Authoritarianism reloaded

From 11-14 June a workshop on authoritarian political systems will bring together scholars at the Conference Centre “Haus auf der Alb” of the Landeszentrale für Politische Bildung Baden-Württemberg to discuss their approaches to autocracies, dictatorships, authoritarian political systems. There will be a broad range of topics presented and discussed from conceptional and theoretical approaches  to more empirical case studies and comparative studies. Although working language will be German, the programme could be of interest.

In a first round, conceptional and theoretical approaches will be presented. Steffen Kailitz will give an overview on the state of the art of autocracy-research in Germany and beyond. A profound and critical assessment of strategies of conceptualization, regime typologies and the problem of the continuum of democracy and totalitarianism will be presented by Kevin Koehler and Jana Warkotsch. As a third conceptual approach,  Holger Albrecht and Rolf Frankenberger advocate the necessity of an analysis of authoritarian regimes without democracy-sunglasses and present a conceptualization inspired by system theory of  Talcott Parsons.

A second point will be the question of systems, structures and institutions. Thomas Demmelhuber will present an analysis of the “Gamal-clique” in Egypt to illustrate new mechanisms of power and rule. Christina Trittel investigates the role and functions of parliaments in authoritarian regimes using the example of the National Assembly of Belarus from 1996 to 2009.

The relationship between State, Society and Economy will be the focus of the third discussion round. Daniel Lambach and Christian Goebel, organizators of the previously discussed workshop on authoritarian consolidation, are presenting their analytical framework on responsiveness of authoriatrian regimes. Subsequently, Gert Pickel examines whether or not authoritarian regimes are in need of (specific and diffuse) support as a core aspect of state-society-relations. picking up this perspective, Susanne Pickel and Toralf Stark explore and compare political cultures of authoritarian regimes on the basis of quantitative empirical data.

Change and reform will be at the core of the fourth session. Michael Schmidmayr discusses the directions and reasons of reform processes in the arab gulf states, Christian Timm is investigating the functional logics of post-transformatory regimes after transitions from neopartimonial rule, and Marco Buente will give an overview on authoritarian regimes in East Asia

In the last session, stability and reproduction of authoritarian rule will be in the focus of discussion. Petra Stykow will open the the las session on stability and reproduction of authoritarian rule with an anaylsis of mechanisms of reproduction of non-democratic regimes in the postsowjet space. Christoph Stefes and Jenniver Sehring choose a comparative perspective on stability of competitive authoritarian regimes in Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Last not Least, Beatrice Schlee will investigate mechanisms of survival in times of crisis in Zimbabwe.

A discussion of perspectives of research on authoritarianism will close the workshop on late saturday. A brief summary of papers and main results of discussions will be published here betimes.

2009 Conferences in Social Sciences – some links and resources

In 2009 there will be a lot of conferences, workshops and meetings in the social sciences on diverse issues. Thus it could be helpful for scholars to sum up some of the main sources to find out what is going on in the fields of political science, sociology, and psychology. remember that this is neither a full list of all meetings, conferences and workshops nor one of all associations and societies in these fields. But still, the main events might be covered at a glance. The first link refers to the association, the second one on the conferences site:

Political Science:

• The American Political Science Association (APSA) has an impressingly long collection of conferences, meetings and workshops. The 2009 annual Meeting will be held from 3-6.September in Toronto, Canada.
• The European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) gives informations about their joint sessions and their general conferences. The 2009 General Conference will be held from 10-12. September in Potsdam, Germany.
• The International Political Science Association (IPSA) will have its World Congress 2009 from 12-16.July in Santiago de Chile, Chile
• The Deutsche Vereinigung fuer Politische Wissenschaft (DVPW) has a page where all activities of sections, working groups and so on are listed. The 24th Scientific Congress will be held from 21-25.September in Kiel, Germany

Sociology

• The American Sociological Association (ASA) gives some links on sponsored and outside conferences. The ASA 2009 Annual Meeting will be held from 8-11. August in San Francisco, California
• The International Sociological Association (ISA) has a list of conferences and workshops in the field of sociology that is assorted chronologically. The 17. ISA World Congress of Sociology will be held from 11-17.July 2010 in Gothenborg, Sweden
• The Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Soziologie (DGS) has a page with actual calls for papers.

Political Psychology

• The International Society for Political Psychology (ISPP) will have its 2009 Annual Meeting from 14-17. July in Dublin, Ireland

Psychology

• The Americal Psychological Association (APA) hosts a list of APA related Conferences. The 2009 APA Convention will take place from 6-9. August in Toronto, Canada.
• The Association for Psychological Studies (APS) will have its 2009 APS Convention from 22-25.May in San Francisco, California
• The Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Psychologie (DGPS) has a page with Meetings.
• The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) provides some informations on their biennal conference and others
• The Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) hosts a page for the SPSP 2009 Conference from 5-7 February in Tampa, Florida
• The International Society for Self and Identity (ISSI) does have as page for preconferences.

Last but not least, my collegue Michael Arfken has collected a lot of links to Conferences and Meetings in the fields of Psychology and Political Science that are related to his research and teaching interests.

ISPP 2009 Conference – Call for Papers

We are interested in organizing several panels for the ISPP 2009 Conference in Dublin, Ireland and would like to encourage any scholars interested in the following topics to submit an abstract by December 15, 2008. If you need any additional information, please don’t hesitate to contact either of the panel organizers.

Section 6: Political Culture, Identity, and Language

Processes of change often referred to as globalization have a significant impact on the everyday experiences of individuals throughout the world. To the extent that these experiences contribute to particular individual and collective identities, we may be witnessing an unparalleled transformation in the fabric of political culture. While much research within political science and
psychology has focused on attitudes, value orientations, and political preferences, there has been relatively little research on the way globalization gives rise to unique political subjects and cultures.

The purpose of this panel is to bring together scholars interested in discussing theoretical and empirical innovations at the intersection of globalization, political culture, and subjectivity.

If you are interested in participating in this panel, please submit an abstract of no more than 250 words to the panel organizer:

Dr. Rolf Frankenberger
University of Tübingen
Institute for Political Science
rolf.frankenberger@uni-tuebingen.de

Section 10: New Theoretical and Methodological Developments

The idea of the subject has played a crucial role in politics and psychology. While other disciplines may explore the historical circumstances that give rise to modern political institutions or the economic conditions that favor one form of government over another, the concept of the subject enables political scientists and psychologists alike to focus on the psychological processes that contribute to specific interpretations of social/political reality.

Yet within political psychology, the very idea of the subject rarely undergoes significant scrutiny. This is particularly troubling as various conceptions of the subject may inadvertently support specific political institutions rather than serve as a point of departure for interrogating the dominant features of modern society.

The purpose of this panel is to bring together scholars interested in discussing the role that subjectivity plays in political psychological theorizing. In particular, we encourage proposals that draw attention to the concept of intersubjectivity.

If you are interested in participating in this panel, please submit an abstract of no more than 250 words to the panel organizer:

Dr. Michael Arfken
University of Prince Edward Island
Department of Psychology
marfken@upei.ca

2009 International Society of Political Psychology Conference
Dublin, Ireland
July 14-17, 2009

Panel Submission Due: December 15, 2008

Simone de Beauvoir – eine interdisziplinäre Vortragsreihe

Simone de Beauvoir would have celebrated her 100th birthday this year. The french existentialist philosopher, author and feminist theoretician is seen as the most important female intellectual of the 20th century. Starting from her individualistic critique in the 1940ies, she developed one of the most important key readings of the second feminist movement and a magnum opus of feminist theory: “The Second Sex” was first published in 1949. Together with a lot of other writings and political statements she created the project of her life. In her lifetime her person and opus were highly controversial, her writings is full of fractures and not yet fully interpreted.

Within the interdisciplinary series of lectures, central topics of Simone de Beauvoirs opus are adressed by political scientists, philosophers, theologians, literary scholars, historians and politicians. What are still actual topics, which aspects of Simone de Beauvoirs thought can be related to contemporary problems and ideas?

The lecture series will be held in German and will start on 6th November 2008, 18.00 at Hoersaal 24, Kupferbau in Tübingen with a panel discussion. The lecture series is organized by Patricia Graf, Ursula Konnertz and myself in cooperation with Rosa-Luxemburg-Forum Baden-Wuerttemberg, Heinrich-Boell-Stiftung Baden-Wuerttemberg, Institut francaise Tübingen, the teaching equalty programme (TEA) of Tübingen University and UI-Plan.

You can find the flyer in German with all the data here: flyer-beauvoir

Two new Publications on the Middle East

Within the scientific row “Weltregionen im Wandel”, volumes 4 and 5 are published and available now.

Volume 4 “Der Staat im Vorderen Orient”, (The State in the Middle East), edited by Peter Pawelka, adresses concepts of the State in the Middle East. This Region is the only one in the world with 5000 years of traditions and concepts of the State. This bureaucrat, interventionist, and authoritarian type of state struggles nowadays struggles to survive in a globalized world. In this volume, renowned authors discuss the historic and cultural roots of the oreintal state and his developmental perspectives.

Volume 5 “Politischer Islam im Vorderen Orient” (Political Islam in the Middle East), edited by Holger Albrecht and Kevin Köhler, adresses one of the most discussed phenomena in the Arab World and offers an insightful overview of the different phenotypes of Political Islam and discusses both conceptional questions and particular islamist movements in the most important countries of the Middle East, e.g. the egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, the development of political Islam in Algeria, and the question of islamist movements in Iraq.

Taken together these volumes contribute to a deeper understanding of the Middle Easts’ political,  historic, cultural and religious history and actual development.