Ethics, Politics, Emergencies

7th EuPRA General Conference

juhakapyla — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 08:05:56 +0000

Europe and the World
7th EuPRA General Conference in Tampere, in July 2011

7th European Peace Research Association (EuPRA) General Conference, with the overall theme ”Europe and the World”, will take place in Tampere, 20-22 July 2011. The Finnish host organization is the Finnish Peace Research Association, in cooperation with the Tampere Peace Research Institute, TAPRI, University of Tampere.

On Wednesday, July 20, p.m. there will be the opening session, the first plenum and the get-together-party. The following two days will start with plenum sessions at 9 am, and the rest of the days are devoted to parallel work sessions. The three plenary sessions shall be opened by the statements of invited keynote speakers. The keynote speakers who thus far have confirmed their participation are Professor Abdeloauhab Rezig (Université d’Alger 3) and Emeritus Professor Luc Reychler (University of Leuven).

Call for papers: You should send your paper proposal, abstract and final version to the conveners of the WG, in which you wish to present your paper, but at the same time also to the secretary of the Finnish Peace Research Association, Dr. Samu Pehkonen (samu.pehkonen@uta.fi) and Unto Vesa (unto.vesa@uta.fi).

The deadline for submitting paper proposals is May 1, 2011.

More information can be found here.

World Conference on Humanitarian Studies

Saara Särmä — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 19:59:04 +0000

Changing Realities of Conflict and Crisis

The Second World Conference of Humanitarian Studies (WCHS), organized by the International Humanitarian Studies Associational (IHSA) and hosted by Tufts University, Medford, USA (in collaboration with Harvard University, Columbia University and the Social Science Research Council) will take place 2 – 5 June 2011.

The conference marks a major step in ratcheting up the quality of our understanding of the dynamics of societies in crisis, the resultant greater use of evidence based humanitarian programming and an increased professional approach to humanitarian work. As with other professional fields, having a forum where cutting edge research can be presented and critiqued is a vital tool in moving the profession forward.

See especially panels accepted under theme 3.

Papers will be accepted until May 6.

CFP: Power & Knowledge conference

Saara Särmä — Fri, 28 May 2010 14:01:40 +0000

CfP – Power & Knowledge 2010 conference, deadline extended to 15 June, 2010

Power & Knowledge

The 2nd International Conference, Tampere, September 6-8, 2010

Call for Papers

Inspired by the great success of the first conference (Power: Forms,

Dynamics and Consequences, September 22-24, 2008), we carry on probing

questions of power. This time the conference concentrates on the links

between power and knowledge. As is well known, Michel Foucault argued

that power and knowledge are like two sides of the same coin. There are

however many other approaches and research traditions that tackle the

role of knowledge production in affecting and constituting power

relations. What are the roles of science, research and research-based

knowledge production in promoting policy models? Does scientific

research or evidence-based consultancy save the world and lead us to a

better future? What effects does the key role of knowledge production in

contemporary societies have on power and politics? How are the

established databases and statistical classifications of the public and

private organizations constructed and reproduced? What is the role of

everyday knowledge in society? What is the relationship between

knowledge and resistance? By bringing together scholars who approach

these questions from different angles this conference will advance our

understanding about power relations in social reality.

Keynote speakers will include:

- Patrick Carroll (University of California, Davis, US)

- Susan Haack (University of Miami, US)

- Sandra Harding (University of California, Los Angeles, US)

- Sakari Hänninen (National Institute for Health and Welfare, THL, FI)

- Michael Mann (University of California, Los Angeles, US)

- Yuval Millo (London School of Economics and Political Science, UK)

- Zeev Rosenhek (The Open University of Israel)

- Soile Veijola (University of Lapland, FI)

Sessions

- Authority, Experience & Power

- Bourdieuan Elaborations of Power, Knowledge, Body and Emotions

- Capitalizing Culture. Articulations of Culture, Knowledge and Economy

- Dynamics of Knowledge Creation in Wikis

- Knowledge About the Economy

- Knowledge Production and the Power of the Academic Profession

- Knowledge, Power and the Environment

- Language and Power

- Meaning and the Power/Knowledge of the Social Sciences

- Motives and Powerbases in Group Relations, Strategies and

International Economic Relations

- Post-Colonial Theory, Power and the Uses of Knowledge

- Power & Knowledge in Social Work

- Power of Attraction

- The Fall and Rise of Efficiency as a (Restored) Politics of Truth

- The Local-Global Interfaces and Domestification of Transnational Models

- The Politics of Higher Education and Research

- The Power of/over the past: re-politicizing the classics

- The Power of Visual Discourse

If you would like to present a paper, please send an abstract (150-200

words) by June 15, 2010 (note that this is the final extended deadline).

To send an abstract and to get more information about the conference and

session details, please visit our web pages at

http://www.uta.fi/power2010

CFP: Conflict, Intervention and the Politics of Knowledge

Saara Särmä — Thu, 20 May 2010 22:26:35 +0000

Conference Hosted by the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI)

University of Manchester

25th-26th November 2010

Call for Papers

Areas affected by conflict invariably find themselves at the centre of practices of knowledge production, as a vast array of experts attempt to understand and explain the situation, whilst developing appropriate responses to alleviate suffering, mitigate tensions and search for peaceful solutions. Knowledge about the causes and consequences of conflict is produced through a variety of sources, such as news reports, in academic writings, in policy documents, and in public pronouncements by politicians and other public figures, amongst other sources. This knowledge then informs and circumscribes possible responses to the conflict, enabling certain forms of intervention whilst rendering others unthinkable. Knowledge is also produced, circulated and disseminated through the training of those individuals and organisations intervening in the conflict, such as militaries, security personnel and NGOs. Finally, the transfer of knowledge from the international community to the local population forms another integral component of many interventions, with various organisations devising strategies aimed at developing the political, economic and social foundations for post-conflict recovery (e.g. World Bank grants to community entrepreneurs, UNESCO education projects, human rights training, amongst numerous other examples). The Conflict, Intervention and the Politics of Knowledge conference will explore the production and circulation of knowledge in these inter-related areas. Papers are invited that address a broad array of topics relating to conflict and the production of knowledge.

Themesfor paper submissions may include:
• By what means has the study of conflict and intervention become a subject of ‘expert’ knowledge? How does this knowledge enable certain possible responses whilst rendering others unthinkable and unimaginable? To what extent does the circulation of this knowledge reinforce assumptions, such as the capacity of the international community to end violence and the potential solutions available to them? More generally, how are wider understandings of conflict reproduced in the media, popular culture and the classroom?
• What methods are appropriate for the study on conflict and intervention? What are the ethics of doing research on conflict? How can academic researchers remain reflexive about conducting research on conflict and intervention?
• What are the politics of training those who intervene in conflict? How do certain ideas about good governance, security and humanitarianism get circulated and reproduced through the training of militaries, security personnel and NGOs? How does this training inform the practices of interveners? Is this (lack of) training sufficient and appropriate?
• How is knowledge transmitted in sites of conflict and what are the political and ethical implications of such practices? Does the tutelage of local populations reproduce colonial hierarchies? Do they privilege specific arrangements for post-conflict society? In what ways are these educational practices depoliticising?

Submissions from postgraduates and early career academics are particularly welcome. This conference is intended to foster interdisciplinary dialogue, and we welcome papers from those positioned within any discipline (History, Politics, Anthropology, Sociology, Development Studies, Medicine, Drama, Cultural Studies, Media and Communications, Education, Law, or other disciplines). If you wish to take part, please send an abstract of 250-300 words, the paper title and your full contact details to hcri.conflict (at) googlemail.com. The deadline for submissions is 25th June 2010.

War imagery

Saara Särmä — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 16:58:41 +0000

Noora’s article gets a great review.

CFP: ISA 2011

Saara Särmä — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 23:30:45 +0000

International Studies Association
52nd Annual Convention
Montréal, Québec, Canada
March 16-19, 2011

Call for Papers

For the full call for papers, see the ISA 2011 page at http://www.isanet.org/montreal2011/

Theme: Global Governance – Political Authority in Transition

The nation-state is generally regarded as inadequate to cope with the expanding global problems of the 21st century. Global climate change, international economic crises, transnational terrorism and crime, pandemics, nuclear proliferation, and more, all challenge the capabilities of states individually and collectively. Nation-states are also challenged from below by secessionist and other sub-national movements and from above by global civil society. In response to these competing pressures, political authority has begun to flow upwards to supranational or multilateral bodies, downwards to regional and local governments, and sideways to private actors – both within nations and transnationally – who assume previously public responsibilities. Governance is no longer the exclusive preserve of sovereign states, if it ever was. But neither is it moving uniformly in a single direction. Despite growing interest in problems of global governance and decades of research, four key questions still lack clear answers. Where is political authority moving? Why is authority moving? Is global governance good? How can global governance be improved and reformed?

We invite proposals for papers and panels that address these and other issues related to the problems of global governance in the 21st century. We especially welcome proposals that bridge different theoretical, epistemological and ontological divides within international studies to address common substantive problems.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS IS JUNE 1, 2010
All proposals should be submitted online using the MyISA Conference Management System at http://isanet.ccit.arizona.edu/MyISA

Discussion on celebrity humanitarianism

Saara Särmä — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:13:10 +0000

Riina’s recent article has provoked some discussion.

Human terrain

Saara Särmä — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:24:02 +0000

Check out this movie project.

FPSA Conference 2010

Saara Särmä — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:09:07 +0000

The 42^nd annual conference of the Finnish Political Science Association is organised by the University of Helsinki in co-operation with the Tallinn University March 11-12, 2010.

The issues related to prospects and problems of democracy form one core field in political science. Contemporary democratic theory has often concentrated on the expansion of dimensions, aspects and contexts of democracy. The trend towards expanding democracy has not been limited to scientific circles only, as practical innovations and new ideas have offered fresh insights to the practice and debate of democracy.

The increased plurality of democratic issues can be described in terms of levels, spaces and forms of democracy. As regards to levels, alongside with vertical order of democratic polities, the concept of multi-level governance has come to refer to institutional structures and inter-level relations of democracy which extend and vary from local to global. The spaces of democracy in turn imply the networks and cultural elements of democracy in which participation and engagement by various actors takes place. Finally, the forms of democracy include various institutional arrangements for democratic processes varying from formal voting and decision-making procedures to more informal deliberative and communicative methods.

This plurality of democratic issues is well covered by the workshops of the conference. The collaboration between the University of Helsinki and the Tallinn University also provides new possibilities for international co-operation. The organising committee warmly welcomes everyone to Helsinki and Tallinn.
Registration to the workshops by 29.1.2010 directly to the contact persons of the individual workshops.

More info: http://blogs.helsinki.fi/fpsaconference2010/

More on writing

Saara Särmä — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 01:57:03 +0000

Here’s a few more links on writing:

About the writing process in general at Daily writing tips.

Writing tools, some of them also available as podcasts.