Politics in Hard Times: International Relations Responses to the Financial. Sweden
7th Pan-European International Relations Conference, Stockholm, 9-11 September 2010
‘Policy requires politics. Ideas for solving economic problems are plentiful but if any idea is to prevail as the actual policy, it must obtain support from those who have political power.’ In light of the deepest economic crisis in more than a generation, 21st century responses to the economic crisis are even harder than at the time when Peter Gourevitch raised the question. While in the 1980s the weight of political decision-making to consider with regard to new policy ideas and how to implement them was with national governments, now, the situation is considerably more complex. While the crisis originated in a seemingly obscure sector of US property finance, it has quickly spread across the globe and the deep recession that was following the financial upheaval has left almost no economy untouched. Apart from the financial fallout we also begin to see the geopolitical implications of this crisis and the questions it poses for the governance of the global economy, but also !
of other areas of concern to our discipline.
Given the complex interplay of politics, policy and social practices, the call to assess the origins and repercussions of the crisis is addressed to all students of International Relations, including beyond the obvious subdiscipline of International Political Economy, International Ethics, Political Sociology, Law, Geography and so forth. Key questions are: How does the downturn of the global economy affect US hegemony? Is the United Nations well equipped to deal with it? Does it contribute to the rise of countries such as Brazil, India or China? Do we see a move away from laissez-faire, and towards government intervention? Does the event turn the tables between national governments and transnational actors? What are the implications of the economic crisis for policies affecting the environment, democracy promotion, human rights protection or development assistance? Does the crisis strengthen or weaken efforts for regional integration, inside or outside of Europe? These are !
only some of the questions that are currently debated by the discipline as a whole. We hope that responses to these questions will figure prominently throughout the conference, together with the other issues that are motivating research in our discipline. We invite the whole European International Relations community, as well as scholars of other parts of the globe, to join us for the Seventh Pan-European Conference, to be convened in Stockholm in September 2010.
Venue and local organization
The conference will take place at the congenial and atmospheric Stockholm City Conference Centre, a prime downtown venue. A reception for all participants will be given at Stockholm City Hall, the same hall in which the annual Nobel Prize banquet is held. Moreover, the Section Chairs are invited to a dinner including a guided tour at the Vasa ship museum, hosted by the Nordic International Studies Association. The conference is organised by the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, Södertörn University, Stockholm University and the Swedish National Defence College, in cooperation with the Standing Group on International Relations (SGIR) of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR). The local organizing committee is chaired by Johan Eriksson (Södertörn University and Swedish Institute of International Affairs).
Call for Section Convenors
The Steering Committee of the SGIR hereby issues a call for section convenors for the 2010 Pan-European Conference. Deadline September 15, 2009.
The academic programme for the conference will be organised in the usual format of sections and panels. A section is a number of panels linked by a common theme. The conference can host up to 30 parallel sections. Section convenors organise the panels, select papers and panels (via the conference internet platform), identify panel chairs and discussants, and take responsibility for the actual execution of their section’s contribution to the conference programme. This includes the selection of best paper by a research student in their section and the provision of advice regarding the appropriate size of panel rooms.
A section may consist of either five or ten 105 minute panel sessions during the programme. Each 105-minute panel should comprise four to five papers plus discussant and chair.
The following fields of study are indicative of the fields of the areas of interest that the convenors hope will be covered during the conference, in addition to those related to the conference theme (cross-linkages are welcome as well):
Area Studies
Conflict Management
Defence
Democracy
Development
Diplomacy
Environment
Ethics
Ethnicity and Nationalism
Foreign Policy Analysis
Gender Studies
Global Governance
History & IR
Human Rights
Intelligence Studies
International Communications
International Law
International Organisations
International Political Economy
International Political Sociology
International Political Theory
International Relations Theory
Knowledge
Migration
Peace Research
Religion and IR
Security Studies
Those interested in becoming section convenor are hereby invited to submit a proposal. Each proposal must include the following information:
• Name, position and institution of the proposed section convenor;
• Email address;
• The same for the co-convenor (if any);
• A short title of the proposed section
• A 250-word outline of the main aims of the section ideally including some bullet points of key areas, and a call for paper and/or panel proposals
• A tentative indication of possible panels (including title, chair and discussant) or roundtables (participants).
We welcome sections proposals relating to the conference theme, as well as proposals about other IR themes, including those listed above.
All proposals should be submitted at http://www.sgir.eu/proposal
One convenor per section will be granted free registration. As note above, convenors will be invited for a Section Chair’s dinner and guided tour at the Vasa Ship Museum, hosted by the Nordic International Studies Association. Prospective section convenors should, however, note that ECPR-SGIR cannot offer any reimbursement of expenses incurred in connection with the conference.
The closing date for section proposals is September 15, 2009.
Accepted section convenors will be notified and a call for paper and panel proposals issued by October 1, 2009, with a deadline of January 31, 2010. Section convenors are expected to select papers and panels until February 28, 2010.
Andreas Nölke and Antje Wiener
ECPR-SGIR 2010 Programme Chairs
