Inaugural lecture Dr. Giselle Bosse
Appointed as Professor in "EU External Democracy Support" in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
"EU Democracy Support in an Age of Autocratisation"
In her inaugural lecture, Giselle Bosse explores how democracies come under pressure in an age when democratic decline is often gradual and difficult to detect. Rather than collapsing through coups or open repression, many democracies today are weakened step by step from within.
The lecture examines how the European Union can support democracy in this changing environment. Bosse argues that democracy is not only about elections, parliaments, courts and independent media. It also depends on the people, relationships and communities that make democratic life possible.
She therefore proposes a more people-centred approach to democracy support, one that pays greater attention to the social networks, forms of trust and local initiatives that help sustain democratic resilience. The lecture explores what this perspective means for the future of EU democracy support in a period of growing autocratisation and increasing pressure on democratic institutions and civic space.
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