How can affective polarisation be mapped without reducing a complex and context-dependent phenomenon to a single indicator? This workshop presents a diagnostic matrix to identify and analyse the actors, dimensions and mechanisms through which affective polarisation emerges and is reproduced. The discussion will draw on insights from the project onYouth Climate Activism and Local Institutions, particularly its work on polarisation, which examines how partisan competition around climate change, youth and climate activism can generate and reshape political divisions. It will also build on theDemocratising Public Debate project, which maps political polarisation in Argentina and Ecuador.
Bringing these two strands of research into conversation will provide an opportunity to reflect on how the diagnostic framework travels across contexts and issue areas, and on which dimensions and mechanisms of polarisation become visible when applied to different empirical settings.
The workshop will present the matrix and the choices behind its conceptualisation and operationalisation, inviting participants to discuss its categories, indicators and comparative potential. The aim is not only to refine the tool, but also to explore how a diagnostic framework can help identify drivers of polarisation, possible pathways towards depolarisation, and opportunities to strengthen democratic public debate.
Speakers:
- Laura Bullon-Cassis, Research Fellow, Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy
- Natalia Aruguete, Universidad Austral, Argentina
- Palmira Chavero Ramírez, FLACSO Ecuador
- Yanina Welp, Research Fellow, Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy
The event will take place in Spanish.