On Saturday 19th of August and Sunday 20th of August Centre for Research on Discretion and Paternalism (DIPA) hosted the legitimacy challenges workshop. This workshop is connected to the Legitimacy Challenges project, which aims to reveal conditions and mechanisms for sustaining legitimacy in societies in which there is a backlash on social and political right developments. The project will be the most comprehensive cross-country study ever undertaken on this topic, and it is pioneering in its empirical and critical ambition to understand the rationale behind what seem to be a strong citizen driven mobilization against established institutions in democratic welfare states. The legitimacy Challenges workshop is hosted once per semester.
19th of August – highlights
The day started with a welcome and introduction by Professor Marit Skivenes (Head of DIPA). The day’s first session consisted of a presentation of two different projects that were running parallel workshops, namely, PluriLand, Sexual Violence and Truth Commissions and Legitimacy Challenges. The formerproject was presented by Professor Rachel Sieder whereas the latter project was presented by Professor Marit Skivenes. The short presentations also touched upon the two projects’ progress and plans for the remaining period. After a short break, Postdoctoral fellow Hege Helland (DIPA) and Professor Marit Skivenes held a short talk on the purpose and aim of the Legitimacy Challenges workshop, which was followed by a presentation BY Professor Marit Skivenes on descriptive findings from a four-country survey. Postdoctoral fellow Hege Helland continued with a presentation from in-progress database on EctHR judgements. After lunch, Professor Tarja Pösö (Tampere University, Finland), and PhD fellow Mathea Loen (DIPA), lead a discussion and brainstorming on research approach, ideas and design for the Legitimacy Challenges project.
20th of August – highlights
The day kicked off with paper presentations and discussions. First out was researcher Victor Cepoi (DIPA) who presented his paper titled “Understanding the perceptions of Children`s Rights Protection through Civic Morality in a four-country comparative study”. Professor Tarja Pösö (Tampere University, Finland) was the commentator for his paper. Associate Professor Asgeir Falch-Eriksen (OsloMet) followed, by presenting his paper titled “Bad Amici and the Margin of Appreciation”, which was commented by researcher Victor Cepoi. After a short break, the group had a recap of the day before and continued discussions and brainstorming on research approach, ideas and design as well as concluded on the next initiatives.
All in all, the Legitimacy Challenges workshop was a success thanks to the dedication and participation of everyone that attended. Through discussions and idea exchanges surrounding the research proposal on Legitimacy Challenges, the workshop achieved its main goal which was to drive the project forward and map out a strategy for the next steps to take.