Call for Abstracts: SOS4Democracy Conference at University of Ljubljana, Slovenia [Offline, 16-18 June 2027; No Fee; Abstracts by 15 February 2027]

The Social Sciences for Democracy project (SOS4democracy) invites abstracts for its 4th annual conference, “Democracy in Crisis: Possibilities for Resistance and Social Transformation”. The conference will be held at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia, from 16 to 18 June 2027, over three full days.

It is an entirely in-person meeting. There is no option for virtual attendance or presentation.

Contemporary liberal democracies are increasingly theorised as being in a state of crisis. The call points to the rise of populist politics, centralization of power in the executive branch, criminalisation of dissent, expanding practices of securitisation and surveillance, and continued impunity for violations of international law. At the same time, existing legal frameworks continue to be used by social movements and other actors to challenge authoritarian practices, defend fundamental rights and resist the normalisation of violence.

The conference seeks to explore contemporary forms of authoritarian and illiberal practices, and the possibilities for resistance, solidarity and the building of movements for social transformation. Academic and non-academic contributions are invited from diverse disciplines and fields of practice, through empirical, theoretical and historical perspectives.

• Illiberal systems and the centralisation of power
• The rise of populist politics
• The limits of international law in times of remilitarization
• Technology and the reshaping of democratic environments
• Repression, securitization, and criminalization of dissent
• Democratic resistance and civil society mobilization

The call describes each of these in turn: executive centralisation and weakened oversight; populist parties and their influence on institutions; the limits of the international legal order and the effects of militarization; surveillance, AI and emerging technologies in governance; policing, anti-terrorism measures and pressure on universities, academic freedom, student activism and journalistic freedom; and civil society monitoring, strategic litigation, public advocacy and investigative research.

The conference welcomes researchers from the social sciences and humanities, practitioners, activists, students and others engaged in research and advocacy on the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms in contemporary democracies.

• An abstract of a maximum of 300 words, stating the objectives of the paper, methodology and results.
• A short biography of the author(s), maximum 100 words.
• Abstracts must relate to the conference’s general themes.
• All abstracts must be in English.

Send the abstract and short biography by 15 February 2027 to sos4democracy@inst-krim.si. Use “Call for papers – SOS4democracy conference” as the subject line of the email.

All submissions will be peer-reviewed, on a rolling basis, with notifications sent out regularly. Applicants will be notified about the acceptance of abstracts by 31 March 2027 at the latest. Anyone who has not received a notification by then should contact sos4democracy@inst-krim.si as soon as possible. The final programme of the conference will be available by 31 May 2027.

There will be no registration fee for participating at the conference. The organizers cannot provide any funding for travel and accommodation.

The scientific committee includes members from the Institute of Criminology at the Faculty of Law, Slovenia, Roma Tre University (Italy), the University of Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium), Özyeğin University and Boğaziçi University (Türkiye), and civil society organisations. The organizing committee is Tina Anžič, Neža Cerkovnik Markelj and Simona Dekalan of the Institute of Criminology at the Faculty of Law, Slovenia.

Questions about the conference can be sent to sos4democracy@inst-krim.si.