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From:                   Petra Deger <[log in to unmask]>
To:                     [log in to unmask]
Subject:                International conference
Date sent:              Fri, 7 Dec 2001 11:37:15 +0100

    Apologies for Crosspostings!!

    Invitiation to young researchers (up to the age of  35) to the conference "'United
    States' - On the Significance of Space and Borders in Modernity. A Comparison
    between Europe and the USA"
    International Symposium, 13th - 17th May 2002, Villa Vigoni, Italy

    Young researchers who work on a topic related to this symposium can be
    invited to the conference. Hotel accomodation will be free, only travel costs
    must be covered by the participants.

    Please send an abstract on your research project and a short CV ( in english) to
    [log in to unmask]
    Deadline: 15th January 2002
    In case of any questions you can contact Petra Deger.

    About the Symposium
    The connection between the theoretical and practical implications of space as
    basis of political organizations of territories is the guiding line of the conference. Of
    special interest shall be the symbolic creation of spatial formations in the form of
    states and the implication for  national/spatial  identity. Concerning this it is of
    special importance that the formation of united states is a federal organization of a
    territory.
    The current discussion about processes of globalization and their implications refer
    to the orientation on territory, which is almost taken for granted, and its control.
    Formerly significant frontiers also lose some of their importance in the globalization
    process, which causes partly considerable (inter alia fiscal) difficulties for the
    states. Although sovereignty over the territory is maintained formally, the
    possibilities of interfering action are actually reduced. The globalization s cultural
    implications are nothing else but a logically consistent product of the modern age,
    which is known for the principle of free-markets, the nation state and an
    international system of states.
    Space and the removal of borders through globalization is not only a political
    phenomenon but also a cultural one. Probably in this fact lies one of the most
    distinct differences between the USA and Europe. As there are also strongly
    developed nation-state identities in Europe, being the crandle of the nation state,
    hardly any room for a European identity is to be found. In contrast to this one can
    find the American ideology, which has an uniting effect despite the federal system
    exists in the United States. This ideology gives expression to  uniform ideas of the
    political system, for example in the disapproval of the accumulation of power, in the
    belief in democracy and in the strongly developed individualism, which considers
    property as part of the private sphere. In addition to these basic beliefs newer
    research on political culture in the USA corrected the former picture of internal
    homogeneity.
    In regard of homogeneity it seems that in Europe and the USA the relation between
    market and administrative regulations is a different one. Homogeneity in the sense
    of making living conditions in Europe similar is considered to be a fundamental
    driving force in the development of a European identity. This is the reason why
    homogeneity represents a main political aim. Regional and structural policy is one
    of the important and particularly most expensive political fields.
    The topic of the conference is the question, which spatial implications a political
    organization of a territory has, especially under a social, political, historical and
    legal perspective. Especially at the beginning of the twenty-first century, this
    question seems to  be particularly interesting to observe in federal states; for the
    federative formation in particular is regarded as very modern and is considered to
    give an answer to different questions possible in a uniform or completely different
    way, according to the political field and level. What makes the model so attractive
    is that even very centralistically organized (industrial) nations increasingly permit or
    even promote processes of regionalization.
    There will be a lot of time for discussion of the papers (which should take about
    30 minutes), so the symposium should really be a working conference with special
    emphasis on interdisciplinarity.


    Sessions:
Theoriesof space, nations and territory
Borders,peripheries and their problems
The nation state as a product of modernity
Mechanismsof exclusion and inclusion
Conceptsand contents of (national) identity
Globalizationand the question of political organization


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