In the recent years, HEPPsters have been engaging in themes of populist mobilisation in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly the relationship between time and space, and how this relationship informs the construction of ‘Us’. In the previous edition, HEPP3 paid special attention to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In 2023, this theme is expanded to reflect on the rise of ethno-nationalism. We are here also drawing on our Horizon2020 project on Deradicalisation in Europe and beyond, where the key thematic is social exclusion as the driver for violent radicalisation, emergence of grievance, alienation, and polarisation. We also want to investigate the emergence of religious populism, the formation of epistemic communities, and logics of datafied forms of communication that also deal with polarisation. We hope to incite theoretical and empirical discussions of these themes and more.

The Conference strives to assemble a wide range of international researchers at all career stages, with the aim of examining populism, particularly from a discursive and cultural approach. We welcome contributions from a wide range of fields. All submitted papers will be considered for our Working Papers series.  

The Conference encourages papers that approach the following and related themes:  

• Political (Mis)use of Time and Space  
• (De)radicalisation, Radicalism and Violent Extremism 
• (Ethnic) Nationalism and Populism 
• Misogyny, Xenophobia and Racism 
• Euroscepticism, Europhilia, and Eurocentrism 
• (Post-)Pandemic Populisms 
• Epistemic Populisms and Academic Knowledge 
• Populist logics of Datafication and Populism 
• Religion and Populism 
• Populist Dynamics and the Global South  
• North-South Relations and (Post)Colonialism 
• Imperialism and Emotions 
• Affects and Emotions in Politics and Policy 
• Agonism, Antagonism, and the “Us” 
• Gender in Populism and Polarisation  
• Cultural Populism and Populist Challenges on Culture 
• Political humour and populist rhetoric 
• Political Communication and Media in Times of War and Crisis 
• Populist Dynamics and the Logic of Populism 

Please send in your paper submissions through this form by 9th May 2023. The submission must include your name and institution, a title, a 100-150 word abstract, and five keywords. Please send your panel proposals through this form by 9th May 2023. We encourage paying attention to diversity in the proposals. The Conference will be held primarily on site, with the possibility of presenting online. 

The Conference fee is 200 euros (for online participants 80 euros), with a discounted fee of 100 euros (for online participants 40 euros) for doctoral researchers, non-employed researchers, and colleagues from the Global South and Central and Eastern Europe. Beyond this, fee exemptions will be available in certain cases. If you feel that you require a fee exemption, please email hepp@helsinki.fi. 

The conference is organised by the HEPPsinki research group. The Organising Committee of HEPP4: Feeza Vasudeva (chair), Alexander Alekseev (co-chair), Dayei Oh, Emilia Palonen, Emilia Lounela, Gwenaëlle Bauvoi, Laura Horsmanheimo, Ionut Chiruta, Katinka Linnamäki, Kleber Carrilho, Rūta Kazlauskaitė, Virpi Salojärvi. 

You can reach the HEPP4 team and the conference secretary via hepp@helsinki.fi 

The HEPP4 organising is supported by the following projects:  

• D.Rad: Deradicalisation in Europe and Beyond: Detect, Resolve, Reintegrate (EC: Horizon 2020) 
• Now-Time, Us-Space: Hegemonic Mobilisations in Central and Eastern Europe (Kone Foundation) 
• Datafication of Society at the Helsinki Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities (PROFI) 
• ENDURE: Inequalities, Community Resilience and New Governance Modalities in a Post-Pandemic World (Trans-Atlantic Partnerships Academy of Finland) 

Adjacent to the HEPP4 at the University of Helsinki, we will have a Special Symposium Day, 14 December 2023, at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi, Finland. We also co-organise a small workshop on North-South populism, (post)colonialism and discourse theory, in Pyhätunturi, Pelkosenniemi, next to the Pyhä-Luosto national park, 15-17 December 2023. Another call will be issued with further details for the workshop. 

The HEPPsters are excited to collaborate with Professor Laura Junka-Aikio at the University of Lapland.