Following the open call for co-conveners for the Working Group on Democracy, we are pleased to announce that Dr. Jens Marquardt has been selected as the new co-covener. Together with the current co-convener, Dr. Julia Tschersich, he will help revive and strengthen the Working Group. We invite you to get to know Dr. Jens Marquardt through his brief introduction below.
I am Jens Marquardt, a senior researcher from TU Darmstadt, where I have worked extensively on the contested relationship between sustainability and democracy. I’m excited to co-convene the ESG Working Group on Democracy, organize get-togethers, and facilitate exchange among scholars interested in the state of democracy, its backsliding, renewal and transformation in times of global environmental crises.
I have been doing research on these topics over the last few years and would very much enjoy collectively exploring the role of politicization, populism and competing ideas of the future in socio-ecological transformations.
As co-convenor, I would be delighted to better connect ESG work with democratic theory debates, advance discussions on democratic innovations and equally acknowledge perspectives from the Global South and North. This, however, requires an active community, and I hope to create a fruitful environment for these debates and eventually put our ideas on paper!