time and place
Thursday 29 August 2024, 13:00–15:20
SNS, Jakobsbergsgatan 18, Stockholm. A light lunch will be served ahead of the conference.
We welcome you to a conference on the theme of polarization with the Minister for Public Administration and renowned international political scientists. Katherine Cramer will discuss the dynamics of the American political landscape and Gerry Stoker will provide insights on European and British data on the geography of trust. New research findings from Sweden will also be showcased.
Authoritarian-oriented parties and anti-establishment movements have in recent decades achieved significant successes worldwide. In many cases, they have garnered their strongest support outside metropolitan areas. Two examples are Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the Brexit side’s win in the UK referendum. Researchers talk about the “resurgence of the neglected areas”: residents in regions severely impacted by an economic shift have increasingly used their ballots to express dissatisfaction with the so-called elite in the cities. Tensions are rising in several of today’s crucial political issues, and the differences of views between urban and rural areas are often substantial. Citizens’ view on migration, infrastructure development, welfare, the labor market, and climate priorities are diverging more and more, as shown in several elections taking place this year.
At the conference, new research on recent developments in Sweden will be presented and compared. What are the key distinctions? What are the concrete consequences of polarization? And how does Sweden differ from an international perspective?
The conference is organized by the Center for Local Government Studies and SNS. The discussion will be held in English.
Participants
Terese Bengard, Director of Operations at Hela Sverige ska leva/Rural Sweden.
Katherine Cramer, Professor in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Director of the Morgridge Center for Public Service. She has authored several books on political attitudes in rural America that have shaped social identities and political discontent with the elite in the U.S.
Erik Slottner (KD), Minister for Civil Affairs
Gerry Stoker, Professor of Political Science at the University of Southampton, researching local politics and civic engagement. He has been an advisor to the British government, the EU council of Ministers, and an author of over 20 books on local politics and democracy in Britain and Europe.
Richard Öhrvall, Ph.D. in Political Science at Linköping University, focusing on social trust, voter turnout, and political behavior.
The seminar will be moderated by Gissur Ó Erlingsson, Professor at Linköping University and Scientific Leader of the Center for Local Government Studies. In 2022, he chaired the SNS Democracy Council Report: Local Democracy at a Crossroads.
Registration and Fee
The meeting is free of charge and open to the public. There is an option to attend the meeting digitally. Please register via the registration buttons above.
In case of cancellation after August 28, or in case of no-show, SEK 395 excluding VAT will be charged if you have registered that you are participating on site. This applies even when the seminar is free of charge.
Welcome!