Nationalisms and State Consolidation in Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe
Joint Sessions of Workshops
Warsaw, Poland
May 15-16, 2014
Deadline for submitting abstracts: December 15, 2013
Deadline for submitting full papers: April 30, 2014
The Faculty of Journalism and Political Science of the University of Warsaw launched a call for proposals for its conference “Nationalisms and State Consolidation in Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe”, which will take place in Warsaw in May 2014.
The conference will be composed by two sessions:
Session 1: Transformation of Nationalisms after Collapse of Communism: Ideas and Structures
Session 2: Models of State Consolidation in Central and Eastern Europe since 2004: National and EU Perspectives
Session 1: Transformation of Nationalisms after Collapse of Communism: Ideas and Structures
The collapse of the Communism marked in Central Europe the end of ethnopolitics based on principle of unification and commenced introduction of more liberal policies towards minorities that have been based on cultural and welfare liberties and benefits. This gave rise to the ongoing pressure from the minority groups to gain better status, which has been supported by the left-wing and socio-liberal political parties, as well as the Council of Europe and EU institutions.
However, after some 25 years since collapse of Communism one may observe that the cost of welfare and cultural policies oriented at cultural, ethnic and immigrant minority groups, as well as their lifestyles differing from the leading ones, have motivated numerous conflicts and controversies on local and national scale. Importantly this process was not confined to the Central Europe, “defrosting” after five decades of the Cold War, but also has been spilling over to West of the continent (e.g. UK, the Netherlands).
Therefore, in last few years in many countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and in some of the Western Europe as well, there have been observed escalation of ethnically- and racially-motivated political violence (e.g. Russia); riots against select minorities (e.g. Czech Republic); or local conflicts (e.g. Slovakia). An important factor of rise in popularity of national(ist) movements, and their specific forms in different countries, is the systemic politico-socio-economic transformation shared by all countries of the region, and its differing national models. This leads to nationalists infiltrating social movements (e.g. football hooligans) or forming new subcultures (autonomous nationalists). Finally, starting from criticising ethnopolicies implemented by mainstream parties and EU institutions as ineffective, nationalist groupings keep enhancing their social popularity, which allows them to win parliamentary and local government seats (e.g. Hungary).
The main aim of the Session 1 (and its constituent workshops) shall be to analyse and diagnose to what extent observed revival of national(ist) movements in many countries can: lead to political radicalism or extremism; become dangerous for the democratic system’s stability; and challenge the cultural minorities’ security.
Paper proposals (comparative studies or case studies) should regard the following issues:
new faces of national(ist) movements: radical and moderate doctrines, changes in political vocabulary, slogans and symbols; media and public image; lifestyle and organisational models;
social base: relations with selected social movements and subcultures;
increase in political influence: parliamentary and regional elections, protests and role in local conflicts (especially in the ethnic and cultural minorities context);
nationalism as a form of political radicalism and extremism.
Scientific Board of Session 1
Professor Karl Cordell, Plymouth University, United Kingdom
Professor Miroslav Mareš, Masaryk University, Czech Republic
Konrad Jajecznik, PhD candidate, University of Warsaw – Session co-ordinator and local organiser
Session 2: Models of State Consolidation in Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe: National and EU Perspectives
Central and Eastern European states are still dealing with the issue of consolidation. Both long-standing states (Poland, Hungary, Romania) and more recent ones (Slovakia, Belarus, the Republic of Moldova) still continue their state-building process. Despite many similarities in their transition from the centrally-planned economy and Communist political regimes to liberal-democratic polities and market economies, they are not facing exactly the same challenges. On the contrary, Central and Eastern Europe presents a wide variety of case studies. Such issues like: nation-building process; power decentralisation; fight against corruption; enhancement of the rule of law and effective administration; or mass-media pluralism seem to be common to all former Communist countries, but do not arise in the same manner. This is especially true in the context of existing political elites, their culture(s) and background(s). Finally, there is impact of European Union neighbourhood and accession policies to be analysed as an important factor of state stabilisation and consolidation in Central and Eastern Europe.
Paper proposals (comparative studies or case studies) should concern the following issues:
main domestic challenges for state stability;
states consolidation policies (government activities, population attitude);
composition and background of political elites;
impact of the EU enlargement (2004, 2007, 2013, …?) upon state-building processes.
Scientific Board of Session 2
Professor Joanna Nowicki, University of Cergy-Pontoise, France
Professor Jean-Michel de Waele, Free University of Brussels (ULB-CEVIPOL), Belgium
Professor Sergiu Mişcoiu, University Babeş-Bolyai (UBB), Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Professor Oleksiy Tretyak, Oles Honchar Dnipropetrovsk National University (DNU), Ukraine
Dr. Valeriy Yudaev, Russian State Social Science University (RGSU), Moscow, Russia
Dr. Bartłomiej Zdaniuk, University of Warsaw – Session co-ordinator and local organiser
Structure of the Sessions
Both Sessions shall include several Workshops.
Each Workshop shall be composed of three to five papers, and shall be accompanied by a discussant.
The Scientific Boards of the Sessions are open for the complete Workshop Proposals.
Guidelines for Submission
The proposals prepared by scholars and academics shall be submitted by e-mail to:
Session 1: Konrad Jajecznik k.jajecznik@uw.edu.pl
Session 2: Bartłomiej Zdaniuk bartlomiej.zdaniuk@uw.edu.pl
The proposals should include:
title, name and affiliation of the participant;
title of the paper;
400-500 words abstract;
250-300 words biographical note with an information about researcher’s publications (or links to scientific databases and repositories, e.g. Google Scholar).
Deadlines:
proposal submission: December 15, 2013
proposal acceptance and invitation to sending papers: January 15, 2014
conference fee payment: March 5, 2014
conference programme announcement: April 1, 2014
papers’ submission: April 30, 2014
The conference fee of 100 EUR will cover refreshment on both conference days, conference dinner taking place on May 15 and the publication of selected papers.
Please note that accommodation and travelling costs are not included. We will be most happy however, to recommend hotels in proximity of the University. Detailed information about payment shall be provided to successful proposers in January 2014.
Selected papers will be considered for publication in scientific journals chosen in cooperation with members of JSW Scientific Boards and an edited volume (book and e-book) published by the University of Warsaw Political Science Press.
The paper approval for publication requires positive double blind review prepared by members of the Scientific Boards.
Organizer
Faculty of Journalism and Political Science – Warsaw University
Information & contacts
Prof Wojciech JAKUBOWSKI
Dean for Scientific Research and International Cooperation
Faculty of Journalism and Political Science
University of Warsaw
Krakowskie Przedmieście Street, No. 3
00-927 Warsaw, Poland
phone/fax.: +48 22 55 22 952
