Friday, December 6, 2013

Passing of Nelson Mandela

To our South African members and friends, we extend sincere condolences the passing of a great global south leader.

Executive Committee of the GSCIS

You may be interested in the video of Nelson Mandela's visit in 1990 to Harlem and to City College of New York for a townhall meeting chaired by Ted Koppel . "Vintage Mandela."

http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/socialsciences/mandela_ccny.cfm


Friday, November 15, 2013

ALERT: WISC deadline

Dear All:
Please note that the deadline for proposals for the WISC conference in Frankfurt is on us! Please check for information at http://www.fb03.uni-frankfurt.de/46347686/wisc
jbw

Friday, November 1, 2013

Update and Important Announcements: African Studies Association in Germany; Job opening Virginia Tech; Announcement from our friends at ACUNS

Dear Colleagues:

We have been busy over the last month consolidating arrangements for Toronto 2014 and FLACSO-ISA 2014. Regarding the latter, the GSCIS has submitted  four panels for consideration ranging from the political economy of small island developing states to the changing foreign policy methodologies of the global south. We await the decision of the organizers concerning acceptance.

We will also soon be posting a preliminary call regarding the Second Global South International Studies Conference to be held in Bangkok, Thailand in January 2015. This conference is being jointly put together with incoming president of ISA Amitav Archaya.

Please note the following announcements from members and associates:


From Rirhandu Mageza-Barthel and Uta Ruppert (Goethe University, Frankfurt)
REQUEST FOR PAPERS FOR A PANEL
 RE: Conference of the African Studies Association in Germany (VAD), which will be taking place at Bayreuth University between 11th and 14th June 2014.



The conference theme is “Future Africa”. We specifically welcome papers for our panel titled “South-South Cooperation in Gender Politics: Trans-Regionalization as an Alternative Option for Sub-Saharan Africa?”


South-South Cooperation in Gender Politics:
Trans-Regionalization as an Alternative Option for Sub-Saharan Africa?
For decades, gender politics in Sub-Saharan Africa has been informed and influenced by the discourses of transnational women’s movements of which African women’s movements form a part. A second system of reference has been the gender politics of international institutions to which African women’s networks have likewise contributed a lot. Especially more recent approaches to (re-) negotiate gender relations in Sub-Saharan African countries represent efforts of translating as well as appropriating inter- and transnational norms and treaties. Nonetheless, these inter- and transnational aspects of gender politics still mirror conventional North-South relations, with Northern money and ideas dominating the discourse.
At the same time that their contributions to these known forms of transnationalization have taken place, African women and their organisations have continuously contested the frames of so-called global sisterhood. Furthermore, they have intensified different forms of regional and trans-regional South-South cooperation.
This panel seeks to explore the promise of South-South cooperation in gender politics for Sub-Saharan Africa. It also deliberates on the limitations of North-South relations, asks if different types of collaboration exist and which of these different forms of cooperation have asserted themselves. Especially on the level of civil society a host of questions are of interest, such as: whether and how the potential of existing South-South mechanisms have been exploited, how fora become pertinent and which topics in gender politics are negotiated. The panel is not limited to, but also includes, analyses on whether new forms of cooperation, new gender norms and visions of gender relations become relevant.
We welcome papers that undertake empirical, methodological and theoretical perspectives on the above issues.

Please email abstracts for paper proposals to us until the 17th November at r.mageza@soz.uni-frankfurt.de and ruppert@soz.uni-frankfurt.de

Further information on the conference may be found under the following links http://www.vad-ev.de/bayreuth2014/callforpapers/pdf/panel44.pdf and http://www.vad-ev.de/bayreuth2014/

In case of any questions, feel free to contact us and excuse any cross-posting.


___________________________________________________________
JOB OPENING

Assistant Professor

Contemporary Global Ethical/Political Thought--ASPECT



The interdisciplinary doctoral program ASPECT (Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought) at Virginia Tech invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor, to begin August 10, 2014. This position will be in the interdisciplinary area of contemporary global/transnational political and ethical thought. Research and teaching interests that focus on the politics and ethics of global/transnational governance and society are highly desirable. Applicants whose research engages contemporary transnational/global perspectives related to post-secularism, post-traditionalism, post-modernity, post-coloniality, the intersection of violence, insecurity, and religion, or critical theoretical approaches to war, territoriality, and law are especially encouraged to apply. Additionally, research informed by several of the following theoretical specializations is desirable: biopolitical perspectives, Critical Theory, feminism and gender, phenomenology, post-colonialism, post-Marxism, post-structuralism, and queer theory. This position is a cluster hire in ASPECT (www.aspect.vt.edu), and the tenure home will be in one of the following core ASPECT departments: History, Political Science, or Religion and Culture. Required qualifications include: PhD in History, International Relations, Political Science, Religious Studies, or a related humanities or social sciences field by the time of the appointment; research emphasizing issues of contemporary global/transnational ethical and political theory; record demonstrating potential for excellence in research and teaching; ability to mentor doctoral students in ASPECT; effectiveness in both graduate and undergraduate teaching to meet ASPECT’s and at least one core department’s teaching needs; commitment to work effectively with a diverse campus population.

Interested persons must apply at www.jobs.vt.edu posting # TR0130119, where they will submit a cover letter, a current curriculum vitae, up to two recent article-length writing samples, teaching evaluations, a short research précis (1-2 pages) that stresses the applicant’s theoretical background and contributions, and no more than four letters of recommendation. Screening of applications will begin January 15, 2014 and continue until the position is filled. Inquiries can be sent to François Debrix, Chair, ASPECT Search Committee, ASPECT, 202 Major Williams Hall (0192), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, or at aspect@vt.edu. Virginia Tech has a strong commitment to diversity and encourages applications from women, minorities, veterans, and people with disabilities.

______________________________________________________
 FROM ACUNS
Request for Proposals:
The International Drug Control Regime in the Twenty-first Century
From January 1, 2013, Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organization changed editorial hands to the new team of Ramesh Thakur (editor-in-chief), Brian Job, Mónica Serrano, and Diana Tussie. As part of a portfolio of exciting changes, the journal and The One Earth Future Foundation (OEF), which co-hosts the journal, plan to develop an annual workshop and book series. The editors of Global Governance and the associate director of research at OEF will act as series editors. On an annual basis, the collaborating partners will identify a specific area of interest—global health, environmentalism, security policy, etc.—and select one or two appropriate project director(s)-cum-book editor(s) who will be responsible for convening a workshop, supported by OEF, which will bring together contributors who can provide manuscripts that will speak to the area of interest.
The workshop will be used as a tool for identifying junior scholars and scholars from developing countries. The experience should help them to develop international contacts, expose them to the etiquettes of international publishing, and develop their skill-sets and self-confidence to submit manuscripts to the professional journals in the field—including Global Governance. The workshop will be used to refine the contributions provided and generate an overall collective structure for the eventual book.
The inaugural workshop will be held at the headquarters of the United Nations University (UNU) in Tokyo in January 2014, on the theme of Weak States, Strong Societies.
Global Governance and OEF now invite scholars and practitioners to submit proposals for a project workshop and edited book that will explore some aspect of the international drug control regime in the twenty-first century. To support this book project, UNU will provide lodging and meals for a 2-3 day workshop at one of its campuses. Economy-class airfares and modest honoraria for the editor and chapter authors will be provided by OEF. Proposals will be judged by the editors; One Earth Future; Lynne Rienner; and Alistair Edgar, ACUNS.

Background
In 1909, the International Opium Commission, with representatives from Austria-Hungary, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Persia, Portugal, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, met for the first time in Shanghai. As the commission’s call to gradually suppress opium ssmoking, and the manufacturing and trade of narcotics crystallized in the 1912 Hague Opium Convention, the foundations for a multilateral narcotics control regime were laid down.(1)
The centennial of the prohibitionist international drug control regime has been marked by mounting discontent. The regime’s aim to codify “internationally applicable control measures” turned into an ever more powerful and expansive industry of control and criminalization. Its promise to guarantee the availability of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for medical and scientific purposes, while preventing their diversion into illicit channels, has floundered in the midst of burgeoning illicit drug markets. Not only have its provisions to tackle illicit drug trafficking and drug abuse come to nothing, but as the evidence gathered in the course of one century has made clear, they have proved catastrophic.
Although the aims of this regime were undoubtedly morally well-intended, its enforcement proved hugely problematic. For too long quantitative criteria were the yardstick of success or failure of drug policy. This has been so, whether we think of hectares sprayed, quantity of drugs intercepted, properties confiscated, drug lords arrested, or even the number of people detained and imprisoned.
A second and equally problematic aspect of the regime concerns the way in which drug policies have too often denied or ignored the interests that have long propelled their enforcement. The historical record of drug control policies has brought a myriad of actors and interests out of the shadows. These range from the use of drug prohibition as an instrument for racial and social control; the electoral logics that have long underpinned aggressive drug control policies; to the economic and financial interests that now drive a flourishing prison industrial complex. Along with these intended and unintended consequences stand the immense risks that coercive drug control policies have entailed for the security and stability of state institutions and the protection of human rights in countries around the world.
For nearly half a century the prospects for a genuine and honest debate were in short supply. Critical voices were systematically silenced and deeply entrenched opinions prevailed. By the turn of the century, two initiatives, one in Latin America and one in Africa, signaled a change. In Latin America three ex-presidents—Fernando Enrique Cardoso, Cesar Gaviria, and Ernesto Zedillo—launched the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy whose report in 2011 called for a change in drug policy. Two years later, the sudden increase in drug trafficking in West Africa prompted former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to establish a Commission on the Impact of Drug Trafficking on Governance, Security, and Development in West Africa. As members of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, Annan, Cardoso, Gaviria, and Zedillo have systematically called for a more “humane and efficient drug policy” and a “genuinely global conversation on drug policy reform.”
In May 2013 the landmark report on the drug problem issued by the Organization of American States drove a wedge in the century-long global consensus on drug policy. The report, which was originally requested by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and endorsed by all heads of American States, rejects one of the key assumptions that for over 100 years informed the drug control regime: the possibility of a drug-free world. In addition to highlighting the devastating consequences of repressive and prohibitionist drug policies, the OAS report persuasively questions the prospects for success in the war on drugs.
Whilst the publication of the OAS report unleashed the most high-level discussion on international drug policy reform, the liberalization of drug laws in countries around the world, including the US, has injected much dynamism to ongoing debates calling for more humane and efficient drug policy. The shift in national and international public opinion, favoring decriminalization and legal regulation, presents a direct challenge to the dominant prohibitionist approach embodied in the 1961, 1971, and 1988 UN drug conventions and the international drug control regime.
As the century-old taboo on drug policy crumbles and the multilateral architecture built around prohibitionist and supply-side formulas is under attack, the need to discuss alternatives is ever more pressing. The findings of this project are expected to contribute to the debates leading up to the 2016 special UN General Assembly session on global drug policy.
Application Procedure and Deadline
Please submit the following documents. Applications lacking any of these items will not be considered.
1. Project Overview: Explain your proposed project and how it relates to drug control regimes in the twenty-first century.
2. Significance of the proposed book:
Please comment briefly on the timeliness, contribution to scholarship, and policy relevance of your project.
3. Potential audience(s): Explain who your intended audiences will be. These may include academics, policy makers, employees of international organizations, or others.
4. Contributors and proposed chapters with short description and an indicative word count: We prefer a clear, coherent framework for the book, not a disparate collection of chapters that could stand on their own. Please list likely contributors and a synopsis of their likely contributions, bearing in mind the objectives of the series as explained above. Provide a short statement on your qualifications and experience to undertake this project and your rationale for the team you propose to assemble.
5. Budget: Please provide an indicative budget that includes travel, honoraria for the project director and authors, and other expenses, but not hotel and meal costs for the workshop. OEF anticipates its budget for this project will be between $40,000–$50,000.
6. Timeline. Decisions on the grant will be announced in March 2014. Provide an indication of your preferred timetable for the workshop, chapter revisions and submission of final manuscript.
Deadline: All submission must be received by January 17, 2014.
Please send submission and any queries to Roberta Spivak, managing editor at: globalgov@oneearthfuture.org

(1) The conventions and instruments agreed during the interwar period were superseded, in the second half of the twentieth century, by three major international drug control treaties: the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 (amended by 1972 Protocol); the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances and the 1988 UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Reminder



Deadline for paper and panel proposals is just a few days away!  

Call for Panels and Papers
          FLACSO-ISA - Global and Regional Powers in a Changing World 
          Buenos Aires, Argentina -- JULY 23-25, 2014
Paper and/or panel proposals are due by Tuesday, October 1st, 2013
The increasing gravitation of emerging economies is changing the landscape of international politics. This has implications for the possibilities of a new global order where emerging powers have begun to engage in the construction of new norms, governance institutions, development agendas and citizenship practices. Likewise, the context of regionalism and regionalization processes is also being transformed with the global projection of emerging powers. China, India, Brazil, Russia and South Africa are increasingly acquiring pivotal roles in the articulation of regional and global dynamics. At the same time, traditional powers became more focused on pressing domestic and regional challenges due to the financial and economic crisis that started in 2008.  These changes and reconfigurations constitute a new terrain of innovation, collaboration and dispute of an increasingly wider scope of policies, economic interests, identities and sources of legitimization of the international order.
Graduate Student Workshops: As a highlight to the program, we will be sponsoring graduate student workshops to allow graduate students and post-docs to present their research in a small-group panel setting with detailed feedback from senior scholars, and to allow for greater professional development and networking opportunities.
We look forward to an exciting conference and we hope you will join us in Buenos Aires!
Please email any questions to FLACSO-ISA2014@isanet.org

Best regards,

Cintia Quiliconi& Marcelo Saguier, Program Co-Chairs
FLACSO Argentina

Andrea K. Gerlak & Jennifer Cyr, Program Co-Chairs
University of Arizona

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Newsletter Available

The summer GSCIS newsletter is now available. ISA HQ will be mailing it out to members shortly.
If you do not receive the email, please contact me directly.

Monday, August 26, 2013

IMPORTANT: FLACSO/ISA Conference: Call for Papers




The call for papers for the FLACSO-ISA Joint International Conference in Buenos Aires on July 23-25th, 2014 is now available. In addition to considering paper and panel proposals from individuals, FLACSO-ISA organizers are interested in sponsoring section-themed panels and roundtables.

Each ISA section and Caucus has been offered four panels for the conference.
The conference theme is Global and Regional Powers in a Changing World.

Caucus members can of course submit proposals directly that are not part of our sponsored panels but if you wish to participate on a GSCIS-sponsored panel, you need to send us your proposal by September 20, 2013, BEFORE the actual October 1 deadline. That will allow us time to select our four panels.



Note: As a highlight to the program, the organizers will be sponsoring graduate student workshops to allow graduate students and post-docs to present their research in a small-group panel setting with detailed feedback from senior scholars, and to allow for greater professional development and networking opportunities.

Additional conference details, including the call for papers, can be found at http://www.isanet.org/Conferences/FLACSOBuenosAires2014.aspx

Please send proposals to J. Braveboy-Wagner, cc'd as well to Nanette Svenson

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Update on Developing Eurasia Initiative



Global South Caucus for 

         International Studies (GSCIS)  


                       DEVELOPING 

                      EURASIA     

               INITIATIVE (DEI)


MISSION STATEMENT

While the recently independent states of the former Soviet Caucasus and Central Asia exhibit many of the conditions and characteristics associated with post-colonial and developing nations—including struggles with hegemonic influences, resource dependency, economic inequality, institutional incapacity and unresolved internal conflicts—the study of these countries in the U.S. academy has traditionally been either relegated to a generic "post-communist" or “Russian and Eastern European” subfield, or framed according to narratives of an enduring geopolitical dichotomy between competing power centers representing an objectified "East" and "West". It is thus arguable that these disciplinary conventions have imposed unnecessary limitations on the ability of regional scholars to introduce new approaches, and, more importantly, to generate novel findings regarding the domestic evolution and international relations of these states. It is in response to these concerns that the Global South Caucus for International Studies (GSCIS) seeks to establish a research agenda directed at designing conceptual frameworks that serve to both integrate theoretical approaches and facilitate comparative analysis of Eurasian and developing world (Asian, African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American) regions in IR. One recent empirical example which highlights the relevance of this endeavor is provided by the case of Azerbaijan, which in May 2011 became the fourth former Soviet republic (following Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Belarus) to join the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), defying the assumptions of observers who have sought to characterize its foreign policy as being inherently "pro-Western" or "Euro-Atlantic" in orientation. The introduction of the Developing Eurasia Initiative (DEI) is intended to attract greater participation by both scholars and professionals who question prevailing standards of categorization, to critically analyze current trends in Eurasian studies, and to expand the scope of regional knowledge within the IR discipline. Membership in DEI is open to all faculty, students and specialists in the fields of comparative politics, international relations, development policy and area studies interested in contributing to these activities. For questions and additional information please direct correspondence to:

Jason E. Strakes
Researcher and Visiting Lecturer
Ilia Chavchavadze State University                                               
Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia

PARTICIPANTS

Murad Ismayilov Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy mismayilov@ada.edu.az

Galmyzhan Kirbassov SUNY Binghamton gkirbas1@binghamton.edu

Dedibatta Aurobinda Mahapatra Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security and Global Governance, University of Massachusetts at Boston a.mahapatra34@gmail.com

Kazim Mammadhuseyn Sciences Po Paris Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Campus/University of Nice - Sophia Antipolis kn233071@yahoo.com

CURRENT PROJECTS

“Situating the ‘Balanced Foreign Policy’: The Role of System Structure in Azerbaijan’s Multi-Vector Diplomacy”, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 15, No. 1, 2013, pp. 1–31

“The Former Soviet South in the Global South: Toward a Synthesis in Comparative Regional Studies”

“Belarus and Non-Alignment: Non-Viable Policy or Systemic Alternative