The Concept of Ostracism: Democratic Exclusion and De-Selection

Abstract

Ostracism is widely known to have been an ancient political institution, whereby an Athenian citizen was temporarily expelled through a democratic vote. As such, it has been primarily studied by scholars of classical antiquity, who described it as a tool against tyranny and intra-elite strife (Forsdyke 2005). Newer interpretations have praised it for deterring the narcissistic drive of leadership (Kalyvas 2009), or controlling illegitimate political opposition (Kirschner 2014). However, in the last quarter century, the term has been appropriated by psychologists, who re-defined it as an act of social exclusion (Williams 2002). In this sense, its meaning is fully detached from any political context and considered only with regard to its negative socio-biological consequences on the individual. This inter-disciplinary trajectory of the term opens new pathways and invites alternative interpretations of the concept of ostracism. We are now accepting submissions of papers for this panel. We encourage papers dealing with any aspects of ostracism in its ancient and contemporary context. They may address such broad questions as: * Are there any significant discrepancies between the historical, political and psychological interpretations of ostracism? * In light of this inter-disciplinary understanding of the term, is it possible to re-conceptualize political ostracism today? * What conceptual and institutional alternatives to ostracism can we detect in post-classical and/or contemporary democracies? (E.g. recall votes, exclusion from coalition talks, refusal of citizenship, loss of political rights etc.) * How do various conceptions of ostracism relate to key political ideas, such as democracy, equality, representation, participation and human rights?

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