Social Contract
• Session 10. Capitalism, Democracy, and the Social Contract

15h30-15h45 - Break

15h45-17h30 - Session 11. Extending the Social Contract

17h30-17h45 - Break

17h45-18h30 - Concluding round table discussion:

• Anna Björk Demos Helsinki
• Nathanaël Colin-Jaeger AUP
• Emilia Palonen University of Helsinki
• Stephen Sawyer AUP
• Roman Zinigrad AUP

Session details

Session 1. Social contracts revisited

Chair | Annabelle Lever SciencesPo

• Zachary Swirski McMaster University | Hegel’s Rabble and Nomadic Becomings
• Fabien Lechevalier Université Paris-Saclay | Crafting the Future: A New Social Contract for the Digital Age
• Olivia Custer AUP | Consent to the Social Contract in the Wake of #metoo

Session 2. Post-colonial perspectives on the social contract

Chair | Delphine Dogot Université Catholique de Lille

• Alnusf Marzouq Kuwait University | The Global Aspect in the Racial Critique of Social Contract Theory
• Vanda Amaro Dias & Cristiano Gianolla University of Coimbra | The Articulation of Mythologies Through the Social Contract in Empires, Nation-States and Europe: Challenges to Democratisation in Modern Liberal Polities
• Andrew Stewart Chapman University | Counterstories and the Social Contract

Session 3. Social contract in non-ideal conditions

Chair | Emilia Palonen, University of Helsinki

• Daniel Smilov Sofia University | The Concept of Social Contract in the Theories of European Integration
• Ana Matan University of Zagreb | Realist Utopia for a Compound Democratic Community of States
• Théophile Pénigaud Yale University | Engaging with the Non-ideal Behind the Veil of Ignorance

Session 4. Alternative social contracts

Chair | Zach Freig UC Berkeley

• David Peters AUP | James Wilson’s Revolutionary Critique of and Alternative to Contract Theory
• Kevin Leportier Université de Caen Normandie | Freedom, Crises, and Liberal Social Contracts
• Clémence Pellissier Trinity College Dublin | The Social Contract versus Autonomy? A Study on Arendt’s Critique of Rousseau’s Theory

Session 5. Les fondements du contrat social (in french)

Chair | Mona El Khoury AUP

• Clara Lucas Centre Émile Durkheim, ScPo Bordeaux | Le Contrat social jaune : Rousseau et les Gilets jaunes
• Simone Leotta LIER-FYT/EHESS | Du nouveau sous l’ancien ? Le statut de la « religion civile » dans le Contrat social
• Maude Vidal EHESS | Contrat social et norme fondamentale, Kelsen lecteur de Vaihinger

Session 6. Social contract in crisis

Chair | Stephen Sawyer AUP

• Emilia Palonen University of Helsinki | Hegemony, Radical Democracy and the Social Contract
• Pınar Uyan Semerci & Emre Erdoğan Bilgi University | Rethinking “Social Contract” in the Times of Polycrisis
• Aviezer Tucker University of Ostrava | Panarchy: Non-territorial Contractarianism

Session 7. Critiques des théories traditionnelles du contrat social (in french)

Chair | Zona Zarić AUP

• Léa Antonicelli SciencesPo | Une critique féministe intersectionnelle de l’utilité publique pour refonder un contrat social inclusif
• Djamel Chikh UMMTO  | Le contrat social, une ambition universaliste et des écueils historicistes
• Valentin Avenard Université de Nantes | L’État et les anarchistes : un contrat social impossible

Session 8. Capitalism, public reason and the social contract

Chair | Leora Dahan Katz Hebrew U

• Tonci Kursar University of Zagreb | How to Restore Democratic Capitalism as a Social Contract? Controversies of Streeck’s Understanding of ‘Interregnum’
• Ruzha Smilova University of Sofia and Centre for Liberal Strategies | Resilience, Social Contract and Democracy: Conceptual and Substantive Dilemmas
• Cyril Hédoin Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne | Living in Disagreement: Public Reason and Jurisdictional Rights

Session 9. Constitutional norms and the social contract

Chair | Roman Zinigrad AUP

• Mohsin Bhat QMUL School of Law | Adjudicating Belonging: Citizenship and the Identity of the Constitutional Compact
• Vandana Singh USLLS | Jurisprudential Foundation of Rule of Law through Prism of Social Contract Theory
• Tamar Hostovsky Brandes Ono Academic College | Is solidarity necessary for democracy?

Session 10. Capitalism, democracy, and the social contract

Chair | Mirjam Dageförde AUP

• Peter Hägel AUP | Customizing Social Contracts for Consumer Society?
• Anja Thomas Hochschule Fulda/University of Lille/EUI | A Question of the Underlying Social Contract? About the Differentiated Impact of Populism on Policy-Making in Proportional and in Majoritarian Democracies
• Elijah Okpanachi Federal University of Lafia, Nigeria | Democracy in the 21st Century: Current Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities for Democratic Governance

Session 11. Extending the social contract

Chair | Nathanaël Colin-Jaeger AUP

• Nefeli Lefkopoulou Sciences Po | Renewing the Social Contract Through City Empowerment
• Xhejn Xhindi Université libre de Bruxelles | Influences of Social Contract Theory in Bruno Latour: From Early Works to Politics of Nature
• Oliver Feltham AUP | Locke’s state of nature as colonial practice: social contract and ecology