Dear Colleagues,


We would like to invite you to participate in the international workshop Vulgarity, Transgression and Political Culture, to be held on 4–5 June 2026 at the Institute of Sociology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava.

Vulgarity has become a visible and contested element of contemporary political life. Political actors, public commentators, online participants, and media audiences increasingly engage in forms of expression marked by insult, obscenity, provocation, ridicule, and deliberate transgression. Such forms no longer occupy only marginal positions within political communication; they frequently shape public attention, intensify antagonism, and influence the tone of political confrontation.

The presence of vulgarity in the political sphere raises broader questions about changing norms of legitimacy, authority, and public conduct. Vulgar expression may function as aggression, emotional release, symbolic exclusion, anti-elitist positioning, or collective enjoyment. It may also serve as a means of signalling authenticity, proximity, or moral superiority. Public reactions to vulgarity often reveal deeper tensions concerning democratic culture, acceptable conflict, and the boundaries of political belonging.

The conference welcomes contributions addressing vulgarity in relation to political culture, political conflict, digital participation, media environments, and public morality. Contributions from sociology, anthropology, political science, media and communication studies, linguistics, cultural studies, and related fields are welcome.

Possible themes include:

Insult, obscenity, and ridicule in political confrontation

Transgressive styles in digital political participation

Populism, anti-elitism, and the performance of coarseness

Affect, aggression, and collective enjoyment in political expression

Symbolic exclusion and moral boundary-making

Authenticity, provocation, and claims to legitimacy

Gendered dynamics of offensive political language



Conference details:

Venue: Institute of Sociology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences
Dates: 4–5 June 2026
Participation is free of charge.
Submission: Please send an abstract of approximately 250 words together with a short biographical note to Andits Petra at petra.andits@savba.sk by the 18th of May, 2026.
Publication: Selected contributions may be considered for publication in a planned special issue, subject to peer review.