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)
