IICRR PhD fellows from the TENSIONS and CASPIAN programs took part in the 22nd Annual Association for Study of Nationalities (ASN) World Convention held at Columbia University, New York. The event took place from 4th-6th May 2017 and was the largest international and inter-disciplinary scholarly gathering of its kind. It brought together scholars from a range of disciplines including political science, history, anthropology, security studies, economics, and literature among many others.   The DCU fellows presented their papers in the following panels:

Sources of Legitimacy in post-Soviet Societies

Giorgio Comai: Where does the Money Come From? Financing the Budget and the Pension System in post-Soviet De Facto States

Aytan Gahmaranova: Azerbaijan between Geopolitical Pressure and Domestic Politics: Repression against Civil Society

CHAIR: Dr Donnacha Ó Beacháin​

Moldova Compared

Karolina Stefanczak: ‘Window-Dressing for Power-Hungry Chieftains’? Women in the Political Parties of Moldova

Statehood in the Caucasus

Chiara Loda: Georgia, Foreign Policy and Visa Regime

Authoritarianism, Institutions and Legitimation in Central Asia

Maia Machavariani: Political Opposition versus Sources of Power in the Caspian Region:

The Cases of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan

Maira Zeinilova: Women’s Agency and the Political Recruitment of Women in Non-Democracies: The Case of Kazakhstan

Discussant: Dr Donnacha Ó Beacháin