Reimagining the democratic potentials of silence

An international symposium at the University of Oslo 23. – 24. September

This two-day symposium reexamines democracy and citizenship by treating silence as an integral, rather than oppositional, feature of democratic culture. Silence can disrupt, slow down, knit communities together, reveal limits, and induce reflection. The symposium, part of the Democracy of Silence research project, reexamines logocentric concepts – voice, participation, freedom of speech – by attending to the political potential of silence (e.g. withdrawal, breaks, gaps, hesitations, disconnections, void, quitetude, disaffection) to interrupt the status quo, create openings and make new things sayable, or unsayable, together.

The symposium gathers researchers, artists, designers, and practitioners across disciplines to think with, and against, the regimes of voice, visibility, and engagement that have come to dominate contemporary democratic theory and digital culture alike. We are particularly interested in what silence does, refuses, holds, or opens in datafied societies: how silence fosters reflection, resists conformity, and influences decision-making at the edges and inside of platforms, states, institutions, communities. The purpose is to get one step closer to understading what a democracy of silence could look and feel like. That is, how can we reimagine the democratic potentials of silence in a society that hinges on vocal ideals of citizenship? What politics emerges by embracing silence as a democratic value, rather than a threat? The symposium will place emphasis on discussions, interaction and experiences rather than conventional paper presentations. Accepted contributors will share a short pre-circulated contribution in advance, and the symposium itself will be devoted to working through these together, across panels, listening sessions, walks, and informal exchanges. Our hope is to leave with something held in common: a shared set of questions, a collective formulation, and the seeds of a longer trajectory (an edited volume or special issue is under consideration).

For more information, visit: Call for Contribution for the Democracy of Silence Symposium 23-24 September 2026 – UiO:Democracy