LEAP Postgraduate Conference : Ankara
The crisis of the European project is not a new phenomenon. Throughout its existence, the EU has gone from crisis to crisis. Nonetheless, this time, the crisis seems more serious, some even believe definitive. The sentiment is spreading that the EU project came to an end not only because of deep divisions between the EU member states at instances such as refugee crisis and Brexit but also it is no longer appearing as an alluring project for the countries which are not central engines of the EU integration. Indeed, after the 2008 economic crises and through the migration and refugee crisis in Europe, up to the Trumpism era in the US, increased protectionist and separatist practices were observed across the globe. The coronavirus pandemic and associated restrictions accelerated this trend. Brexit has become the symbol of disintegration and isolationism. This process has almost led to a demise in the credibility of the EU, its fundamental principles like solidarity among its member states as well as its institutions. All in all, it had even been claimed by some commentators that these developments would lead to the questioning of the EU integration, or even its reversal to disintegration.
The European Studies Programme of the Middle East Technical University (METU) within the framework of the LEAP (‘Linking to Europe at the Periphery’) Jean Monnet Network is organizing a one-day postgraduate conference addressed mainly to young scholars and PhD candidates from different fields of social sciences, as well as to policy experts with hand-on experience aiming to evaluate and critically discuss the current pluri-crisis of the European integration and the prospects for the future. The event is open to international doctoral students and young scholars working on EU Studies and different other disciplines, aiming to foster academic dialogue between established academics, young researchers and students. The main research questions of the conference will deal with, but is not limited to, questions such as:
- How is the EU’s response to recent crises (financial, migration, Brexit, the COVID-19, Russian invasion of Ukraine etc.) perceived?
- Is the European integration reversible?
- Could the rise of populist parties in Europe pose a challenge to the European integration?
- Is there a centre-periphery dimension to the EU’s handling of the crises?
- Physical Conference
- 11 Members of the Network
The conference will be opened on 31 August 2023 by a Keynote Speech by Professor Münevver Cebeci from Marmara University, with the title, “Ontological security, crisis and ‘Ideal Power Europe’: the Ukraine war and the European Union”. This postgraduate conference is a part of the LEAP JM Network Closing Event and will be followed by a two-day conference titled, “European Integration in times of War and Crises: Putting Centre-Periphery in its Context” with established scholars of the European Studies, so participants of the postgraduate conference are welcome to attend the whole event.
All interested postgraduate students must send an MS Word (.doc, .docx) file including the title of their research, an abstract of no more than 400 words or a poster names and affiliations of the authors to the project assistant, Beste Kalaycıoğlu (beste@metu.edu.tr) until 11 August 2023. Decisions on submitted abstracts will be communicated by 16 August 2023. The language of the event is English. Selected contributions can be developed into academic articles and will be considered to be published in an ESCI or SSCI Special Issue.
Participation in the workshop is free, all attendees being granted a certificate of participation to this international event. Some funding is available for the participants, but is very limited and competitive.
In case of questions, please contact the organizers: (Beste Kalaycıoğlu, METU): beste@metu.edu.tr
You can download the event programme from here.