Dear Colleagues,
I am pleased to announce that the International Boundaries Research
Unit's 8th international conference will take place in Durham on 1-3
April 2009 on the theme The State of Sovereignty.
IBRU began work in 1989, the year that saw the fall of the Berlin Wall
and the first use of the term 'the borderless world'. Two decades on,
borders are still very much with us but the geopolitical setting in
which they exist has changed dramatically. Governments around the world
are facing increasingly complex challenges in the exercise of
territorial sovereignty - and a growing number are arguably losing the
battle, sometimes with catastrophic consequences.
The changing nature of sovereignty in a globalising world has attracted
attention from a wide range of disciplines, but the practical
implications of such changes for boundary-making, management and dispute
resolution have rarely been examined in depth. This major international
conference will provide scholars and practitioners with an opportunity
to reflect on the impact of the geopolitical upheavals of the last
twenty years, and to exchange ideas about the meaning and function of
territorial sovereignty today and in the decades ahead.
A formal call for papers will be issued later in the year. However,
proposals for panels/papers are welcome at any time. Themes of
particular interest include:
* Sovereignty and territorial integrity
* 'Earned sovereignty', 'contingent sovereignty' and their
territorial implications
* 'Failed' states; ungoverned, undergoverned and 'ungovernable'
regions
* Sovereignty and international law
* New frontiers: de-bordering, re-bordering and 'networked borders'
* Secessionist movements and new states
* Alternatives to absolute territorial sovereignty
* Boundary-making and the assertion of sovereignty on the ground
* Sovereignty and surveillance
* Creeping jurisdiction? The exercise of control over maritime space
* New approaches to the resolution of territorial disputes
* The impact of climate change on sovereignty
* The management of transboundary resources
* Sovereignty and Antarctica
We hope that many members of this list will be able to join us for this
conference, which will form part of IBRU's 20th anniversary
celebrations. Please note the dates in your diaries and watch
www.dur.ac.uk/ibru/conferences/sos for further announcements.
Best wishes,
m a r t i n
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Martin Pratt
Director of Research
International Boundaries Research Unit
Department of Geography
Durham University
Durham DH1 3LE
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)191 334 1964
Fax: +44 (0)191 334 1962
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http://www.dur.ac.uk/ibru
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