Statehood and its discontents: Russia, Eastern Europe and Eurasia

Keynote speakers: Karen Dawisha (Miami University), Ramūnas Vilpišauskas (Vilnius University) and Artemyi Troitsky.

In the post-Cold War era territorial borders have been continuously contested during the wars in Chechnya, the Caucasus, and more recently Ukraine. The conflict in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine has brought the questions of statehood and sovereignty again to the forefront of popular, political, and scholarly debates. There have also been internal challenges to how statehood and sovereignty are envisioned fuelled by migration, ethnic and religious disputes, and nationalism.
 
This conference explores historical and contemporary challenges to statehood and emergence of alternative sovereignty and governance regimes. We extend the definition of  “sovereignty” to “actualities of relations within ways of life” (Caroline Humphrey 2008), alternative forms of authority and legitimacy beyond the ones sanctioned by the state and international institutions. The potential topics include, but are not limited to: hybrid warfare, financial sovereignty, radical politics, nationalism, supranationalism, terrorism, secessionism, migration and displacement, borders and borderlands, memory and identity.

We especially welcome submissions from scholars early in their careers, who have done extensive research in the region of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

Deadline for paper proposal submissions is February 1.st. 
 
Please send a 250 word abstract and one page CV to Neringa Klumbytė klumbyn@miamioh.edu AND Inga Vinogradnaitė Inga.Vinogradnaite@tspmi.vu. lt with the subject line STATEHOOD CONFERENCE ABSTRACT 2016.
 
The applicants will be notified about acceptance to the conference by March 1st.
Deadline for submission of full papers to be posted on the Havighurst website (password protected) is May 25.th
 
There is no conference fee. The language of the conference is English. We expect that participants selected for the conference will read others’ papers, contribute to discussions in the panels, and join us in all activities during the conference. Accepted participants may be eligible to apply for partial travel reimbursement pending funding.

Karen Dawisha (Miami University),
Inga Vinogradnaitė (Vilnius University, IIRPS),
Neringa Klumbytė (Miami University),
Vilius Mačkinis (Vilnius University, IIRPS).