Looking back at HEPP6: Our biggest conference yet!

The Sixth Helsinki Conference on Emotions, Populism, and Polarisation (HEPP6) broke new ground for HEPPsinki yet again. This time, we were thrilled to welcome 245 people from 47 countries and every continent except Antarctica to our hybrid event. We had 176 people with us onsite, where we were proud to hold the event for the first time in the . We are looking forward to meeting again at HEPP7 14-16 June 2027! 

The conference drew its main theme of grievance politics from its supporting which closed HEPP6 with a keynote panel highlighting the exciting contributions of some of its key researchers. However, the conference also featured several thematic streams running through the panel sessions, such as gender or memory politics, which our participants enthusiastically complimented. And, as always, HEPP6 featured numerous and varied contributions about populism theory, polarisation from myriad perspectives, and how emotions intertwine with media and politics.  

HEPP6 opened with a keynote from Noëlle McAfee, who came all the way from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, to give a talk on . We were then honored to have Admire Mare of the University of Johannesburg with us to offer a perspective heard far less frequently in Helsinki in a talk entitled “Insurgent Movements and Affective Publics: Lessons from Sub-Saharan Africa.” Admire Mare then joined our keynote panel on Affective Politics in the Digital Age, which also featured Emilia Palonen and Johanna Kantola from the University of Helsinki, and Gabriella Szabó from ELTE’s Centre for Social Sciences, who is also a member of the PLEDGE project.  

Beyond the academic program, HEPP6’s participants also enjoyed a varied social program, which included, among other things, an informal pub gathering the night before the conference started, walking tours during the conference, and three nights of karaoke, led by our fearless chair, Laura Horsmanheimo. Even as the HEPP conferences continue to grow in size and interest, we still aim to provide plenty of opportunities for participants to form lasting bonds with each other outside of the seminar rooms.  

As always, HEPP6 came about through the hard work of numerous people, both on the organizing team and onsite during the event. A huge thanks to our conference assistants, and especially Henry Jokinen, whose technical expertise made the hybrid conference run smoothly. Thanks to Viljami Vaarala, who arranged the catering at the Main Building; to Iuliia Treshchenok, who organized the dinner and the walking tours; to Emily Boyett, for a lot of editing and formatting; to Alexander Alekseev, who ordered everything that needed ordering; to Amanuel Kebede, who made sure the equipment was in order; to Gwenaëlle Bauvois, for helping with the review process; and to Olena Siden, for her tireless work on the HEPP social media platforms. The conference also would not have been possible without significant contributions from the leadership team: co-chairs Alina Mozolevska and Laura Horsmanheimo, secretary Ilana Hartikainen, and HEPP research group leader Emilia Palonen.  

We ended HEPP6 on a high note, but of course this isn’t the end of the line – . Look out for our Call for Papers in the fall, and we hope to have you with us at that or a future event!  

Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.