Workshop on empirical methods in political theory - 13/11/2026

This workshop brings together PhD students and scholars to explore tensions between political philosophy/theory and the empirical social sciences: how much theory we are willing to give up for empirical work, how to respond when findings contradict our normative perspectives, how to handle "thick" concepts that mean different things across disciplines, and how to navigate the real-life impact of research on those studied.

PROGRAMME

10:30–11:00  Coffee & registration

11:00–11:10  Welcome

11:10–11:40  Marilou Niedda (Utrecht University)

• "On the Empirical Limits of the 'Epistemic Advantage Thesis' in Feminist Epistemology: A Reflection from Experts' Interviews in the AI Sector"

11:45–12:15  Sophie Marijn, Gaard Kets and Tjidde Tempels (Radboud University)

• "Between normative frameworks and empirical evidence: evaluating workplace democracy in the Netherlands"

12:20–13:00  Paul Apostolidis (LSE Government Department), keynote

• "Night Childcare, Neofeudalism, and Neoliberalism: Social-Reproductive Crisis and Political Opportunity"

13:00–13:30  Lunch break

13:30–14:00  Frank Goossens (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

• "Difficulties and tensions in operationalizing democratic theory into empirical argumentative practices"

14:05–14:35  Emelina Chatzakou (Utrecht University)

• "Conceptual Traceability: Inference Across Explanatory Contexts"

14:40–14:50  Break

14:50–15:20  Anna Closas (University of Oxford)

• "Due Process Forever? A Bottom-Up Argument for the Rule of Law"

15:25–15:55  Marieke van der Steen (University of Amsterdam)

• "Arendt's conception of action through the dance performance Mercury Rising"

15:55–16:25  Final discussion round

Register here.

Organisers: Lieve Brogtrop (Amsterdam UMC), Yu-Hung Wang (University of Amsterdam), Mariska van Dam (Wageningen University)

The workshop is generously supported by the Challenges to Democratic Representation programme group of the UvA Department of Political Science.