PROGRAM
The particular focus of this workshop is on the texts by Alexis de Tocqueville, on the basis of previous reading and discussion of his L’Ancien R’egime et la Révolution.
Participants: Prof. Tuomas M. S. Lehtonen (SKS), Prof. Juhana Vartiainen (Hanken), Prof. Turo-Kimmo Lehtonen (TAU), Prof. Tuija Pulkkinen (HY), Prof. Samuel Hayat (Sciences Po), Dos. Julian Honkasalo (HY),
Venue: Château d’Alexis Tocqueville, Normandy
Time: 20.-25.4.2026
20.4. Arrival and welcome dinner
21.4.
10-12 Juhana Vartiainen: Tocqueville’s life, with particular attention to the recently published biography by Francoise Mélonio .
14-15: Tuomas Lehtonen: The revolutionary period at the background of . Notes on the basis of Tim Blanning: The Pursuit of Glory: Europe 1648-1815 (2007).
22.4.
10-12: Tuija Pulkkinen: Tocqueville’s Democracy in America: notes from the point of view of democratic theory
14-16: Turo-Kimmo Lehtonen: Tocqueville’s Democracy in America: notes from the point of view of sociology.
23.4.
10-12 Julian Honkasalo: Hannah Arendt’s reading of Alexis de Tocqueville
14-16: Samuel Hayat: Interpretations of Alexis de Tocqueville as a democratic theorist – the history of reception
24.4.
10-12 Tuomas Lehtonen: Further background for Alexis de Tocqueville and the period of French revolution: reading Ritchie Robertson Enlightenment: The Pursuit of Happiness 1680-1790 (2020).
14-16 Tuija Pulkkinen: Alexis de Tocqueville’s use of the key concepts of democratic theory – a summary.
25.5. Final discussion and departure.