IAPSS World Congress 2020: Democracy, Identity and Power

The International Association for Political Science Students is launching its Call for Abstracts for the World Congress in Vienna. This year, we are partnering with the Central European University (CEU). If you are interested in presenting your paper, you are kindly requested to submit your abstract by 27 January (priority deadline) and 17 February 2020 (regular deadline) respectively.

Theme: Democracy, Identity and Power

Democracy, identity and power are cornerstones for understanding contemporary politics and international relations. After the end of the Cold War, democracy or more pointedly, liberal democracy has produced a domino effect, emerging and expanding across the globe at a fast rate, becoming the system of government states strive to achieve. However, not only democratic developments have been of interest in political science. Social movements, revolutions and strikes have returned to the focus of academic debates with current developments in Venezuela, Columbia, Hong Kong and other places in the world. The latest uprisings in Sudan and Algeria, and ongoing conflicts in Syria and Yemen furthermore call attention to shifting geopolitics, authoritarian survival and socio-ethnic divisions in societies.

Globalization and shifting geopolitics have heralded transformations in a myriad of subjects, including civil-military relations, international law and even domestic elections through for example discourses about the European Union. Likewise, in the wake of technological advancements, questions about the role of cyberspace in security, defense and day-to-day governance emerge, as well as human-made impacts on the climate, and the future use of natural resources. The wave of refugees that reached Europe in 2015 challenged many previous concepts and ideas of, amongst others, national, ethnic and religious identity. Economic and social gaps caused by globalization and the actions of the “established elites” have also fuelled populist discourses and right-wing movements. They challenge the traditional understanding of democracy, its practice and theory.

Against the backdrop of all these developments, a number of questions emerge: How can democracies survive in a complex and volatile environment? What role do changing geopolitics and civil-military relations play in conflict dynamics? How can new challenges brought by new technologies, climate change and the cyberspace be dealt with and solved? To what extent has power shifted away from traditional sources of authority?

With this conference theme, IAPSS hopes to encourage students and junior scholars of political science and related disciplines to participate in this exciting academic discussion.