Fifth Annual Conference of the International Association for Peace and Conflict Studies and the ECPR Standing Group on Critical Peace and Conflict Studies

Thursday 15th-Friday 16th September 2016 in Dublin City University, Ireland

Mobilities, Peace, and Conflict: Exploring the nexus between mobility, international peacebuilding, and (in)security

The global and regional dimensions of many contemporary conflicts, as in the Middle East, and the persistence of poverty and insecurity across many conflict-affected and underdeveloped countries have triggered millions of people to seek refuge in Europe and other secure regions. For many individuals and communities’ mobility has become the only viable option to escape conflicts, material inequality, and structural violence, given the limits of sovereign diplomacy, international humanitarian intervention, and development. The protracted refugee crisis and the constant movement of economic migrants continue to dominate the international security agenda and are directly challenging global institutions as well as the modern state, and social affection towards those in need. The contemporary security regimes of states and international actors have become both the solution and obstacles to the protection of civilians affected by protracted conflicts and the emergence of peace. The politics of denial and mistreatment of conflict affected subjects and economic migrants are eroding the basis of the international trust and cooperation and highlighting their failure to uphold to international human rights obligations. The mobility of people intermeshed with growing insecurities from transnational terrorism and economic crisis have triggered multiple securitisation, discrimination, and disintegration processes, which have far-reaching implications for those seeking refuge and host communities. On the other hand, liberal and neoliberal versions of peace are predicated on static citizens, states, borders, and institutions. This conference seeks to explore the nexus between mobility, networks, scale, and (in)security. It aims to expand our knowledge of the conditions for peace under more mobile and networked forms of agency, and the role these processes have in shaping contemporary security, development, and peacebuilding policies. What type of peace and security might mobile and networked forms of agency imply, and what facilitates and blocks such aims?

The Fifth IAPCS Peacebuilding Conference invites proposals papers and panels, from different epistemological and methodological transitions, on the following issues:

• Conceptualisations of the nexus between mobility, peace and security
• Mobile agency in the context of international peacebuilding and statebuilding
• Mobilities, networks, and scale
• Implications of mobility for peace/security institutions
• The role of peacebuilding knowledge in building affective communities
• The institutional and everyday politics of affection and disaffection towards refugees and economic migrants
• The political economy of mobility
• Changing perception of conflict affected subjects/refugees: nexus between vulnerability, criminality and terrorism
• The impact of mobility on regional integration, rise of far-right parties, and securitisation of borders in Europe and elsewhere
• Refugee flows and the response and impact on transit countries
• Media constructions and representations of refugees and economic migrants

Deadline for paper and panel proposals: 1 July 2016. Proposals should be 300 words maximum, and sent to: [email protected]. Full papers should be sent by 1 September 2016.

Registration costs £30 Sterling for academics, £24 for participants from ECPR member institutions, and £10 for student presenters. Further, the registration fee is waived for paid members of the IAPCS. These fees are not refundable in case of cancelation or late withdrawal. Conference presenters and participants should arrange and cover their own travel and accommodation.

This year’s conference will take place in Dublin and will hosted by Dublin City University’s Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction (IICRR) – www.dcu.ie/iicrr.