Paul Blokker
Biographic Data
| ID | 254190 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Paul Blokker |
| GIVEN NAMES | Paul |
| FAMILY NAME | Blokker |
| SIGNATURE | BLOKKER P |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Trento |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4352-6478 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 44 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 153 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 41 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 3 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Heterodox Protest, the Conservative Right, and the Law
This paper suggests that the conservative-populist backlash that liberal democracies are facing can be understood as part of heterodox protest movements which react to the liberal-legal hegemony, and, in alliance with populist movements and parties, move into the political centre. Here, I understand the illiberal, or better anti-liberal, reaction to liberal democracy, constitutionalism, and human rights as the result of a long-term mobilization o…
Fratelli d’Italia, Populism, and the Law
The paper sets out to analyse a number of core dimensions of legal and constitutional change initiated by the Meloni-government, focussing in particular on the role and positions of Fratelli d’Italia (FdI). The dimensions discussed are: first, constitutional reform and the concentration of political power; second, the restriction of civic space; third, the rule of law and judicial independence, and fourth, gender, and sexual and reproductive righ…
Muddying the waters. The opacity and appeal of the populist right
Using liberal–legal tools for illiberal gains: The European Court of Human Rights and legal mobilisation by conservative right-wing actors
The role of social movements and civil society actors in rights advancement has been frequently emphasised. The assumption is that legal mobilisation by civil society actors works towards the extension of rights and the emancipation and advancement of justice for distinctive (minority) groups in society. While traditionally, socio-legal attention on social movement and civil society actions around rights promotion was particularly prominent in th…
Populism, (un-)civil society and constituent power
Andrew Arato and Jean Cohen's Populism and Civil Society: The Challenge to Democratic Constitutionalism is probably the most important contribution to the academic debate on populism in recent years. I will discuss two of the book's core contribution to the delete: (un-)civil society and constitutionalism
Fear and uncertainty in late modern society
Remembering catastrophe through listening to the ‘Death fugue’
Sociology, social theory, and the populist phenomenon
An interview with Andrew Arato: Critically revisiting civil society, constituent power and constitutional democracy in populist times
This article features a collective interview with Andrew Arato. In critical theory, the work of Andrew Arato stands out not least for its in-depth and wide \nengagement with comparative empirical analysis.1 In his earlier work, in the late 1970s/early 1980s, Arato’s work focused on Western Marxism, the Frankfurt School and its continuation with Ju ̈rgen Habermas, but was also immediately relating such theoretical discussions to real life events, …
Insular or multi-level anti-Covid-19 strategies, national lenses, and the question of mobility
We are writing late summer 2021. We are more than a year into daily reports of mass loss of life due to the SARS-Covid 19 virus (across the globe), everyday experiences of lockdown and crackdown (p
Power as a cultural phenomenon
Structures of political power, as well as power differentials and social inequality, are reproduced by means of culture, symbols, ideologies, and imaginaries. The material bases of power, including
Constitutional politics and populist conservatism: The contrasting cases of Poland and Romania
The constitution-making processes and trajectories of the East- Central European democracies have been more challenging than \noften supposed. Consolidation allegedly rests on the ‘liberal consensus’ that emerged after communism. This consensus has been much less robust and widespread than often believed and has increasingly been confronted with illiberal counter-forces. The article contributes to a critical discussion of constitution-making and …
Cultural and political sociology for the new decade
The many flavours of politics
Politics is a slippery research object – for sociologists, at least. Sometimes we envy the relatively easier life of the political scientist: to observe elections, parliamentary deliberations, or p
Building democracy by legal means? The contestation of human rights and constitutionalism in East-Central Europe
The main argument in the article is that liberal democracy, human rights, and the idea of constitutionalism have remained contested in the transformation processes in East-Central Europe since 1989. The prevalent literature in the legal and political sciences have understood the changes in East-Central Europe since 1989 as a transitional process in which legality, the rule of law, constitutionalism, and human rights became increasingly taken for …
Thinking and writing in the time of pandemic Covid-19
When we presented the early 2020 issue of the European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology, no one comprehended what the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in Wuhan province, Chin
Multiple Populisms: Italy as Democracy’s Mirror
Multiple Populisms: Italy As Democracy's Mirror
Populist Governments and International Law: A Reply to Heike Krieger
The article by Heike Krieger, published in this issue, is an important contribution to the debate on populism and the law, not least because of its emphasis on a distinctive populist approach to the law. Krieger’s account lacks however in providing sufficient attention to three dimensions: popular sovereignty, constituent power and a shifting imaginary of the law. The relation of populism with popular sovereignty (and populism as a reaction to un…
Multiple Populisms: Italy As Democracy's Mirror
Productive Imagination: Its History, Meaning and Significance
Although the concept of productive imagination plays a fundamental role in Kant, German Idealism, Romanticism, Phenomenology and Hermeneutics, the meaning of this central concept remains largely undetermined. The significance of productive imagination is therefore all-too-often either inflated or underrated. The articles collected in this volume trace the development of productive imagination through the history of philosophy, identify the differ…
Constitutional Mobilization and Contestation in the Transnational Sphere
The debate on the constitutionalization of European and transnational law pays little attention to the role of civil society and social movements. While civil society involvement in private litigation increasingly receives attention, the critical, counter‐democratic role of transnational movements in a broader, public sense, is largely ignored. The significance of democratic claim making, public demands, and contestation, and the normative dimens…
Democracy
Democracy as a political regime – in broad terms understood as the rule of the many rather than the rule of the one or the few – has various meanings and is being used with a variety of adjectives. The predominant model in modern times – constitutional or liberal, representative democracy – is under strain, and novel forms, such as deliberative, post‐ and global democracy are increasingly objects of inquiry.
The Grande Riforma of the Italian constitution: Majoritarian versus participatory democracy
The economic crisis has triggered various constitutional reform processes in Europe, indicating a trend towards innovative forms of civic participation. In Italy, major constitutional reform attempts have been made since 2013. The article critically discusses the Italian case from the perspective of the meaningful participation of civil society and the citizenry in constitutional reform. First, it discusses civic participation in constitutional p…
The Imaginary Constitution of Constitutions
Social Imaginaries in Debate
Investiga tions into social imaginaries have burgeoned in recent years.From 'the capitalist imaginary' to the 'democratic imaginary', from the 'ecological imaginary' to 'the global imaginary' -and beyond -the social imaginaries fi eld has expanded across disciplines and beyond the academy.Th e recent debates on social imaginaries and potential new imaginaries reveal a recognisable fi eld and paradigm-in-the-making.We argue that Castoriadis, Ricoe…
Pragmatic sociology: Theoretical evolvement and empirical application
The introduction discusses the importance and development of pragmatic sociology and introduces the special issue
An interview with Laurent Thévenot: On engagement, critique, commonality, and power
Post-Communist Modernization, Transition Studies, and Diversity in Europe
The majority of studies of post-communism – habitually grouped under the heading of 'transitology' – understand the transition ultimately as a political and cultural convergence of the ex-communist societies with Western Europe. Even those critical approaches that regard the post-communist transition as a relatively unique phenomenon (as in the approaches of path dependency and neo-classical sociology) tend to conflate normative prescriptions wit…
Politics between justification and defiance
The article discusses the status and role of politics - in its various facets - in the pragmatic sociology of critique. We focus on a number of different dimensions of politics - politics-as-justification, politics-as-distribution, politics-as-constitution, and politics-as-defiance - that can said to be of importance for a pragmatic sociology of critique, but that have not all been taken up equally in this approach. We situate pragmatic sociology…
Luc Boltanski and democratic theory: Fragility, auto-nomos, and critique as democracy’s end
In Luc Boltanski's On Critique, various dimensions of democracy as a political regime and form of society are evident, but never explicitly conceptualized. There is, however, something to be gained by making the democratic dimension in Boltanski's work more explicit: the normative and political standpoints become clearer, but also the real-life possibilities for and significance of critique in contemporary times. The paper will first discuss the …
Constitutional politics and populist conservatism: The contrasting cases of Poland and Romania
The constitution-making processes and trajectories of the East- Central European democracies have been more challenging than \noften supposed. Consolidation allegedly rests on the ‘liberal consensus’ that emerged after communism. This consensus has been much less robust and widespread than often believed and has increasingly been confronted with illiberal counter-forces. The article contributes to a critical discussion of constitution-making and …
Multiple democracies: Political cultures and democratic variety in post-enlargement Europe
Democratization studies endorses a liberal view of democracy and political culture. Insufficient notice is taken of alternative models of democracy. I argue that a ‘multiple democracies’ approach that takes potential variety in democratic political cultures into account has three advantages over the conventional approach: it is sensitive to the historical and contextual nature of democratic regimes, it takes a dual imaginary into account, and it …
Fear and uncertainty in late modern society
Dissidence, Republicanism, and Democratic Change
The dramatic changes of 1989 have been widely understood as the confirmation of Western, liberal democracy as the ultimate model of the modern polity. The fact that 1989 was about a dual language that not only emphasized the rule of law and the implementation of rights, but also articulated ideas of democracy alternative to the mainstream liberal-constitutional idea, has not been at the forefront of interpretations of post-1989 trajectories. This…
Using liberal–legal tools for illiberal gains: The European Court of Human Rights and legal mobilisation by conservative right-wing actors
The role of social movements and civil society actors in rights advancement has been frequently emphasised. The assumption is that legal mobilisation by civil society actors works towards the extension of rights and the emancipation and advancement of justice for distinctive (minority) groups in society. While traditionally, socio-legal attention on social movement and civil society actions around rights promotion was particularly prominent in th…
Building democracy by legal means? The contestation of human rights and constitutionalism in East-Central Europe
The main argument in the article is that liberal democracy, human rights, and the idea of constitutionalism have remained contested in the transformation processes in East-Central Europe since 1989. The prevalent literature in the legal and political sciences have understood the changes in East-Central Europe since 1989 as a transitional process in which legality, the rule of law, constitutionalism, and human rights became increasingly taken for …
Constitutional Mobilization and Contestation in the Transnational Sphere
The debate on the constitutionalization of European and transnational law pays little attention to the role of civil society and social movements. While civil society involvement in private litigation increasingly receives attention, the critical, counter‐democratic role of transnational movements in a broader, public sense, is largely ignored. The significance of democratic claim making, public demands, and contestation, and the normative dimens…
The European crisis and a political critique of capitalism
The European crisis has provoked widespread critique of capitalist arrangements in most if not all countries in Europe. But to what extent do contemporary social protest and critique indicate a revival of critical capacity? The range of criticisms against the existing capitalist system raised by various social movements is seen as ineffectual and fragmented. Such observations are mirrored in sociological analyses of the critique of capitalism. A …
Sociology, social theory, and the populist phenomenon
Thinking and writing in the time of pandemic Covid-19
When we presented the early 2020 issue of the European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology, no one comprehended what the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in Wuhan province, Chin
Populist Governments and International Law: A Reply to Heike Krieger
The article by Heike Krieger, published in this issue, is an important contribution to the debate on populism and the law, not least because of its emphasis on a distinctive populist approach to the law. Krieger’s account lacks however in providing sufficient attention to three dimensions: popular sovereignty, constituent power and a shifting imaginary of the law. The relation of populism with popular sovereignty (and populism as a reaction to un…
The Grande Riforma of the Italian constitution: Majoritarian versus participatory democracy
The economic crisis has triggered various constitutional reform processes in Europe, indicating a trend towards innovative forms of civic participation. In Italy, major constitutional reform attempts have been made since 2013. The article critically discusses the Italian case from the perspective of the meaningful participation of civil society and the citizenry in constitutional reform. First, it discusses civic participation in constitutional p…
Democracy after 1989: Reexamining the History, Impact, and Legacy of Dissidence
The phenomenon of Central and East European dissidence is probably one of the more paradoxical chapters of European history. Starting from the humble beginnings of clandestine discussion circles and samizdat publications, dissident intellectuals managed to contribute to the dismantling of the Soviet empire and were thus propelled into international fame and sometimes even to high positions in their native countries’ political or cultural life. At…
Democracy Through the Lens of 1989: Liberal Triumph or Radical Turn
Europe 'United in Diversity: From a Central European Identity to Post-Nationality
Political and cultural diversity in contemporary Europe can be encountered on many levels and in a variety of forms. The significance of such political and cultural diversity is, however, differently understood, and conceptualized, and not always sufficiently appreciated in distinct perceptions of Europe. A variety of perceptions of Europe have played a role in the project of Eastern enlargement, even if a communitarian/unitarian vision of a sing…
Post-Communist Modernization, Transition Studies, and Diversity in Europe
The majority of studies of post-communism – habitually grouped under the heading of 'transitology' – understand the transition ultimately as a political and cultural convergence of the ex-communist societies with Western Europe. Even those critical approaches that regard the post-communist transition as a relatively unique phenomenon (as in the approaches of path dependency and neo-classical sociology) tend to conflate normative prescriptions wit…
Multiple democracies: Political cultures and democratic variety in post-enlargement Europe
Democratization studies endorses a liberal view of democracy and political culture. Insufficient notice is taken of alternative models of democracy. I argue that a ‘multiple democracies’ approach that takes potential variety in democratic political cultures into account has three advantages over the conventional approach: it is sensitive to the historical and contextual nature of democratic regimes, it takes a dual imaginary into account, and it …
Europe 'United in Diversity: From a Central European Identity to Post-Nationality
Political and cultural diversity in contemporary Europe can be encountered on many levels and in a variety of forms. The significance of such political and cultural diversity is, however, differently understood, and conceptualized, and not always sufficiently appreciated in distinct perceptions of Europe. A variety of perceptions of Europe have played a role in the project of Eastern enlargement, even if a communitarian/unitarian vision of a sing…
Regional Diversity and Local Development in the New Member States
This book analyzes regional and local models of development, in the context of existing socio-economic disparities and the impact of EU enlargement and European policy, offering a comparative and in-d
Nationalism, Social Theory and Durkheim – By James Dingley
Democracy Through the Lens of 1989: Liberal Triumph or Radical Turn
Democracy, and Social Theory: A Return to Normality
Dissidence, Republicanism, and Democratic Change
The dramatic changes of 1989 have been widely understood as the confirmation of Western, liberal democracy as the ultimate model of the modern polity. The fact that 1989 was about a dual language that not only emphasized the rule of law and the implementation of rights, but also articulated ideas of democracy alternative to the mainstream liberal-constitutional idea, has not been at the forefront of interpretations of post-1989 trajectories. This…
Democracy after 1989: Reexamining the History, Impact, and Legacy of Dissidence
The phenomenon of Central and East European dissidence is probably one of the more paradoxical chapters of European history. Starting from the humble beginnings of clandestine discussion circles and samizdat publications, dissident intellectuals managed to contribute to the dismantling of the Soviet empire and were thus propelled into international fame and sometimes even to high positions in their native countries’ political or cultural life. At…
An interview with Laurent Thévenot: On engagement, critique, commonality, and power
Politics between justification and defiance
The article discusses the status and role of politics - in its various facets - in the pragmatic sociology of critique. We focus on a number of different dimensions of politics - politics-as-justification, politics-as-distribution, politics-as-constitution, and politics-as-defiance - that can said to be of importance for a pragmatic sociology of critique, but that have not all been taken up equally in this approach. We situate pragmatic sociology…
Pragmatic sociology: Theoretical evolvement and empirical application
The introduction discusses the importance and development of pragmatic sociology and introduces the special issue
Constitutions and Democracy in Post-National Times: A Political-Sociological Approach
The modern idea of the constitution is closely tied up with the political form of the nation-state, but the post-national age assists various challenges to this idea, not least due to the emergence of constitutional or quasi-constitutional regimes both beyond and below the nation-state. While a good, and steadily growing, amount of research probes the constitutional dimensions on the international and supranational levels, the domestic dimensions…
New Democracies in Crisis?: A Comparative Constitutional Study of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia
This book considers whether the potential of democracy following the end of the Cold War was diminished by technocratic, judicial control of politics in the new democracies of Central and Eastern Europe. It explores the complexities and drawbacks of modern constitutionalism by offering a comprehensive theoretical and comparative-empirical assessment of the status and role of constitutionalism in five new EU Member States. The democratization of c…
New Democracies in Crisis: A Comparative Constitutional Study of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia
The European crisis and a political critique of capitalism
The European crisis has provoked widespread critique of capitalist arrangements in most if not all countries in Europe. But to what extent do contemporary social protest and critique indicate a revival of critical capacity? The range of criticisms against the existing capitalist system raised by various social movements is seen as ineffectual and fragmented. Such observations are mirrored in sociological analyses of the critique of capitalism. A …
Luc Boltanski and democratic theory: Fragility, auto-nomos, and critique as democracy’s end
In Luc Boltanski's On Critique, various dimensions of democracy as a political regime and form of society are evident, but never explicitly conceptualized. There is, however, something to be gained by making the democratic dimension in Boltanski's work more explicit: the normative and political standpoints become clearer, but also the real-life possibilities for and significance of critique in contemporary times. The paper will first discuss the …
German Europe; The crisis of the European Union: A response
German Europe; The crisis of the European Union: a response." European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology, 2(2), pp. 179–183
Social Imaginaries in Debate
Investiga tions into social imaginaries have burgeoned in recent years.From 'the capitalist imaginary' to the 'democratic imaginary', from the 'ecological imaginary' to 'the global imaginary' -and beyond -the social imaginaries fi eld has expanded across disciplines and beyond the academy.Th e recent debates on social imaginaries and potential new imaginaries reveal a recognisable fi eld and paradigm-in-the-making.We argue that Castoriadis, Ricoe…
Democracy
Democracy as a political regime – in broad terms understood as the rule of the many rather than the rule of the one or the few – has various meanings and is being used with a variety of adjectives. The predominant model in modern times – constitutional or liberal, representative democracy – is under strain, and novel forms, such as deliberative, post‐ and global democracy are increasingly objects of inquiry.
The Grande Riforma of the Italian constitution: Majoritarian versus participatory democracy
The economic crisis has triggered various constitutional reform processes in Europe, indicating a trend towards innovative forms of civic participation. In Italy, major constitutional reform attempts have been made since 2013. The article critically discusses the Italian case from the perspective of the meaningful participation of civil society and the citizenry in constitutional reform. First, it discusses civic participation in constitutional p…
The Imaginary Constitution of Constitutions
Productive Imagination: Its History, Meaning and Significance
Although the concept of productive imagination plays a fundamental role in Kant, German Idealism, Romanticism, Phenomenology and Hermeneutics, the meaning of this central concept remains largely undetermined. The significance of productive imagination is therefore all-too-often either inflated or underrated. The articles collected in this volume trace the development of productive imagination through the history of philosophy, identify the differ…
Constitutional Mobilization and Contestation in the Transnational Sphere
The debate on the constitutionalization of European and transnational law pays little attention to the role of civil society and social movements. While civil society involvement in private litigation increasingly receives attention, the critical, counter‐democratic role of transnational movements in a broader, public sense, is largely ignored. The significance of democratic claim making, public demands, and contestation, and the normative dimens…
Multiple Populisms: Italy as Democracy’s Mirror
Political science (32 works) · Sociology (31 works) · Law (28 works) · Politics (27 works) · Democracy (18 works) · Law (17 works) · Political economy (12 works) · Epistemology (11 works) · Law and economics (11 works) · Philosophy (11 works)