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Apologies for cross-postings
August 18th to 22th 2014
83 - European integration, conflict resolutions and persisting divides
Ten years after the 2004 enlargement that was supposed to definitively brought the postwar division of Europe in a Western and Eastern bloc to the dust bin of history, the integration of new Member States in the European Union turns out to be a complex matter
and structural differences between old and new member states persist. In addition the 2008 US banking crisis and the subsequent financial, fiscal, economic, and political crisis that hit EU member states and the Eurozone in particular, has brought to the front
the persistence of numerous divides inside Europe. New social divides and conflicts, epitomized by grassroots mobilization against austerity policies, have added up to older ones. Moreover, enduring territorial conflicts in several member states regarding
the status of specific territories (Catalonia, Basque Country, Scotland, Northern Ireland, North Cyprus etc.) have not beneficiated from further integration and enlargement, despite EU’s attempt to cope with its self- definition as a multicultural and security
actor protecting minorities and human rights. Meanwhile the hardening of the external border of the EU has aggravating the divide between EU and non-EU territories, despite the rhetoric of European Neighbourhood Policy. This session welcomes papers addressing
various aspects of the political geographies of European integration to advance our understanding of the European Union as a new political system and the way it evolves under the present economic and political crisis as well as analysis of the enduring pervasiveness
of Westphalian state territoriality, as a norm, if not as a practice. The session also addresses issues related to the impact of the EU rebordering/debordering practices in situations of territorial conflict, with respect to the institutional, physical and
identity features of borders. We welcome papers dealing with: • the challenges of European integration in the light of the financial crisis, the political crisis of the Eurozone, and the re-emerging relevance of the North-South divide; • the Europeanization
of new member states and the persistence of the East-West trope in the representation of Europeans and of the European Union; • the potential role of the EU in hindering or enhancing conflict resolution processes within its borders, through both its bordering
impact and at its normative projection. Papers could address conceptual, methodological and theoretical aspects of the political geographies of European integration and Europeanization, territorial conflict, territoriality and bordering processes, as well
as case studies pertaining to specific Member States, conflicts or divides.
Convenors:
Virginie Mamadouh, University of Amsterdam
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Anna Casaglia, University of Milano-Bicocca
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Jussi Laine, University of Eastern Finland
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The sessions (co-)sponsored by the IGU Commission on Political Geography are listed and described in the Urban Geography Commission's Website:
http://www.igu-cpg.unimib.it/?p=856 and
http://www.igu-cpg.unimib.it/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/IGUCPGCALLS.pdf
Themes are
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Contemporary conflicts and new/old form of belligerence (Elena dell’Agnese)
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Globalisation, sharing.gift economies and contested everyday futures (Anthony Ince)
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Political geographies of multilingualism (Virginie Mamadouh)
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European, integration, conflict resolutions and persisting divides (Virginie Mamadouh, Anna Cassaglia, Jussi Laine)
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Here, there, everywhere: social movements spatializing dissent (Valeria Pecorelli)
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Concept of power and space in ‘post political approaches (Paul Reuber)
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The political geographies of ‘post-growth’ discourses (Paul Reuber)
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The politics of commodification of nature (Paul Reuber)
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Climate change, environmental discourse and gender (Marcella Schmidt di Friedberg and Stefano Malatesta, (Joint session with the IGU commission on Gender and Geography)
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Gender, human rights and citizenship (Marcella Schmidt di Friedberg and Camilla Spadavecchia) (Joint session with the IGU commission on Gender and Geography)
·
Tourism and political borders (Marek Wieckowski, Dallen J. Timothy, Elena dell’Agnese) (Joint session with the IGU commission on the Geography of Tourism, Leisure and Global Change)
·
Dark tourism, heritage and war (Carolin Funck, Tim Coles, Elena dell’Agnese) (Joint session with the IGU commission on the Geography of Tourism, Leisure and Global Change)
·
What (political ) geography ought to be? Theoretical approaches to and historical perspectives on geography and geopolitics as instruments of peace (Elena dell’Agnese and Toshiyuki Shimazu) (Joint session with the IGU commission
on the History of Geography)
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Beyond global cities’ system: cities as geopolitical actors in the complex world (Anna Casaglia and Celine Rozenblat) (Joint session with the IGU commission on Urban Challenges in a Complex World)
General information:
The final list of sessions is available at the conference webpage, as a link named:2014 IGU conference sessions' outline
which is located at the following subpages:
http://www.igu2014.org/index.php?page=programme
http://www.igu2014.org/index.php?page=registration
http://www.igu2014.org/index.php?page=call_for_papers
The conference participants may submit abstracts for particular sessions only via the on-line system. In order to have access to that system, it is necessary to register
as a participant in the registration system.
More details about registration at:
http://www.igu2014.org/index.php?page=registration
More details about abstract submission:
http://www.igu2014.org/index.php?page=call_for_papers