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Visceral Attachments: Secessionism, Populism, and the Excess of Democracy

Featured Speaker: Elena Delgado University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Thursday November 9, 2017
McKenna 103
4:00 p.m.

Professor Delgado’s research focuses on the cultural construction of Spanish national identity in the democratic period, with particular emphasis on the role of emotions in the public sphere. Her latest monograph, La nación singular. Las fantasías de la normalidad democrática española (1996-2011) (Siglo XXI Editores, 2014), was widely acclaimed and was a finalist for the 2015 National (Spanish) Literary Award (Essay). Her talk takes the emotional climate surrounding pro-independence referenda in Scotland (2014) and Catalonia (2014, 2017) as a point of departure in order to analyze their connection with the (re)appearance of populist movements in Spain and elsewhere. It argues that those perceived “excessive moments” are not failures of democracy, but rather the manifestation of the irresolvable paradoxes at the heart of it.

The lecture will be in English and is free and open to the public. Reception to follow.

This event is sponsored by: The Graduate Committee on the Arts and Humanities, The Center for Western Civilization, Thought & Policy, The Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Results

The talk was very well attended (52 people, including undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty members). After the talk, a lively discussion ensued for over 30 minutes. Taking the emotional climate surrounding pro-independence referenda in Scotland (2014) and Catalonia (2014, 2017) as a point of departure, her talk analyzed their connection with the (re)appearance of populist movements in Spain and elsewhere. It argued that those perceived “excessive moments” were not failures of democracy, but rather the manifestation of the irresolvable paradoxes at the heart of it.

In sum, the CWCTP Faculty Grant enabled Prof. Delgado’s visit to be a success for a variety of constituencies on campus. And as can be seen in an email from Prof. Delgado sent on 11/13/2017, she was very pleased with her visit to Boulder: “I want to thank you sincerely for organizing my visit to your beautiful campus, and offering me the opportunity to share my work with all of you. I particularly appreciated the Q&A period after my lecture, and the seminar with your talented graduate students: I came away from both with new ideas and questions, which is, after all, one of the most rewarding aspects of our profession.” 

 The Center for Western Civilization, Thought and Policy funds research and educational initiatives that contribute to critical reflection on the development of Western civilization. All ���������� Boulder faculty and students are eligible to apply. If you are interested in applying for a CWCTP faculty grant, deadlines are rolling throughout the year.