Emancipatory Rural Politics Initiative (ERPI) 2018 Conference Programme "Authoritarian Populism and the Rural World"

10 March 2018

The Emancipatory Rural Politics Initiative (ERPI) focuses on understanding the rise of 'authoritarian populism' in rural settings across the world, as well as the forms of resistance occurring and the alternatives being built. New exclusionary politics are generating deepening inequalities, jobless 'growth', climate chaos, and social division. The ERPI is focused on the social and political processes in rural spaces that are generating alternatives to regressive, authoritarian politics. We aim to provoke debate and action among scholars, activists, practitioners and policymakers from across the world who are concerned about the current situation, and hopeful about alternatives.

To debate these themes, we are organizing an international conference on the theme of 'Authoritarian Populism and the Rural World' on 17-18 March 2018 at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague, Netherlands. Confirmed plenary speakers include: Achin Vanaik, Becky Bond, Burak Gurel, Dzodzi Tsikata, Eduardo Gudynas, Hilary Wainwright, John Gaventa, Karin Nansen, Khin Zaw Win, Natalia Mamanova, Raj Patel, and Zack Exley. Conference participants will join a series of plenary lectures and working group discussions focusing on the key sub-themes of the conference:

The current conjuncture: rural roots and consequences.
Resisting, organising and mobilising for an emancipatory rural politics.
Alternatives: understanding, supporting, creating, deepening and scaling.

In preparation for the conference, we have compiled a number of papers and essays submitted by researchers and scholars across the globe. Please find them on the following pages: