Author Archives: Sefika Kumral

Nationalism and Ethnicity: Upcoming Conferences and Events

Upcoming Conference: “Minorities in Armies: Ethnicity, Race, Alienage”

June 30, 2015, 10.00-17.30

University of Warwich, The Institute of Advanced Study (Seminar Room)

Against the backdrop of a perceived national uniformity in the armed forces, in the Modern and Contemporary Age the military has been characterized by a sizeable presence of ethnic and racial minorities, as well as of aliens. The topic has been widely overlooked by scholarship; yet it seems necessary to investigate further an issue that could eventually lead to contesting the widespread perception of the military as an agent of cultural homogenisation and nationalisation. The conference will therefore seek to pose theoretical questions through papers by scholars who have studied specific cases, focusing in particular (but not exclusively) on WWII. Specifically, the one-day conference will be based on a morning and an afternoon session, each composed of three speakers and one respondent, followed by time dedicated to debate.

The first session will take into account experiences related to Italians or Italian ethnics in the Allied armed forces in WWII, or people of Italian descent enrolled in the Italian armed forces. The second will analyse the experience of ethnic and racial minorities in the British armed forces from WWII to recent times.

The conference is free and lunch is provided, but since numbers are limited registration is required. The deadline for registration is 20th June.

Please click here for more information.

Call for Papers: “The Social Reproductive Worlds of Migrants”

3rd ISA Forum of Sociology, July 2016, Vienna

While research highlights the role inward migration plays in meeting the social reproductive needs of migrant-receiving societies, less attention is paid to the social reproductive aspects of migrants’ lives. In the context of the increasing volume in international migration and its feminisation, and the increasingly instrumentalist and economistic approach to migration-entry regimes, it is critical that migration and family policies begin to acknowledge that a production system cannot operate without a reproduction system (Truong, 1996).

This joint (RC06 and RC31) paper presentation session, invites papers that contribute to developing a research agenda on the social reproductive worlds of migrants. Social reproduction incorporates family building through relationship formation and procreation, and the ongoing care required in the maintenance of people on a daily basis across the life-course. Thus, we seek contributions that examine how during processes of migration, families are formed, procreate and care.

Possible areas include:

spatial and temporal configurations of how migrants organise their social reproductive worlds, and how these relate to the patterning of opportunities and constraints rendered by public policies
in both countries of origin and of destination;
the role of managed migration strategies in the development of patterns of ‘stratified social reproduction’ (Kraler, 2010) among migrants;
how, to what extent and under which conditions transnational family dynamics and solidarities provide kin members with a safety net and greater opportunities to access and claim rights to social protection;
the gendered nature of migrants’ social reproductive worlds, including male as well as female migrants.

The deadline for submitting proposals of max 300 words is 30 September 2015. Please upload your proposals through this link:http://www.isa-sociology.org/forum-2016/

Call for Contributions: “Migrants in the City: New Dynamics of Migration in Urban Settings”

Culter’s Hall, Sheffield, 12-13 October 2015

Rapid urbanisation is radically changing the economic, financial, social, and ecological landscape of our planet. It has been identified as the single greatest development challenge and opportunity for the 21st century. International migration has been, is and will continue to be a key route both shaping and being shaped by urbanisation.

As the UN-Habitat Manifesto for Cities notes, the world has entered an urban era where cities have taken centre stage, inevitably shaping the social and spatial structures and trajectories of cities. The international conference Migrants in the City will provide a forum for the examination of key questions related to contemporary international migration in the context of urban development, residential segregation and diversity. The conference is designed to be global in focus. Contributions are welcomed that reflect on the causes and consequences of all forms of international migration (for example, for employment, for family reasons, to seek refuge, to study) in urban settings, but that also explore intersections between migration, urban development and key related issues, including:

effects of economic restructuring;
rising income inequality within and between host/destination countries;
the growth of megacities and the implications for segregation and migration;
settlement patterns, diversity, and spatial persistence;
development and wellbeing implications of migration and segregation;
effects of climate and environmental change;
gender and family life of migrant communities and issues of identity;
the meaning and practice of security;
migration and urban governance;
methodological challenges/innovations for migration and segregation

The organizers are currently calling for submissions of abstracts, panel session and poster proposals. All proposals and papers should be sent to migrantsconference@sheffield.ac.ukby Friday 29th May.

Please click here for conference website

Upcoming Events and Call for Papers

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A view from the border: Everyday lives in Burma’s conflict zones in times of transition

LSE Arts public exhibition

Dates: Monday 13 April – Friday 8 May 2015

Time: 10am-8pm, Mon-Fri

Venue: Atrium Gallery, Old Building

The photo exhibition portrays the everyday lives of people in Burma’s conflict-ridden Kachin State. Its particular focus rests on areas under control of ethnic rebel groups. While most international media attention is drawn to the sea changes in central Burma, these places of ongoing conflict are often ignored. This is not least due to difficulties of access to an area that is off-limits for international journalists and aid organisations. The exhibition, hence, offers rare insights into the present-day struggle of Burma’s ethnic minorities, including displaced communities and insurgents. It also sheds light on rampant extractive border economies, which fuel protracted armed conflict and infringe on local livelihoods. By doing so it asks whether and how the country’s wider transition affects the everyday reality in the country’s borderlands.

The photographs were taken by two local photojournalists and a doctoral candidate from the LSE. Hkun Li and Hkun Lat are two brothers from Kachin State. They use photography to portray the re-escalation of civil war that has unsettled their youth. David Brenner uses photography to communicate his research on the conflict.

This exhibition is generously supported by the International Relations Department at the LSE.

This exhibition is open to all, no ticket required. Visitors are welcome during weekdays (Monday – Friday) between 10am and 8pm (excluding bank holidays and when the school is closed for Christmas and Easter ).

Please click here for more information

Call for Papers: Patterns of Integration of Old and New Minorities in a Europe of Complex Diversity

October 7-9, 2015, Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár, Klausenburg), Romania

While numerous autochthonous ethnic, national and regional groups formulate claims on power-sharing and minority rights, pushing their host states to accommodate diversity, increased mobility has contributed to the further proliferation of cultural, linguistic, and religious diversity in the European Union and its south-eastern vicinity. Commentators label this as “complex” diversity, as many classically more homogenous societies become more and more multicultural, and various forms of transnational citizenship become a widespread phenomenon.

This increasingly complex diversity of the European societies, together with the global spread of supranational norms and values of human rights is continuously undermining the Westphalian system of homogeneous nation states. The question arises how these challenges can be reconciled, what best practices can be identified for both “old” and “new” minorities, and whether the arrangements for the former can be a model for the latter, mobile minorities. In sum, the central question this conference aims to address is how social cohesion can be achieved in diverse societies.

The organizers welcome theoretical analyses and empirical case studies on the causes, consequences and possibilities of accommodation of complex diversity against the backdrop of the multi-layered system of governance within the European Union. The contributions should outline in what way political and societal cultures, institutional arrangements or public policies contribute to or hinder the accommodation of complex diversity.

The deadline for applying to the conference is July 1, 2015. Please complete your abstract (250-300 words), together with a brief bio, including your academic/institutional affiliation on the following link. Panel proposals including a chair, 4-5 speakers and a discussant are also welcome. The selection of participants will be carried out no later than July 20, 2015.

The conference will be held in Cluj-Napoca, at Sapientia University.

Further questions should be submitted to the e-mail address minorityconference@gmail.com

Upcoming Conferences, Events and Call for Papers

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Call for Papers: “Orientalism, Colonial Thinking and the Former Soviet Periphery: Exploring Bias and Stereotype Representations of Eastern and Central Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia”

Vilnius University, August 27-29, 2015

The Ukrainian crisis has placed the entire post-communist world back at the very centre of global debates in the media, politics and academia. Concepts such as sovereignty of post-Soviet and post-communist states have been brought into question once again, alongside the historical development, international alignment and aspirations of state actors in the region.

In this context, a narrative of “Russian interests versus Western interests/values” seems to have gained currency in Western media and political discourses. Smaller actors of Eastern and Central Europe, Central Asia, the Baltics and the Caucasus see their perspectives ignored or put on a secondary level. This has led some scholars to suggest the existence among Western and Russian commentators of a “colonial”, “Orientalist” bias that favours the former imperial “centre” and sees formerly subaltern actors as passive entities in a greater game, giving a stereotypical and demeaning image of such countries and their people. This in turn leaves countries of the former Czarist and Soviet peripheries unable to influence the mainstream debate and to present a self-centred approach in a world in which perceptions and narratives more and more legitimize actions in international relations.

The purpose of the conference is to provide an academic framework for the discussion of these ideas and put them to the test of peer debate. The goal is to discuss the relevance of Post-Colonial Studies to Post-Communist Studies and hopefully open an innovative chapter in the academic understanding of the Post-Communist World.

Keynote speakers: Dr. Andreas Umland, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy; Prof. Alexander J. Motyl, Rutgers University; Mykola Ryabchuk, Ukrainian Centre for Cultural Studies; Dr. John Heathershaw, Exeter University; Dr. Nick Megoran, Newcastle University

Individual abstract proposals should be submitted by March 25th.

Panel proposals (inclusive of abstracts) should be submitted by April 10th.

Proposals are to be submitted via email to: fabio.belafatti@oc.vu.lt in .pdf or .doc format using the subject line “Paper/panel proposal – Orientalism 2015”

Please click here for more information on the conference.

Call for Contributions: Ethnopolitics Papers

Ethnopolitics Papers offers an opportunity for established scholars as well as early career researchers and practitioners to shape and contribute to contemporary debates in the broad field of politics and ethnicity.

Editors are looking for short commentary pieces of around 4-5,000 words and longer articles between 7-10,000 words in length. We have published on a wide variety of topics and are eager to continue doing so.Your article will be subject to a peer-review process which we will endeavour to complete as efficiently as possible to ensure rapid publication of your contribution.

Please contact the editors, Dr Gareth Curless (G.M.Curless@exeter.ac.uk) and Morgane Colleau (mc301@exeter.ac.uk).

Call for Papers: “In Search of New Perspectives, Methods and Finer Factors of Identity Formation –From East Asia to the World”

Taiwan Studies Programme Annual Conference

4 and 5 September 2015, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, UK

Deadline of abstract submission: Friday, 10th April

Notification of acceptance: Friday, 31st May

Deadline of Registration: Friday, 7th August

Conference Objective

Multiple, mercurial, flowing, strategic, transcultural and transnational, context-dependent and socially constructed—these are characteristics of contemporary identity observed by postmodernist theorists. Yet, a chronic debate is that these attributes can neither entirely fit into individuals’ perception of self-identity, nor thoroughly correspond with their sense of subjectivity when individuals take political actions or fulfill their particular roles in identity politics. More precisely, when the significant influence of social contexts—i.e., perceived history, social structure, the operation of state apparatus, etc., which mainly contribute the postmodernist characteristics of identity—has been widely recognised, how should we explain the heterogeneity of identity emerging in similar contexts? How should we account for the diversity of political action taken by individuals who are supposed to share the same identity?

East Asia can be a good starting point to deal with this analytic dilemma. It is often perceived and presented as a rather simple region—in comparison with others like Southeast Asia and Europe—consisting of four major peoples (arguably, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese and Chinese) with both intensive and long histories of mutual cultural exchange. However, the composition of ethnicity, language, culture and custom is far more diverse than this simplified, quadruple categorisation. The internal heterogeneity of a region not only consumes great energy of states or other social institutions which attempt to create a certain common collectiveness, but also presents a valuable field for researchers to further look into the struggle in one’s identity formation, and to explore various factors behind it. Taking national identity as an example (yet, the scope of this conference is not limited to this type of identity; we welcome researchers who focus on the way in which individuals locate themselves and their identity in their economic and social lives and so forth, especially from the geopolitical perspective), as China is increasingly cultivating a strong nation-image both domestically and internationally, it is also creating a homogeneous cultural and national identity—that is, to be culturally ‘Chinese’ is to recognise the communist regime. Meanwhile, the exclusive Taiwanese and Hong Kong identities, in spite of the two governments’ pro-China and pro-neoliberal tendencies, have increased to a historic high, arguably catalysed by large- scale student movements during the last year which aimed to pursue values of democracy and social equality. Apparently, unconventional factors other than, for instance, the recognition of one’s nation and ethnicity and the state’s effort and measure of nation building, forge and shape people’s national identity of these cases.

Conference Themes

This conference calls for papers that share the common goal of exploring new constitutive factors and developing new perspectives of identity research. Several themes are designed (but not limited to) as follows: Theorising and Measuring Identity; State and Identity; Society and Identity; Individual and Identity

This is only a preliminary design which attempts to offer broad guidance in our journey of studying identity. We are indeed excited to see research, not only using various research materials—either individual ones like autobiography, diary, novel, music/art work, online comments/articles, or general ones like newspaper, textbooks, advertisements, state propaganda, etc.—but also covering diverse types of identity, such as national, ethnic, political, class or gender identity, or identities based on the classification of social roles or virtually created in the Internet.

Rules of Submission

The submission deadline is Friday, 10th April. The abstract (up to 300 words) is expected to succinctly include research objectives, theoretical frameworks, research methods, summary of research findings and main arguments, and intellectual contributions or social and political implications. Please also list three to five keywords and attach a short biography of the author. All abstract should be emailed to: asian@sant.ox.ac.uk with the subject heading ‘TSP 2015 abs’, which ensures the submission will not go to spam folder.

Funding for travel and accommodation may be available to authors whose papers are selected. The full papers with a maximum length of 8,000 words must be submitted by 20 August 2015. A selection of accepted papers will be considered for publication in either an edited volume or a peer-reviewed journal special issue.

Enquiries: asian@sant.ox.ac.uk or tel: (+44) 01865-274559

Please see the official Facebook page for updates (e.g. latest news and invited speakers) https://www.facebook.com/events/785890181504077/

Nationalism and Ethnicity: Upcoming Conferences, Events, Fellowships

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Call for Papers and Panel Proposals

Call for Papers and Panel Proposals: “Pluralism and Community: Social Science History Perspectives”

40th Annual Meeting of the Social Science History Association

Baltimore, MD November 12-15, 2015

Submission Deadline: February 14, 2015

Ethnic strife in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia; anti-immigrant politics in Europe, the Americas, and Australia; and separatist movements around the world are daily reminders of the challenges in building tolerant, civil societies among ethnically, racially, religiously, linguistically, and culturally diverse peoples. At the same time, improvements in transportation and communications and growing economic interdependencies have brought diverse peoples into more regular contact and made pluralism more advantageous than ever before.

In recognition of the long-standing interest of social science historians in the ways in which communities regulate “difference” among their members, the 2015 Program Committee seeks panel proposals that consider the myriad ways that history, culture, law, economy, demography, education, knowledge production, geography, migration, religion, sexuality, and politics shape pluralism as well as the ways in which community shapes these factors in return.

Click here for more information.

Call for Papers: The Intersection of Diplomacy, Development and Defense: Faith and Ethnicity at the Crossroads

The Second Annual International Conference on Ethnic and Religious Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding

Venue: The Riverfront Library Auditorium, Yonkers Public Library

1 Larkin Center Yonkers, New York 10701

Date: October 9, 10, and 11, 2015

ICERM (International Center for Ethno-Religious Mediation) invites papers for presentation and publication from anyone who has an interest in sharing their research, ideas, and experiences with the practical application of the three D’s (Diplomacy, Development and Defense) on building peace between peoples, or among ethnic, religious or sectarian groups both within and across borders. Organizers also welcome those interested in learning about the 3D approach and its intended role in advancing interfaith and interethnic relations. Preferred papers will include modern examples with an emphasis on practical application.

Proposals should include an abstract not to exceed 800 words in length, which describes the substance of the paper in relation to conference theme, the title of the paper, biographies of the author(s), and any affiliated agency, organization, or institution. All proposals should be sent to the Conference Review Committee by email: conference@icermediation.org. Abstracts will undergo a double blind peer review. Accepted proposals will be notified by Friday, May 29, 2015. Accepted authors should submit complete papers, biographies and photo images on or before Friday, September 18, 2015. Papers must be between 3,500 and 4,000 words, submitted with a biography of no more than 50 words.

For more information please click here.

Courses, Ph.D. Programs, Fellowships:

Postgraduate Summer Course: “Performing Romani Identities”

Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Hungary

June 29-July 10, 2015

Application Deadline: February 14, 2015

The Summer School will focus on the nexus between Romani studies and performance, with special attention paid to questions of visual culture and representation. The disquiet around increasing violence against and marginalization of Roma across Europe lends this course a special urgency. The course will focus particularly on the enduring hierarchies, exclusions and stereotypes that Romani communities and individual citizens face in everyday life and in multiple sites and structures of the nation-state. It will explore artistic practice—particularly in the area of performance—with any eye toward openings for disruption and contestation, and will analyze the Romani histories across Europe and globally through the prism of post-colonial critique and the possibilities of decolonization.

For more information: http://summer.ceu.hu/sites/default/files/course_files/Romani-flyer-2015.pdf .

Financial aid is available.

Ph.D. Studentships at the University of Edinburgh

The Graduate School of Social and Political Science is offering up to 11 funded Ph.D. studentships including in the discipline of Social Policy.

We welcome applicants with a 2.1 equivalent or higher in their first degree and/or a Master’s degree.

Deadline for receipt of applications: Tuesday 3rd February 2015 at 5pm (GMT) (an application to study must have been submitted prior to this date)

Apply for the PhD here:
http://www.sps.ed.ac.uk/gradschool/prospective/phd_programmes

And apply for the Studentships here:
http://www.sps.ed.ac.uk/gradschool/applicants/funding/school_scholarships

Ph.D. Studentships in Politics, International Studies & Philosophy, Queens University Belfast

The School of Politics, International Studies & Philosophy at Queen’s University Belfast is pleased to announce a number of funding opportunities for PhD students beginning September 2015. We welcome student proposals in a wide range of scholarly areas, with particular emphasis on the following: Comparative Ethnic Conflict; Governance and Public Policy; International Relations; Contemporary Irish History; Political Theory; Philosophy. Funding opportunities are as follows:

FACULTY OF ARTS, HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCE PhD STUDENTSHIP AWARDS: Applications are invited from potential doctoral students seeking to undertake projects within the remit of the following thematic areas:

o Security, Rights and Conflict Transformation

o Governance and Public Policy

o Life Course Studies

o Innovation and Economic Performance

The deadline for applications in these 4 areas is 5pm on 5 February 2015. Applicants must specify within their applications which of the 4 thematic research themes their project will address and must not specify more than one area.

DEL STRATEGIC AWARD “Citizen-Based Post-Conflict Democracy”: The School is offering a PhD studentship to work on an interdisciplinary project in conjunction with the School of Psychology entitled: “Citizen-based post-conflict democracy: Experimentally investigating public support for the resolution of contentious issues by randomly chosen citizens. Students wishing to be considered for these studentships should contact the principle supervisor Dr. John Garry (j.garry@qub.ac.uk), and are required to have submitted a completed application, including research proposals and references, on or before the deadline of 5pm, 5^th February 2015.

Nationalism and Ethnicity: Upcoming Conferences and Events

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Call for Papers and Panels: Rethinking Territoriality – Between Independence and Interdependence

University of Edinburgh, 16-18 September 2015

This conference will bring together, for the first time, the three IPSA research committees to examine different aspects of territoriality evident in the world today. The conference, convened in Edinburgh one year after Scotland’s historic independence referendum, will provide an opportunity to examine the politics of territorial, ethnic and linguistic identity, state traditions and language regimes, the dynamics of federalism and multi-level government, and relations between power and territory in the context of regional integration.

Organizers invite proposals for individual paper contributions or for panels engaging these issues. We welcome case studies and comparison of issues of territoriality evident in any part of the world, as well as papers adopting a theoretical perspective on territorial or identity and language politics. We aim to feature the best of contemporary research on territoriality, including new research by established academics as well as early career scholars.

Proposals for papers should include full contact details (including an email address, mailing address, and affiliation) of the author(s) and an abstract of up to 200 words.

Panel proposals must include:

– a minimum of three papers and a maximum of five.

– contact details of paper-givers, and (if you have them) the discussant and chair

– Panel title and individual paper titles

– Short description of panel (max 200 words)

Conference languages are English and French. The final deadline for electronic submission of proposals for papers or panels will be 28 February 2015. Proposals should be submitted to: http://form.jotformeu.com/form/42413501455344

Call for Submissions: “Nations, history and comparison: a conference on historical sociology and the study of nationalism”

University of Edinburgh, 14-15th of May, 2015.

The University of Edinburgh’s Ethnicity, Nationalism and National Identity Network (ENNIN), in association with the Historical and Comparative Sociology Study Group of the British Sociological Association invite abstracts for a two-day conference entitled “Nations, history and comparison: a conference on historical sociology and the study of nationalism”. This conference is part of the 50-year anniversary of Sociology at the University of Edinburgh, and will be held Thursday and Friday, May 14-15, 2015.

The conference aims at providing a stimulating environment to exchange ideas and build networks in a welcoming setting that encourages interdisciplinary dialogue and approaches. One of the great strengths of historical sociology and the study of nationalism is the breadth of the fields and perspectives that they encompass, and we encourage submissions from all angles and topics which might fall within the frame of historical sociology or the study of nationalism.

Topics might include but are not limited to:

Nationalism and Power
Nationalism and Violence
Why History matters
Methodology
Regional sections: Latin America, Middle East, South East Asia
Describing and Explaining Social Processes
New Directions in Historical Sociology
Bridging the gap between the Macro and Micro in Historical Sociology

Confirmed speakers include:

Professor Donald Bloxham, School of History, Classics and Anthropology, University of Edinburgh
Professor Lindsay Paterson, Department of Social Policy, University of Edinburgh
Professor Roland Dannreuther, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Westminster
Professor Jonathan Hearn, Department of Sociology, University of Edinburgh

Abstracts of 250-300 words to be e-mailed to ennin.rg@ed.ac.uk by Thursday, January 30th 2015. The proposals should include your name, contact details and institutional affiliation.

Final decisions and general registration for the conference will begin in February.

Call for Papers: Modes and forms of insurgency in the contemporary world: an inquiry into the causes and consequences of non-state governance and their relevance to current world affairs

Section of the Conference / The Worlds of Violence / 9th Pan-European Conference on International Relations

Wednesday 23-Saturday 26 September 2015, Giardini Naxos, Sicily, Italy

Organised by the European International Studies Association and the University of Catania

Chairs: Abel Polese (Tallinn University), ap@tlu.ee Donnacha Ó Beacháin (Dublin City University) donnacha.obeachain@dcu.ie

Recent events in Ukraine and Syria are only the ultimate expression of a tendency that we have observed, with regularity and in very different regions of the world. Although under-researched thus far insurgency has emerged as a major phenomenon of recent years. In this panel we understand insurgency in a dynamic manner and as a name for several points on a spectrum. The most visible expressions of insurgency are, in our view, the more or less successful attempts to separate administratively from a state as has occurred in Georgia, Sudan and more recently in Ukraine. There are, however, intermediate situations leading to more autonomy, the emergence of local or sub-national forces claiming control over either a territory, a sector, or challenging the competence of a state in a given field (economy, police, judiciary) that this section seeks to explore.

The aim of this section is to explore economic, political and judicial aspects of insurgency, here intended as a multi-faceted phenomenon affecting one or more competencies of a state. The goal is to establish a dialogue based not only on a variety of geographically diverse case studies but also to concentrate on a particular aspect of insurgency and, equally important, to study pre-insurgency situation or situations that might, or might not, lead to insurgency such as insubordination in a particular field (informal governance, security or networks progressively, but still marginally, taking over state competencies in a given region)

Organizers welcome submissions that relate to the following themes:

-Insurgent governance in the former USSR and the role of Russia in the region: Although insurgency is a worldwide phenomenon, the frequency and intensity observed in the former USSR in recent years sheds light on new tendencies. By examining the various forms of insurgency we plan to explore also the role of Russian foreign policy and its capacity to stabilize/destabilize the region.

-Informality and forms of pre and micro insurgency: Underneath the widely reported insurgency that claims control over a portion of a state or a territory there is a myriad of micro opportunities for small-scale insurgency that could, but also could not, evolve into macro insurgency. We refer here to private militia, criminal networks but also less visible phenomena such as informal local governance or informality (in economic activities, judicial courts, informal connections and networks growing to become a major voice in the politics and policies of a given territory without formally taking control of it)

-Winners and losers of insurgency: warlords and fear-based organizations: In spite of the general understanding that war and violence bring more damage than benefits there are categories of people and sectors benefiting from insurgency, especially when this escalates into violence. This panel would explore phenomena such as warlords and the political and power advantages for certain groups, or even countries, in insurgency situations

Other possible topics for papers might include, but are not confined to:

– Business development and the economic policy of insurgency

-Proxy militias, non-traditional warfare and their role in foreign policy

-The relationship between social capital, civil society and insurgency

Please send an abstract, indicating which panel you intend to participate in, and a short bio to:

Abel Polese (Tallinn University), ap@tlu.ee Donnacha Ó Beacháin (Dublin City University) donnacha.obeachain@dcu.ie

For more information, please visit http://www.paneuropeanconference.org/2015/

The deadline for receiving abstracts is January 15th, 2015.

Upcoming Conference: Images of Identity: International Symposium at the University of Zurich

30-31 January 2015, Switzerland

Words and images have always been used to fashion, refashion and challenge identities. In the age of discovery, written and visual texts combined to negotiate identities of self and other; the nineteenth and twentieth centuries saw an explosion of visual technologies. In the early twenty-first century, our lives have become more permeated by multimedial texts and images than ever before.

This two-day symposium hosted by the English Department at the University of Zurich aims to explore the constitution of personal, national and cultural identities at the intersection of the verbal and the visual. It will focus on the multiple relations between identities, words and images, addressing issues such as visual culture, transmediality, iconicity, and the materialities of words and images.

Keynote speakers

Prof. Dr. Kath Woodward (Milton Keynes)

Prof. Dr. Chris Morash (Dublin)