Apologies for cross-posting.
*UNIVERSUM INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL STUDIES*
*in cooperation with:*
*FRIEDRICH EBERT STIFTUNG*
* *
*CALL FOR PAPERS *
*SOUTH **EAST EUROPE** STUDENT RESEARCH CONFERENCE*
*28-29 May 2010*
*Prishtina, Kosovo*
*INVITATION*: Universum Institute for Economic and Social Studies and
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung invite senior undergraduate and graduate students
(master and PhD students) to the international conference entitled ‘South
East Europe Student Research Conference’. Please find the topics below.
*PROPOSALS*: Paper proposals should include the main argument and keywords,
and may not exceed one (double-spaced) page. Proposals will be evaluated by
a panel of experts for each topic.
*DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS IS **16 APRIL 2010**. *All proposals
should be sent by email at [log in to unmask], or
[log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>.
*PAPERS:* Accepted paper proposals will need to be submitted no later than
May 23rd of May, 2010. Papers shall be 2000-4500 words long and may follow
one of the following referencing systems: Harvard Referencing System,
Cambridge Referencing System or Chicago Referencing System. Papers shall be
reviewed by anonymous peer-reviewers. For more information on the review
process, consult the Universum Institute's research policies at:
www.universum-ks.org.
*PARTICIPATION FEE: *There is NO participation fee for the conference.
*ACCOMMODATION: *Accommodation (including meals) for Western Balkans
students and some international students will be provided at the student’s
dorm. However, no transportation costs are covered by the organizers.
*PUBLICATION:* All selected papers will be published in a Special Conference
Proceedings.
*TOPICS TO BE COVERED BY THE CONFERENCE*
The Western Balkans Student Research Conference shall cover five
topics, each of which shall be discussed and presented under the supervision
of a specialized panel of scholars:
1) *WESTERN BALKANS EU INTEGRATION CHALENGES* - The conference intends
to commission and receive papers that cover the challenges that shape the
SEE countries’ prospects for integration in the EU. More specifically, the
conference aims at receiving research papers that discuss the following: a)
the competition policies in the Western Balkans, and the approximation of
rules in the concerned countries with the EC standards; b) the market
stabilization under a liberal approach in the SEE; c) political stability
and the political conditionality from an EU integration perspective in SEE;
d) legal systems’ reform in the Western Balkans, and the latter’s legal
harmonization with the *aquis communitare*.
2) *SOCIAL POLICY IN THE **SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE* – The conference
intends to commission and receive papers that cover the social dimension of
public policies in any of the South Eastern Europe countries. More
particularly, within this theme, the conference intends to receive research
works that have studied one of the following: a) the interrelationship
between the social policies and the economic growth in any of the SEE
countries; b) challenges of the social policy to the state expenditures and
public deficit; c) implications of the social policy in the
market-liberalization process; d) the European integration vis-à-vis the
Western Balkans countries’ social wealth-fare; e) the social policies’
interference towards the state corruption and ‘government overload’
phenomenon; and finally, f) the social policy of a given SEE country as a
determinant for the public opinion’s satisfaction with the government.
3) *DEMOCRATIZATION IN **SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE* – The conference intends
to receive papers that cover the democratization routes of any of the SEE
countries. More particularly, the conference intends to receive papers that
have researched on one of the following sub-topics: a) the communist
legacies’ interference in the post-communist democratization process; b) the
challenges to the SEE pluralist democratization; c) the corrupted electoral
systems, and the outcomes in the public legitimacy context; d) the public
participation in the policy-making process, and its relationship with the
people’s electoral behavior; e) the political parties’ extent of
quantitative and qualitative pluralism; f) the endangerement of
democratization from the populist politics; and g) the international
community’s preference for stability, rather than deeper democratization in
the SEE.
4) *ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE AND TRENDS IN THE WESTERN BALKANS* – The
conference intends to receive papers that cover the economic performance and
trends in the Western Balkans. More particularly, the conference intends to
receive papers that have researched one of the following sub-topics: a) the
Global Financial Turmoil’s interferences in the economic performance of any
of the Western Balkans countries; b) the impact and significance of IMF’s
financial support for the budgetary deficits in any of the Western Balkans
countries; c) what is more beneficial for a Western Balkans country:
euroization or the strengthening of domestic currency?; d) is there any
evidence that the financial speculation is the ground of financial crisis in
Croatia and Greece?; e) what was the role of Central Banks in the management
of extended public expenditures in the Western Balkans countries during
electoral periods; f) is there any degree of support for increasing the role
of the state in the management of demand in any of the national economies in
SEE; g) what are the trends of foreign direct investments in the Western
Balkans countries, in the aftermath of the global financial turmoil; i) what
is better off: strengthening the market regulator with a view to the
development strategies in the Western Balkans or decreasing its role?; h)
anything else related to the economic growth policies or market
liberalization strategies in any of the western Balkans countries.
5) *MINORITY AND INTER-ETHNIC RELATIONS* - The conference intends to
commission and receive papers that cover the ethnic minority position within
the social, economic and political systems of the SEE countries, with
emphasis in Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia. This topic shall particularly
cover: a) the consociational governing systems in Macedonia and Kosovo, and
the sufficiency of minority rights’ protection in the countries’ concerned;
b) the majority vs. minority relations in Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia; c)
the institutional approaches to the minority issues in the countries
concerned; d) party politics and its interaction with the minority rights;
e) the lack of integration in CoE as a deficiency of minority rights’
protection from the international perspective; and f) the international
community’s constrains upon the SEE governments with regard to the
ethnic-minorities’ rights protection and participation in the public life.
*The Conference is co-organized and supported by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
Office in Prishtina.*
Further information can be obtained from the website of the Conference
www.universum-ks.org/studentconference<http://www.universum-ks.org/conference>
We look forward to hosting you soon in Prishtina.
Sincerely,
Organizing Committee
SEE Student Research Conference
Universum Institute for Economic and Social Studies
Veterrniku pn, Prishtina, Kosovo, 10000
Tel. +381 38 544 210
+377 44 124 897
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web: www.universum-ks.org
