FPSA Annual Conference 2024

The Annual Conference of the Finnish Political Science Association will be held at the University of Turku on 15–17 May 2024. The theme of the conference is Democracy, knowledge and expertise.

The solution of modern and complex societal problems requires the latest and most up-to-date knowledge and expertise. Knowledge production, however, differs considerably from what we expect from democratic processes or democratic systems. Employing expertise and expert knowledge in political decision-making invokes a wide range of questions which are worth examining. For example, expertise and research-based information can be difficult to understand, hierarchical and non-inclusive, attributes that hardly correspond with the ideals of democratic decision-making. This raises the question of how democratic norms such as equality and inclusion are compatible with the utilization of expert knowledge. How can research-based information help in solving and preventing societal crises, for example? How do we guarantee diverse public and scientific debates?

We invite papers to explore the relations between democracy, knowledge, and expertise from a wide variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives.

Contact Information:

Mikko Leino, molein@utu.fi

Anna Kronlund, anna.kronlund@utu.fi