After Thessaloniki–which was my first ever visit to Greece (I know!)–Athens comes quickly after. A very valuable conference and great opportunity to see new and familiar faces. Much looking forward to this!
EWIS – Thessaloniki
Off to Thessaloniki for my first in person conference/workshop since ISA 2018. I am not even sure I remember the etiquette…
… short update afterwards: It was amazing. Completely different experience than a regular conference. We had time to just have conceptual conversations and discussion. I needed this.
EISA Pan-European Conference 2021
To really wake up from my COVID-hybernation, I’ll join the European International Studies Association Pan-European Conference this week. I will be on two panels actively (see below) and hopefully many more in the audience.
I’ll be joining pandemic-style, though. Just as my husband is away for a real live workshop, my 22-month-old decided now is a good time to fall ill…
Paper presentation:
Discussant:
DVPW-Kongress 2018, Sept 25-28
It almost feels like a farewell party organized specifically for me: This week’s conference of the German Association for Political Science (DVPW) coincides with my last official work week in Germany! (It is not, of course, my official farewell party but that is unlikely to lessen my fun.)
My own presentation will be on Tuesday afternoon in one of the first panels. The panel as a whole addresses the theme of ‘cosmopolitan responsibility’. Personally I will draw into question whether we can experience and feel such a responsibility and if and how it works when we are called to act upon our ‘common humanity’.
| Paper: | Cosmopolitan responsibility in practice: Social distance and the challenge of a ‘common humanity’ identity |
| Slot: | Tuesday, Sept. 25, 16:00-17:30, SH 3.106 |
| Panel: | Grenzen der Demokratie überwinden — Kosmopolitische Verantwortung als politisches Konzept |
| Other panelists: | Mitja Sienknecht, Jürgen Neyer, Eva Buddeberg, Antja Vetterlein and Hannes Hansen-Magnusson |
For more information on the conference and the full program: DVPW-Kongress 2018.
EISA Pan-European Conference, Sept 12-15
This week I will be at the European International Studies Association (EISA) 12th Pan-European Conference on International Relations in Prague, Czech Republic.
Although I’ll be around earlier, you can find me on Friday morning in the following two consecutive panels each taking a slightly different perspective on ‘social distance‘ and the role of emotions in IR.
First panel:
| Paper: | Humanitarian Selectivity. Addressing the Socio-emotional Side of Intervention Decisions and Support for Humanitarian Aid |
| Slot: | Friday, Sept. 14, 09:00-10:45, RB 106 |
| Panel: | What is ‘Humanitarian’ in International Relations? Meanings of a contested concept |
| Section: | S22: Humanitarian Affairs in International Relations |
Second panel:
| Paper: | Saving Strangers: On Social Distance in International Relations |
| Slot: | Friday, Sept. 14, 11:15-13:00, SB 227 |
| Panel: | Engaging with Difference for Peace |
| Section: | S48: The Politics of Otherness |
For the conference website and full program, click here.
Politicologenetmaal, June 7-8
This week I am traveling to Leiden to take part in the Dutch/Belgian ’24hrs of political science’ conference — time for me to re-integrate in the Dutch-speaking pol. sci. community.
My contribution:
| Paper: | Domestic support for international interventions: Addressing the social and emotional dimensions |
| Slot: | Friday, June 8, 09:00-10:30 |
| Panel III: | Micro-level approaches to conflict participation and resolution |
| Workshop: | Opening the black box of international conflicts. Individual, domestic and multi-level perspectives. |
ISA Annual Convention 2018
This week the 59th Annual Convention of the International Studies Association takes place in San Francisco. Here is the full program, below my modest contribution:
| Emotions, social distance and humanitarian interventions |
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Offene Sektionstagung der IB-Sektion der DVPW
This week I will present my latest research project on Social distance in IR for the first time to, hopefully, a critical audience at the conference of the International Relations section of the German Political Science Association (DVPW) in Bremen.
You can find me, Thursday morning, Oct. 5, room SFG 2030.
| Far away and Unknown: On Social Distance in Security Governance |
| In this paper I introduce the concept of ‘social distance’ to the study of security governance. As a concept, social distance derives from social psychology and denotes that ‘distance’ – temporal, cultural, spatial, and hypothetical – influences subjective experiences. Known as construal level theory, studies have shown that mental representations of distal events are more abstract, thereby moderating emotional stimuli and thus affect, preferences, and action. Bringing this concept into the field of security governance I explore the following question: How does social distance influence and shape security discourses and practices in relation to the organisation of humanitarian interventions? |
EISA Pan-European Conference 2017
Join me for a panel part of the section on critical military studies addressing Critical Approaches to the Study of Private Military and Security Companies first thing Thursday morning, 09:00-10:45 (room 20,021) at the EISA Pan-European Conference in Barcelona.
| PMSCs and Global Recruitment: When demand from the ‘West’ meets labour from the ‘South’ |
| Whether working for the UN, NATO, states or NGOs, Private Military and Security Contractors (PMSCs) are becoming more visible and invaluable in (post-)conflict zones. Although frequently discussed in relation to state control and legal accountability these companies, especially for more menial and feminised tasks, employ many Third Country Nationals (TCNs). Mainly coming from under-privileged regions and developing states thousands of ‘labour migrants’ have found their way into conflict zones. Different from the dominant image of contractors—as employing former British and US-American elite special forces—PMSC-practices are largely constituted and made possible by labour from the Global South. This paper reflects critically on the way international military engagements have come to rely on global recruitment practices and places this in the broader context of the globalisation of production and labour in general. Exploring the parallels between the use of TCNs by PMSCs and the establishment of Global Production Networks (GPNs) in other industries this paper observes that the establishment of labour supply chains in support of Western warfare changed the distribution of the social, physical, and economic costs and benefits of the production of warfare. |
Here is a pdf of the original paper. A later version of this paper was published in ZeFKo (in German).
Hilde van Meegdenburg 