Bodies, Spaces, Claims The Theory and Practice of Performing Political Representation

Paula Diehl, Political Theory, History of Ideas, and Political Culture University of Kiel,Michael Saward, Department of Politics and International Studies University of Warwick

Paula Diehl is Professor for Political Theory, History of Ideas and Political Culture and Director of the International Populism Research Network at the University of Kiel, Germany. She held fellowships and guest professorships among others at Sciences Po (Paris), École des Hautes Études, U-Penn, Institute for Advanced Studies (Bologna) and La Sapienza (Rome). Her research is dedicated to political representation and body performances, the political imaginary, democratic theory and populism, including the normalization of the far right. She developed a concept of political representation that integrates the symbolic and the imaginary dimensions of politics.


Michael Saward has been a lecturer and professor at Royal Holloway, University of London, The Open University, and University of Warwick. He was head of Department of Politics at the Open University, and Director of the Midlands Graduate School ESRC Doctoral Training Centre from 2013 to 2016 at Warwick. His key area of research is contemporary democratic theory. In recent years he has focused on the theories of representation and performance. A Major Research Fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust supported research on Democratic Design (2016-19). He has been a visiting scholar at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Brazil), and Australian National University.

1. The 'Jupiterian' Risk in Democratic Representation: The Representative's Body in Political Performance', Paula Diehl2. The Performativity of Political Representation: Constructing the Public, Constructing the Democratic Subject, Dario Castiglione3. Presence, Power, and Performing Political Representation; Or, What Happens in The Square?, Michael Saward4. To Thine Own Self be True: How Authenticity Shapes the Performance of Political Representation, Eline Severs and Petra Meier5. The Council Chamber and the Politics of Encounter, Lisa Disch6. Performing Democratic Listening, Karen Celis and Sarah Childs7. Shaheen Bagh: Performing Struggles for Citizenship, Shirin Rai8. Political Representatives and the Issue of the Eminent Image: Theoretical Reflections and Comparative Explorations, Jean-Pascal Daloz9. The Sound of Political Representation: From Performance to Protest, John Street10. Performing Representation on a Pedestal: The Politics of Statues, Amanda Machin11. Performing Political Myth, Julia Peetz12. Political Representation and the Performance of Ecological Restoration, Mihnea Tanasescu