Journal of Dialogue Studies

Journal of Dialogue Studies Vol 12

The Possibilities and Limits of Dialogue in a World of Political Populisms: A Positional Editorial Reflection

Paul Weller

This special edition of The Journal of Dialogue Studies is composed of papers which engage with and explore the possibilities and limits of dialogue in a world in which there would appear to be a rising tide of political populisms that have been challenging existing political norms, institutions, and processes. The movements associated with such populisms have often been led by ‘charismatic’ leaders who make an appeal to ‘ordinary people’ over and against ‘the establishment’, in the process of which they employ contentious and polarising rhetoric which brings serious challenges to social cohesion, civility, and truth in public life. In the light of such phenomena this special issue brings together articles written by researchers from across a range of academic disciplines and fields of practice, drawing also on insights from dialogue theories and dialogue practice, in order critically to explore the dynamics of such political populisms and their impact on the communicative possibilities and limits of dialogue.

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Paul Weller

Paul Weller

Research Fellow in Religion and Society at Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford, where he is an Associate Member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion; and a Visiting Professor in the Centre for Peace and Security at Coventry University

Paul Weller lives in both Germany and the UK. He originally read undergraduate Theology at Regent’s Park College, Oxford in 1974-77. He holds an Oxford University MA; an MPhil in Social and Pastoral Theology (University of Manchester); a PhD in Religious Studies (University of Leeds); and a DLitt on the basis of published works in relation to “a distinguished contribution to inter-religious dialogue and pluralism in the changing religious landscape of the United Kingdom” (University of Derby). On his retirement from full-time employment at the University of Derby he was conferred as an Emeritus Professor, following a career there during which, among other roles, he was variously Director of the Religious Resource and Research Centre; Head of Religious Studies; Head of the Humanities and Social Sciences Subject Group; Head of Research and Commercial Development in the Faculty of Education, Health and Sciences; Reader in Religious Studies; Professor of Inter-Religious Relations; and University Acting Head of Research. He is now also a Research Fellow in Religion and Society at Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford, where he is an Associate Member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion; and a Visiting Professor in the Centre for Peace and Security at Coventry University.

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