Taru Haapala
Coordinator OpenEUdebate
Taru Haapala is a Tomás y Valiente Research Fellow at the Madrid Institute for Advanced Study (MIAS) and the Department of Political Science and International Relations of the Faculty of Law in the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM). She holds a PhD in Political Science (since 2012) and a Title of Docent in Political Thought and Conceptual History (since 2018) from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. 

Taru's work covers the fields of political theory, history of political thought, European Union studies and political rhetoric. Taru's main research focuses on defining rhetorical strategies of contestation over the concept of democracy in European political debates, contributing to research on democratic institutions with a conceptual approach and applied relevance both in empirical research and policymaking. 

Taru is coordinating a research project titled "Political Knowledge of Parliaments: Science, Political Debates and Democracy" funded by the Tomas y Valiente Programme of the Autonomous University of Madrid between 10/2021-09/2026. 

Contact: taru.haapala@uam.es
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0562-0685
Taru's Curriculum Vitae can be found here.
Publications and research
  •  Taru Haapala; Kari Palonen. 2025. The Political Value of Disputable Knowledge: Theorising the Rhetorical Model in Parliamentary-Style Practices. Revista Española De Ciencia Política, (68), 19-42. Dialnet métricas 0.85 (C1). SJR (0.22). https://doi.org/10.21308/recp.68.01

  •  Taru Haapala; Juan Roch. 2025. Post-Truth Politics in Action? Representations of the Media in Spanish Radical Parties’ Electoral Campaigns. Media and Communication, 13, Art. 9514. SJR (0.957). WoS (2.6). https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.9514

  •  Taru Haapala; Andreu Teruel. 2025. Undermining liberal democracy? Cross-level opposition in Madrid regional president’s speeches during the pandemic crisis. Politics and Governance, 13, Art. 9788. SJR (0.804). WoS (2.1). https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.9788

  •  Elena García Guitián; Luis Bouza; Taru Haapala. 2024. What is the EU’s Vision of Democracy in the Post-Truth Scenario? A Conceptual Analysis of the Institutional Narratives of the Public Sphere in the “Democracy Action Plan”. Javnost—The Public, 31(3): 364–381. https://doi.org/10.1080/13183222.2024.2382662

  •  Taru Haapala. 2024. Politicising the Pandemic Recovery? Opposition Strategies against the Spanish Government’s COVID-19 Measures. Redescriptions: Political Thought, Conceptual History and Feminist Theory, 27(1): 26–45. SJR (0.125). https://doi.org/10.33134/rds.427

  •  Anna Elomäki; Taru Haapala. 2024. Politics of expertise in the European Parliament: Discursive constructions and contestations of expertise by party-political actors. Journal of European Integration, 46(3): 321–339. SJR (1.3). WoS (3.1). https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2023.2283699

  •  Taru Haapala. 2024. Politicising the Pandemic Recovery? Opposition Strategies against the Spanish Government’s COVID-19 Measures. Redescriptions: Political Thought, Conceptual History and Feminist Theory, 27(1): 26–45. SJR (0.125). https://doi.org/10.33134/rds.427

  •  Taru Haapala. 2023. Disrupting European Politics? Rhetorical Analysis of MEP Manon Aubry’s Politicising Strategies in Twitter. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, first online: 1-16. SJR (0.479). WoS (1.2). https://doi.org/10.1080/14782804.2023.2177836

  •  Taru Haapala; Álvaro Oleart (Eds.). 2022. Tracing the Politicisation of the EU. The Future of Europe Debates Before and After the 2019 Elections. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-3-030-82699-4. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82700-7

  •  Claudia Wiesner; Taru Haapala; Kari Palonen. 2017. Debates, Rhetoric and Political Action. Practices of Textual Interpretation and Analysis. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-3-319-35128-5. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-35128-5
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