This lecture series explores the tensions running through our contemporary democracies: the crisis of representation, the rise of post-truth, and the deepening of social divides. Drawing on concrete situations — from the United States to the Yellow Vests movement, including practices of participatory democracy — the aim is to question the limits of the current model and collectively imagine new forms of engagement, listening, and deliberation. A series designed to open up new possibilities and, perhaps, to reinvent the democratic promise.
Lecture Schedule
- Tuesday, October 14, 2025
- Tuesday, November 4, 2025
- Tuesday, December 9, 2025
- Tuesday, January 13, 2026
- Tuesday, February 10, 2026
- Tuesday, March 10, 2026
- Tuesday, April 28, 2026
- Tuesday, May 12, 2026
- Tuesday, June 9, 2026
Tuesday 14 October 2025 - How to Read the “Cahiers de Doléances” of 2018–2019?
With Alix Levain
The cahiers de doléances are inseparable from the Yellow Vests movement of 2018. Their symbolic weight both preceded and surpassed the movement itself, crystallizing the hope for an authentic popular voice. Unsurprisingly, they have attracted considerable interest—from grassroots movements, political organizations, and the academic world alike. How should we understand these grievances within public debate, and the conditions under which citizens expressed their concerns during this period, including those related to ecological questions? Drawing on a large-scale research project coordinated by the CNRS since 2018, Alix Levain shows how this rich material can illuminate the tensions running through French society today.
Alix Levain is an anthropologist and research fellow at the CNRS. Her research focuses on lived experiences in the context of environmental change, the politics of knowledge, and the affects associated with the degradation of coastal ecosystems. She has been working with the Yellow Vests in Finistère since 2019 and coordinates the research strand devoted to the relationship with ecology and environmental issues within the “ANR GILETS JAUNES” project*.
*The ANR GILETS JAUNES project is a unique collaborative research initiative, bringing together 50 people at the heart of an internationally significant research network.
Tuesday 4 November 2025 - The Death of Democracies: From Coup d’État to Voluntary Servitude?
With Florent Guénard
Do democracies die only when they are toppled by hostile armed forces? History abounds with coups and putsches of every kind, some more successful than others. Yet these events should not blind us to another reality: democracies also collapse when the passion for freedom wanes, and when, perhaps against our own will, we come to desire servitude.
Florent Guénard is a professor of political philosophy at the University Paris Est Créteil and editor-in-chief of La Vie des Idées. He is the author of La Démocratie universelle. Philosophie d’un modèle politique (Seuil, 2016) and La Passion de l’égalité (Seuil, 2022).
Photo © Hélène Robert
Tuesday 2 December 2025 - Participatory Democracy, Really?
With Loïc Blondiaux and Manon Loisel
Now more than ever, it is crucial to deliberate on the possible and desirable actions of public authorities. Recent democratic history reveals a wide variety of approaches: conventions, conferences, and randomly selected councils have explored new avenues for participatory mechanisms that have learned from so-called “token” forms of participation. But what impact have these initiatives had on local democracy, and what drives the transformation of political action at a time marked by confusion, distrust, and relativism?
Through an interactive participatory format, the audience will be invited to reflect, debate, and take a stance—or choose not to—on the challenges of participatory democracy.
Moderation : Laurent Devisme
Manon Loisel is a consultant-researcher in local public policies at the agency Partie Prenante. She teaches at Sciences Po Paris and is co-author, with Nicolas Rio, of Pour en finir avec la démocratie participative (Textuels, 2024) and Lettres aux 500 000 (futurs) élus locaux.
Loïc Blondiaux is a professor of political science at the University Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne and a researcher at the European Center for Sociology and Political Science (CESSP) (CNRS/Paris I/EHESS). His research focuses on opinion polls, the history of social sciences, participatory democracy, and democratic innovations. He is the editor of the journal Participations and has chaired the scientific council of the GIS “Democracy and Participation” since 2009. He is notably the author of La démocratie des émotions, Presses de Sciences Po, 2018 (in collaboration), Le référendum d’initiative citoyenne délibératif, Note of the Terra Nova Foundation, 2019 (with Bernard Manin), Le tournant délibératif. Bilan et perspectives, Presses de Sciences Po, 2021 (with Jean-Michel Fourniau, Dominique Bourg, Marie-Anne Cohendet), and La démocratie écologique. Une pensée indisciplinée, Hermann, 2022.
