понедельник, 29 апреля 2013 г.

Informal Practices and Structures in Eastern Europe and Central Asia


Informal Practices and Structures in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
21 - 23 November 2013, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
CALL FOR PAPERS
Submission Deadline : 2 May 2013

The Academic Swiss Caucasus Net (ASCN), in cooperation with the Regional Research Promotion Program (RRPP) and the Interfaculty Institute for Central and Eastern Europe at the University of Fribourg (IICEE), with support from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), is pleased to organise an international conference on Informal Practices and Structures in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, to take place at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) on 21-23 November 2013.
The conference offers a forum for the presentation and discussion of on-going research projects. It will consist of thematic panels, roundtables and keynote speeches bringing together researchers from various disciplines.
Content
Informality has become, without any doubt, a fashionable topic of research. The amount of literature on informal practices and networks in Eastern Europe and Central Asia has increased rapidly, producing useful empirically-based research material. The growing interest in this topic may be partly explained by the fact that in many Eastern European and Central Asian countries the democratisation process is hindered by many different forms of informal power networks. One may even conclude that informality is part of the governance mode of all more or less soft variants of authoritarian regimes. Furthermore, it seems obvious that personalised governance networks are not really structures supporting democracy and rule of law; on the contrary, they undermine them. There are many contemporary studies on informal institutions revealing the persistence and perverse effects of such informal structures. The economic crisis, however, particularly in Southern Europe, has again shown the extent to which clientelist networks are co-responsible for the political, economic and financial crises in the region; in addition to the populist movements riding on the waves of wide spread distrust between political elites and the population at large.
However, it would be erroneous to insist only on the negative effects of informal practices. On the one hand, informal power networks for political elites should be distinguished from practices and networks at the level of ‘everyday citizen behaviour’, wherein they retain a different meaning (“to get things done”). On the other hand, there is the truism and sociologically-speaking fact that no organisation or democratic state can avoid informal practices which derive their meaning with regard to any sort of formal rule. The meaning of these relations, between the informal and the formal, changes depending on specific contexts. Informality, at the political elite level in post-Soviet countries, is certainly different from informal practices and governance in ‘rule of law’-based democracies with specific procedures utilised to handle them.
Objectives of the conference
The conference aims to identify and compare forms, functions and meanings of informal structures and practices in Eastern Europe and Central Asia under the following topics: politics, law, economy, education or, more generally, society. In this sense it will be focused on the dialogue between different disciplines and perspectives with regard to informality. This will be one of the first and largest international conferences focussing on informal structures and practices in Eastern Europe and Central Asia in a multidisciplinary perspective, covering the problem of informality in different social systems and contexts. It will cover forms of informality in politics (informal governance, networks of power, clientelism, corruption, etc.), the economy (shadow economies, informal labour markets, etc.), migration, education or other social practices in society within focus of anthropologists and sociologists. The conference will ask for the definition of fields or contexts that demonstrate the certain forms of informality that are more peculiar, persistent or typical for certain regions in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, for example that of the post-Soviet context. To what extent can they be considered transitional or a structural phenomenon in Eastern Europe and Central Asia? What are the social effects of certain practices? And to what extent are informal structures in Eastern Europe and Central Asia different from those in established democracies?
Call for Papers
Deadline: 2 May 2013

Eligibility: The call for papers is open to PhD students and recent PhD graduates (2008 or later) dealing with the conference topic in their research activities. The topics may be addressed from a political science, sociological, anthropological or economic perspective.
Geographic Area: Submitted papers must focus empirically and/or theoretically on the countries and regions of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, i.e., the new EU member states of Central- and Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the (non-Baltic) Post-Soviet countries (Russia, Ukraine, Belorussia, Moldova, Southern Caucasus or Central Asia).
Topics
Papers should cover one or several of the following themes or fields of research related to informal practices or institutions. They should focus on the interplay between formal and informal institutions or practise. In addition, they should focus on concrete cases or the identification of specific forms of informal practices and institutions. Papers handling specific forms of informal practices, such as clientelism or corruption, should discuss their topic in the framework of the formal / informal distinctions.
·        Informality and Politics: Informal institutions vs. formal institutions in politics, informal practices and structures at governmental levels, parliaments, political parties, state bureaucracies and, more generally, at the level of political and economic elites.
·        Informality, Society and Culture: Informality and cultural diversity, informal practices in multi-ethnic societies, minority-related informal practices.
·        Informality and Economy: Shadow or parallel economies, informality in labour markets, etc.
·        Informality and Law: Informal practices in legislation and judiciary processes, the problem of ‘rule of law’.
·        Informality in Other Fields and Social Systems: Migration-related informality, informality in education and health systems, informality in civil society, the Church and its organisations.
·        Transversal Topics: Certain transversal topics are present in the aforementioned themes above. They are particularly important in the context of this conference: Informal governance, power networks, corruption, clientelism, patrimonialism, criminal networks and "post-socialist informality", i.e., the continuity or discontinuity of informal practices from the socialist period. Moreover, we also welcome papers approaching these topics with both theoretical and methodological aspects of informal practices and institutions in Eastern Europe.

The selected candidates will have the opportunity to present and discuss their paper in a thematic panel.
Submission Instructions
All interested scholars are requested to submit an abstract (no more than 300 words) of their paper together with a short biographical statement (including author, affiliation, postal address, phone number and e-mail address) and a one-page C.V.
Submissions must be sent no later than 2 May2013 to info@ascn.ch and jan.kreuels@ascn.ch with the following email subject: ASCN Informality Conference 2013. All documents must be in English and merged into a single PDF file. The selection process results will be announced by mid-June 2013.
Selected candidates will then be invited to submit full papers (up to 5,000 words) by the end of October 2013. After the conference, participants will be invited to submit a revised definitive version of their contribution. The best papers will be published in a volume dedicated to the conference proceedings.
Best Paper Reward
The best paper will be rewarded with a prize during the conference.
Venue, Accommodation and Transport
The conference will take place at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. The organisers will cover travel and accommodation expenses for all selected participants. Opportunities for co-financing will arise should the travel costs in individual cases exceed the average expenses per participant attending the conference. Participants will be located in hotels close to the conference venue. The selected participants will be informed about the programme, specific conference panels and the format of the paper to submit, as well as organisational details, in due time.
Timeline
·        Application Deadline: 2 May 2013
·        Abstract Selection: mid-June 2013
·        Paper Submission: End of October 2013
·        Online Publication of Papers on the Conference Website: 7 November 2013
·        Conference: 21-23 November 2013
Organisers
Prof. Nicolas Hayoz, Director of ASCN, Director of the Interfaculty Institute for Central and Eastern Europe, Department of Social Sciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Contact: nicolas.hayoz@unifr.ch
Prof. Christian Giordano, Chair of Anthropology, Department of Social Sciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Contact:christian.giordano@unifr.ch
Denis Dafflon, ASCN Programme Manager, Department of Social Sciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Contact:denis.dafflon@unifr.ch
Website
www.ascn.ch à”Events” section
Further Questions
About ASCN
ASCN is a programme aimed at promoting the social sciences and humanities in the South Caucasus (primarily Georgia and Armenia). Its different activities foster the emergence of a new generation of talented scholars. Promising junior researchers receive support through research projects, capacity-building trainings and scholarships. The programme emphasizes the advancement of individuals who, thanks to their ASCN experience, become better integrated in international academic networks. The ASCN programme is coordinated and operated by the Interfaculty Institute for Central and Eastern Europe (IICEE) at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). It is initiated and supported by Gebert Rüf Stiftung.
---------------------------------------
Denis Dafflon
Programme Manager
Academic Swiss Caucasus Net (ASCN)
University of Fribourg / Interfaculty Institute for Central and Eastern Europe (IICEE) 

Bd de Pérolles 90 
1700 Fribourg/Switzerland 
Phone: +41 26 300 79 82 
Mobile: +41 79 303 43 44 
denis.dafflon@unifr.ch www.ascn.ch

воскресенье, 28 апреля 2013 г.

Development of Russian Law-VI: Between Tradition and Modernity


Development of Russian Law-VI: Between Tradition and Modernity

International Conference
October 17-18, 2013
Faculty of Law
University of Helsinki

Call for papers

In the past year, Russian law has faced a number of challenges testing its cohesiveness and the level of development, together with the rule of law and democracy. The State Duma election fraud, the Pussy Riot case, the Magnitsky case, anti-gay laws, anti-opposition measures and, finally, the “anti-Magnitsky law” underlined the use of law for the goals of an authoritarian political regime, resembling methods and attitudes of Soviet positive law-making. Many of the 2011-2012 laws have been passed in an attempt to regulate private behavior and to test the limits of personal liberty, as individuals understand it.

In the present situation, legal research faces many challenges of its own. After the 1990s, the age of experiments, swift denials and democratic debates, Russian legal science together with other social sciences and humanities entered a period of stabilization and a quiet state of rigid conservatism even worse than in the thriving age of Soviet ideological control, because today Russia is officially viewed as a “democratic state” and there is no need to struggle with the regime and hide your ideas behind the crafted narrative of supposedly official discourse. Any scholar is relatively free to define his or her research interests, methodology and the area of study, as well as to express their bright and challenging ideas through access to a wide range of academic journals. However, the focus of lawyers today is mostly on the normative substance of Russian rules and institutions – real law and legal reasoning – and less on the socio-economic dimension. Legal research tends to concentrate on purely legal issues and withdraw from the uncertainties of other social sciences through careful avoidance of interdisciplinarity. I. Iu. Kozlikhin expressed his disagreement with “pointless and even detrimental usage of ‘alien’ terminology” in one of his recent articles, while criticizing hermeneutics, legal anthropology and communicative theory in their application to law and legal theory.

The Institute of International Economic Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki is pleased to announce the consecutive conference in Development of Russian law, which will take place in Helsinki on October 17-18, 2013. This conference continues the series of workshops, seminars, and conferences in Russian law, organized by the Faculty of Law since 2008. This annual event is devoted to discussions of the new and important topics within the field of Russian law and legal studies. The 2013 theme is development of Russian law between tradition and modernity and what choices and strategies it makes in the present-day situation.

The conference utilizes the bottom-up approach as to call for papers: Any topic within the sphere of Russian law which is considered important and/or crucial for the development of Russian law and legal studies by the applicant is welcome to be submitted as a proposal for conference participation. We especially encourage younger scholars and graduate students to apply. We also welcome legal researchers from across disciplines to join our discussions of Russian law.

The conference format suggests giving sufficient time for both presenting scholars’ findings and discussion. The sessions are composed of major presentation (40 mins) and two co-presentations (20 mins) on the similar issue followed by a general discussion. At this point we invite proposals for:
-       major presentations (40 mins);
-       co-presentations (20 mins).
We also encourage complete session proposals.

Please, indicate in your proposal what type of the presentation you would like to give.

The working language of the conference is English. All presentations and discussions are held in this language.

Please, include the following in your proposal:
-       Name;
-       Affiliation;
-       Contact information;
-       Title of your talk;
-       Abstract (200-400 words). In case of session proposals, please, include the abstract for the session (400 words) and for each paper (100 words).

The proposals shall be sent to katti-admin@helsinki.fi with the mention of Development of Russian Law-VI in the subject matter by September, 1st, 2013.

If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Marianna Muravyeva, Docentti, Senior Researcher,marianna.muravyeva@helsinki.fi


Dr. Marianna Muravyeva, 
Associate Professor of Law, Docentti,
Senior Researcher, KATTI, Faculty of Law
P.O.Box 4 00014 University of Helsinki
Helsinki Finland
tel. (office no. 345): +358(0)919123205
tel. (mob.): +358 449302127

Editor and Assistant Book Review Editor
ASPASIA. The International Yearbook of Central, Eastern and Southeastern 
European Women's and Gender History

Continental and Analytical Political Theory: An Insurmountable Divide?

Continental and Analytical Political Theory: An Insurmountable Divide?
22.05.13-22.05.13
School of Politics & International Relations, Queen Mary, University of London

The course consists of a one-day workshop for research students and young researchers. The topic is -Post-Structuralism and Political Analysis' which we approach through the theme of -Democracy and Government'. The course will examine the contribution of post-structuralism to political analysis: what are the ontological and epistemological assumptions made by post-structuralists? How are assumptions translated into methodological approaches and guidelines? How does one apply post-structuralism to the analysis of political texts? How do post-structuralists think about the political? Given the assumptions made by post-structuralism, on what basis can post-structuralist analyses be normative? How should we judge the veracity of post-structuralist analysis of politics? What is the role of power in post-structuralism? Etc. The readings and the workshops will be organised around the theme of -democracy and government' as a way of approaching questions about the methodological and n
 ormative status of post-structuralism.

The workshop consists of three two-hour sessions let by Prof Paul Patton (University of New South Wales) and Dr Lasse Thomassen (Queen Mary, University of London). The three sessions are organised around readings from Jacques Derrida, Gilles Deleuze & Félix Gauttari and Michel Foucault on the topic of democracy and government. We examine how three important post-structuralist thinkers have approached questions concerning democracy and government. This also gives us the opportunity to see how post-structuralism can be linked to normative political theory and to consider some methodological issues in relation to post-structuralism (above all, genealogy and the formation of concepts).

Registration necessary but free: http://www.ncrm.ac.uk/training/show.php?article=4056

Network: School of Politics & International Relations, Queen Mary, University of London
Organizing Committee: Lasse Thomassen
Participants: Paul Patton
Lasse Thomassen
Contact person: Lasse Thomassen
email: l.thomassen@qmul.ac.uk
telephone: 00442078822848
Address: School of Politics & International Relations
Queen Mary, University of London
327 Mile End Road
London E1 4NS
United Kingdom

Manchester Methods Summer School


Methods@manchester is now taking bookings for the Manchester Methods Summer School. Courses will be offered at competitive rates for the first year, and are open to all. Places are limited.

The summer school programme caters to students across social sciences, the arts, and humanities, but will appeal to a very diverse range of participants from any discipline. We welcome bookings from academic staff, independent researchers, and ECRs, as well as postgraduate students - so please feel free to circulate widely through your networks.
The school will offer a range of intensive courses taught by experts in each field. The selection includes software training, qualitative and quantitative analysis, area studies, and research design.
Courses on offer are:

Urban Metamorphoses: Landscapes of Power and Memory

Student Conference: Urban Metamorphoses: Landscapes of Power and Memory

Department of Political Science, University of Bucharest
May 17-18, 2013

The relationship between the political and the urban form has been under
much scrutiny as the last two decades witnessed significant changes in both
the political and urban arenas: totalitarian regimes in Central and Eastern
Europe and the Middle East have fallen, as conflicts ravaged cities from
Mostar to Baghdad, while social inequality has risen on a global scale.
The city has morphed in connection with political transformations, its
metamorphoses being charged with diverse power plays and discourses on
justice, coming to terms with the past and engagements with memory. From
the debates on the demolition of the Berlin Socialist-era Palace of the
Republic in order to rebuild a Prussian Royal Palace to the reconstruction
of the center of Beirut, the building of the new polity and the processes
of coming to terms with the past have had a great influence on city-making.
This multidisciplinary student conference seeks to further the analysis of
recent urban metamorphoses by means of a double interrogation.

First, it will consider urban space as an indicator of the relationship
with the past. It aims to investigate the transformations of places into
sites of memory and how architectural projects, memorials, or museums
narrate, fabricate or silence the past.

Second, it will explore urban sites and projects as a means by which
different aspects of the *statu quo* are being expressed or contested. We
aim to engage with the dramatic changes that cities witnessed / are
witnessing in different political contexts and regimes (socialist/
postsocialist, colonial / postcolonial, conflict/post-conflict etc). We
call for explorations of resistance and resilience, contestations, as well
as critical examinations of the intricate relations between various actors
involved in the planning process. This includes forms of urban
contestation of the current political and socio-economic *statu quo*,
including forms of environmental and social injustice.

Therefore, we welcome theoretical or empirical papers addressing the
following or related topics:

·Urban Architecture, Objects and Memories

·Political Projects (and Utopias) of the Built Environment

·Post-conflict Cities and Multiple Narratives about the Past

·Governance, Urban Politics/ Policies and Social Change

·The Street / Market as a Space of Politics and Sociality

·Political Activism (Environmental, etc.) and the Urban Space

·Urban Neighborhoods and Ethnic Relations

·The City as a Space of Separation/ Segregation

·“Lieux de mémoire”, Museums and Contested Heritage

The conference is open to both undergraduate (final years) and postgraduate
students from different fields of social sciences and the humanities:
Political Science, Architecture, Urban Planning, Anthropology, History,
Sociology, Economics, Art History, etc.

The conference will take place at the Political Science Department,
University of Bucharest: 8, Spiru Haret Street, 010175, Bucharest (District
1), Romania.

Applications, in English or French, consisting of a paper abstract of 250
words and a short bio (one paragraph) should be submitted by April 29th, to:
conference@fspub.unibuc.ro.

Please mention if funding of accommodation costs is needed (currently
available funding is very limited). We also welcome research posters
fitting with the conference theme.

The selected papers should be submitted by May 10th (cca. 20, 000 – 25, 000
characters). All presentations will be in either French or English; passive
knowledge of both languages is assumed, but the final paper can be written
in Romanian, English, or French.

The conference is part of the activities taking place within the framework
of the project “La rue comme lieu d’expression du politique”, conducted by
University of Bucharest, Political Science Department; Sciences Po Paris,
Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches Internationales; Institut Français
d’Etudes Anatoliennes (IFEA), Istanbul; Nouvelle Université Bulgare, Sofia
and Université Dokuz Eylül, Izmir: http://rue.ifea-istanbul.net.

--

Damiana Otoiu

Visiting Fellow, European Institute | LSEE Research on SEE

London School of Economics and Political Science
50, Lincoln's Inn Fields, Portsmouth Street
1st Floor, Room 50L 1.03
Ph.: 0044 (0) 78 4504 1229
E-mail: damiana.otoiu@fspub.unibuc.roD.Otoiu@lse.ac.uk

URL: http://www.cevipol.site.ulb.ac.be/fr/membres_otoiu-damianagabriela.html
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/europeanInstitute/research/LSEE/Whos_who/VisitingFellows.aspxStudent Conference: Urban Metamorphoses: Landscapes of Power and Memory

Department of Political Science, University of Bucharest

May 17-18, 2013


The relationship between the political and the urban form has been under
much scrutiny as the last two decades witnessed significant changes in both
the political and urban arenas: totalitarian regimes in Central and Eastern
Europe and the Middle East have fallen, as conflicts ravaged cities from
Mostar to Baghdad, while social inequality has risen on a global scale.
The city has morphed in connection with political transformations, its
metamorphoses being charged with diverse power plays and discourses on
justice, coming to terms with the past and engagements with memory. From
the debates on the demolition of the Berlin Socialist-era Palace of the
Republic in order to rebuild a Prussian Royal Palace to the reconstruction
of the center of Beirut, the building of the new polity and the processes
of coming to terms with the past have had a great influence on city-making.
This multidisciplinary student conference seeks to further the analysis of
recent urban metamorphoses by means of a double interrogation.


First, it will consider urban space as an indicator of the relationship
with the past. It aims to investigate the transformations of places into
sites of memory and how architectural projects, memorials, or museums
narrate, fabricate or silence the past.


Second, it will explore urban sites and projects as a means by which
different aspects of the *statu quo* are being expressed or contested. We
aim to engage with the dramatic changes that cities witnessed / are
witnessing in different political contexts and regimes (socialist/
postsocialist, colonial / postcolonial, conflict/post-conflict etc). We
call for explorations of resistance and resilience, contestations, as well
as critical examinations of the intricate relations between various actors
involved in the planning process. This includes forms of urban
contestation of the current political and socio-economic *statu quo*,
including forms of environmental and social injustice.



Therefore, we welcome theoretical or empirical papers addressing the
following or related topics:


·Urban Architecture, Objects and Memories

·Political Projects (and Utopias) of the Built Environment

·Post-conflict Cities and Multiple Narratives about the Past

·Governance, Urban Politics/ Policies and Social Change

·The Street / Market as a Space of Politics and Sociality

·Political Activism (Environmental, etc.) and the Urban Space

·Urban Neighborhoods and Ethnic Relations

·The City as a Space of Separation/ Segregation

·“Lieux de mémoire”, Museums and Contested Heritage



The conference is open to both undergraduate (final years) and postgraduate
students from different fields of social sciences and the humanities:
Political Science, Architecture, Urban Planning, Anthropology, History,
Sociology, Economics, Art History, etc.

The conference will take place at the Political Science Department,
University of Bucharest: 8, Spiru Haret Street, 010175, Bucharest (District
1), Romania.

Applications, in English or French, consisting of a paper abstract of 250
words and a short bio (one paragraph) should be submitted by April 29th, to:
conference@fspub.unibuc.ro.

Please mention if funding of accommodation costs is needed (currently
available funding is very limited). We also welcome research posters
fitting with the conference theme.


The selected papers should be submitted by May 10th (cca. 20, 000 – 25, 000
characters). All presentations will be in either French or English; passive
knowledge of both languages is assumed, but the final paper can be written
in Romanian, English, or French.

The conference is part of the activities taking place within the framework
of the project “La rue comme lieu d’expression du politique”, conducted by
University of Bucharest, Political Science Department; Sciences Po Paris,
Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches Internationales; Institut Français
d’Etudes Anatoliennes (IFEA), Istanbul; Nouvelle Université Bulgare, Sofia
and Université Dokuz Eylül, Izmir: http://rue.ifea-istanbul.net.

--

Damiana Otoiu

Visiting Fellow, European Institute | LSEE Research on SEE

London School of Economics and Political Science
50, Lincoln's Inn Fields, Portsmouth Street
1st Floor, Room 50L 1.03
Ph.: 0044 (0) 78 4504 1229
E-mail: damiana.otoiu@fspub.unibuc.roD.Otoiu@lse.ac.uk

URL: http://www.cevipol.site.ulb.ac.be/fr/membres_otoiu-damianagabriela.html
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/europeanInstitute/research/LSEE/Whos_who/VisitingFellows.aspx