Fringe Political Parties in Southeast and Eastern Europe

Workshop - Ghent, Belgium

9-10 May 2016

CALL FOR PAPERS

Post-authoritarian transition in Southeast Europe (SEE) and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has proved particularly challenging for the consolidation of formal democratic politics. This is especially the case in the post-conflict territories in Former Yugoslavia, but also other countries in SEE and in CEE have been struggling with the liberal transformation of the successor states. The countries in these two regions span the spectrum of EU integration, from long-standing post-authoritarian Member States (Greece) and more recent post-socialist expansion of the EU (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia), to candidates (FYROM, Montenegro, Albania, Serbia) and potential candidates (Bosnia, Kosovo) in the Western Balkans. Thus far, however, existing research on politics in SEE largely ignores domestic political agency, particularly with regard to political actors (parties and movements) ‘at the margins’. Indeed, to date the study of politics in SEE is often reduced to the institutionalised elites from the majority political parties and the influence of the EU and other international actors and events on these elites. To a lesser extent, this is also true for research on CEE. Moreover, comparative studies are lacking. The series of exogenous ‘shocks’ that has recently swiped through the region, namely the sovereign debt crisis, the refugee crisis and - in some cases - the growing assertiveness of Russia, is currently challenging the conventional consensus politics and is fuelling Eurosceptic and anti-EU sentiment. 

The central aim of this workshop is to explore and gain a better understanding of the political parties ‘at the margins’ in SEE and CEE, including those espousing anti-EU or Eurosceptic discourses. In particular, the workshop would like to chart the impact of those recent external shocks on the political choices, strategies, tactics and relevance on fringe parties and their political elites in SEE. Comparative analysis of countries within SEE and CEE is encouraged.

The workshop welcomes papers that focus on one or more of the following questions:

-	To what extent have external shocks given rise to the emergence of radical parties at the fringes of established party systems in SEE and CEE?
-	How have fringe parties in SEE and CEE been reacting to the recent external shocks? 
-	How does this compare to 'internal shocks' as also being catalysts for the consolidation of fringe political parties?
-	To what extent do fringe parties in SEE and CEE (try to) challenge the status quo in their countries as a result of the recent external shocks?
-	What impact does the emergence of fringe parties have on the actions of established parties in SEE and CEE in light of the recent external shocks?
-	How have political parties at the fringes gained electoral support in recent local and/or national (and/or European) elections in SEE and CEE?
-	What is the relationship between recent social movements and 'fringe' parties? 
-	How about the link between populism - both exclusive and inclusive - and fringe political parties?
-	What is the role of personalistic fringe parties?
-	Does the European level provide an opportunity structure for fringe parties in SEE and CEE?

The workshop’s geographic definition of SEE includes Greece, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, Bosnia, FYROM, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania and Serbia. Central and Eastern Europe comprises Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Czech Republic. Relevant comparisons between SEE and CEE countries are equally welcomed. The goals of the workshop are to provide insights into the political strategies and tactics of fringe parties in these countries and to discuss the impacts these actors may have for the meaning of democracy in the two regions. The workshop welcomes papers that engage with fringe political parties that cannot be considered “mainstream”, including – but not limited to – far right and far left parties, Muslim parties and ethnic minority parties.

We are looking for contributions in the form of contextualized case studies, focusing on one or two fringe parties or offering a comparative perspective within or across SEE or Eastern European countries, or between SEE countries and other post-socialist countries in Eastern Europe. We welcome both quantitative analyses (e.g. based on electoral data from local and/or national polls) and qualitative analyses (e.g. based on content analysis of political party manifestoes).

The workshop will be organized by the Centre for EU Studies (http://www.eustudies.ugent.be) at Ghent University (Belgium) together with the UACES Collaborative Research Network “Fringe Politics in Southeast Europe” (http://www.cer.qmul.ac.uk/UACES%20Network/index.html). The workshop will take place in Ghent on 9-10 May 2016.

Participation by junior researchers is encouraged. The aim of the workshop is to publish a selection of the papers from the event in a peer-reviewed journal special issue or edited book.

To propose a paper, please send an abstract (up to 500 words) and a short biographical note (200 words) to [log in to unmask] by 31 January 2016. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 15 February 2016.

Accommodation will be fully covered. Full drafts (6,000-8,000 words) of the papers should be sent to the workshop organizers by 20 April 2016.

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