CALL FOR PAPERS
Irish Association for American Studies (IAAS) Annual Conference
Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
24-26 April 2025
Conference Theme: “We the People”
“It is certain in Theory, that the only moral Foundation of Government is the Consent of the People. But to what an Extent Shall We carry this Principle?”—John Adams, 1776
The US Constitution—famously the oldest written national constitution in effect today—begins its Preamble with the audacious phrase “We the People”, thus powerfully evoking the promise of a nation ruled by (and in the interests of) the many, not the few. These words have continued to resonate down through the ages, informing America’s vision of itself as a beacon of equal representation and democratic governance. Of course, the eighteenth-century framers of the Constitution did not aspire to a pluralistic and inclusive democracy in the modern sense: as Harvard scholars Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt note, the Constitution is both a “brilliant work of political craftsmanship”, and a “product of a pre-democratic era” (Tyranny of the Minority, 2023). Indeed, many elements of the US Constitution were designed with the intention of constraining the will of the people (sometimes for good reason, e.g., to protect individual liberties) and preventing what the Founders feared could amount to “majority tyranny” (Levitsky and Ziblatt 2023).
While the US Constitution remains an important touchstone for American democracy, its near-mythic status can often obscure the imperfect nature of its content, which was conceived in response to the exigencies of a particular historical moment (Levitsky and Ziblatt 2023). Moreover, not only has the Constitution of the Founding Fathers required periodic amendment, but the question of what is meant by its venerated phrase “We the People” (and, crucially, who gets to define the parameters of this sovereign multitude) has also evolved over time. As politics professor Jan-Werner Müller observes, “to whom ‘We the People’ refers remains an open question, one that democracy in many ways is about” (What Is Populism? 2017). Yet, even as the American republic inches towards a more inclusive model of civic participation, there have been concerted efforts by political factions and special interest groups to limit the degree of popular engagement in the democratic process, thereby nudging the US in the direction of authoritarianism. At a time of extreme polarisation, widening economic inequality, and global instability, the danger of populist actors purporting to speak for ordinary people (or so-called real Americans)—while simultaneously shoring up the power of privileged elites—is more acute than ever. Populist demagogues peddle the seductive lie of a “morally pure and fully unified” polity that can be represented “without remainder”, yet their true agendas run counter to the open-ended and inclusive nature of genuine democracy, notwithstanding their (largely performative) “proximity to the people” (Müller 2017). In a culture that appears increasingly fragmented and disengaged from good-faith discourse (preferring more egregiously confrontational forms), how can Americans recover their commitment to “people power” in the truest and most democratic sense? More generally, what are the ties that bind people into groups, tribes, communities, nations? How are these identities shaped and sustained, and how easily can they be undone?
The IAAS conference organisers welcome proposals that address the theme “We the People” in all its iterations. We accept submissions from any field or discipline within American Studies, including literature, history, sociology, political science, film and media studies, cultural and critical theory, music, architecture, geography, and the visual arts. Possible topics include (but are not limited to):
Please send abstracts (c. 300 words) for 20-minute papers to conference@iaas.ie by Friday, 14th February 2025. Joint proposals for three-person panels are also invited. Please include a short academic bio (c. 100 words) with your abstract.
All presenters must be members of the IAAS to register for and attend the conference. More information is available here: https://iaas.ie/memberships/
The IAAS offers two Annual Conference Bursaries worth €100 each, one for postgraduate applicants, one for precariously employed and/or financially unsupported scholars (including independent scholars). Applications should be submitted along with conference abstracts. For more information on eligibility criteria, and to download an application form, please visit: https://iaas.ie/bursaries/
The IAAS is dedicated to diversity, equality, and inclusion, and we welcome proposals from under-represented groups. Our code of conduct is available at this link: https://iaas.ie/blog/iaas-annual-conference-code-of-conduct/
