Democracy, Power and Identity in Asia

The International Association for Political Science Students - Asia, in partnership with the Department of Political Science, National University of Mongolia, invites you to its virtual academic conference on ‘Democracy, Power and Identity in Asia’, designed to explore Asia in a new light. The conference is a great way for students and enthusiasts of politics to listen to experts and emerging local voices for their view on some of the more pressing matters of democracy and politics in Asia.

We aim to enhance and support political science students in every part of the world by creating opportunities to research, connect with each other and get to know distant places. We strive to deliver a sustainable academic contribution to the education of our members, to foster exchange among young political scientists across the globe and to promote social and scientific responsibility.

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MONGOLIA
The National University of Mongolia is a public university primarily located in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Established in 1942, it is the oldest institution of higher learning in Mongolia. It aims to create and distribute new knowledge in environmental, social, humanitarian and technological fields and contribute to the country’s development at an extensive level.
Mongolia is one of Asia’s most consistent democracies. Ever since its peaceful transition to democracy in 1990, Mongolia has had eight elections and continues to foster a healthy democracy. Under this backdrop, IAPSS Asia is keen to cooperate with one of Mongolia’s oldest and most prestigious organizations, the Department of Political Science, National University of Mongolia.  

CONFERENCE THEME
The theme of the conference closely corresponds with the IAPSS Annual Theme which serves IAPSS as a common thread throughout the year. With a truly international audience with participants from all sub-disciplines of political science, international relations, and neighboring social sciences, the IAPSS Asia Academic Conference is a unique opportunity for individual academic learning, vivid debate, and networking.

Democracy, identity and power, concepts that behind the “veil of abstraction” enhanced by innumerable studies addressing them, are cornerstones for understanding contemporary politics and international relations.  However, in the past few liberal democracy has been gradually shattered by the thus termed “identity politics”. Moreover, the accentuating economic and social gap caused by globalization, the abuses of the “established elites”, among other phenomena, have fuelled even more the populist discourse, challenging the traditional understanding of democracy, its practice and theory.
At the same time, identity is constructed according to the interests of power, which consequently propels itself by the cohesion of people’s collective identification. Today, due to the mercurial spreading of “identity politics”, the primacy of rules (based primarily on reason) as the prime source of authority is eroding, and observers witness the empowerment of Max Weber’s two alternative sources of rule: traditions (frequently, although not always directed against progress and development) and charisma (cantered around political leaders who may or may not feel bound by laws or traditions). But how can democracy survive in this complex and volatile scenario? If identity politics is polarising democratic societies to the point of no return, what is the way out? What are the consequences for governance of the shift from the primacy of rules to alternative sources of authority?

SUB THEMES
In Asian Countries, democracy has seen a transitional shift. These shifts have challenged the existing political institutions, practices, redefined public opinion, political behaviour, and impacted diverse sections of society at large. Within this transitional phase and the recent developments, the democracies in Asian countries have grown to a newer extent, and the leaders, policy makers, academicians, researchers and students are focusing on registering these new information into concrete studies. In the light of these developments, this two day conference (21-22 November 2020) , will be touching upon different dimensions under its broad theme-’Democracy, Power and Identity in Asia’.

We invite papers from junior scholars, PhD scholars and academicians belonging to diverse disciplines, countries and perspectives from across the continent, which falls under the broad ambit of the below given sub themes.

PANEL 1- Identity and Politics in Asia
Date: November 21, 2020  

PANEL 2- Democracy and Power Strategies in Asia
Date: November 22, 2020  

All the papers selected will be peer reviewed by the team of experts from the Academic and Research team, IAPSS. The academic team will be selecting the best ten papers for the conference, which will be later published as a special version of the journal under the publication house, National University of Mongolia. The paper presenters will be awarded with certificates for their successful participation and paper presentation.

Deadlines for paper submission and registration:

• Registration opens (for participants) - 4 October 2020
• Opening call for papers - 5 October 2020
• Early bird deadline - 22 October 2020
• Last deadline for paper submissions - 30 October 2020
• Informing selected Speakers - 16 November 2020
• Registration closes (for participants) - 18 November 2020

Register with us here: Academic Conference

For queries, write to: projects.asia@iapss.org.
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