September 11-14, 2025
Vancouver, Canada

“Reimagining Politics, Power, and Peoplehood in Crisis Times”

Program Co-Chairs:

• Tatishe Nteta, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Christian Dyogi Phillips, University of Southern California

Writing in The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. DuBois famously opined that the problem of the 20th century was the problem of the color line. Today, while problems associated with racial identity remain salient, divisions based on partisanship, ideology, ethnicity, gender, nation, class, religion, and generation have also come to define the polarization we see in public opinion, political behavior, and governing institutions across the globe. These cleavages are exacerbated by widespread propaganda: misinformation, and disinformation campaigns from various political actors and groups that sow confusion about basic facts, fuel distrust in institutions, activate negative stereotypes, and generally undermine efforts to build more just, inclusive and well-ordered societies.

Amid this growing distrust and a resurgence of nativism and authoritarianism, the scale and scope of problems that require collective discussion, decision-making, and action grow at a seemingly accelerating pace. Whether it be climate change, forced migration, wealth inequalities, global pandemics, inter- and intra-state conflict, nations across the planet are faced with dire, if not existential, threats to the lives and livelihoods of their citizens. Yet, weakened political institutions, captured bureaucracies, fractured civil societies, and a “post-truth” politics have hamstrung the ability of democracies everywhere to effectively address these challenges and have undercut efforts to counter the rise of illiberalism and populism in our politics.

What can political science tell us about the roots of division and disorder today? In analyzing these times of crisis, how can political science help us understand how shifts in technology, society, and the economy are restructuring politics globally? What constitutive stories of peoplehood and constructions of power might counter these roots of division and disorder? Finally, how can our tools of explanation and interpretation help us to reimagine the possibilities of politics?

APSA meets in 2024 at a potentially defining moment in human history in the city where a story of America was first declared in 1776. In 2025, we will meet again in the land of the Squamish, Musqueam, and Tsleil-Waututh at a time that demands new stories of politics, power, and peoplehood. We welcome your contributions and look forward to your proposals.