Six decades of the Past
Six decades for the Future
An International conference celebrating 60 years of teaching and researching International Relations in Slovenia
On 31 January 1961, a High School for Political Science was created in Ljubljana. It had four Chairs. The Chair for International Relations was created alongside the ones for philosophy and sociology; economy; and political system. The following year, in 1962, a research centre for international relations was inaugurated.
When the Chair of International Relations was created 60 years ago, the world was headed towards a global crisis that threatened to annihilate the post-WWII international order – think of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Six decades on, the international order seems to be under threat again. Again, we are witnessing the two superpowers in conflict. In 1961, not many in Europe thought that a highly integrated union was realistically possible in the continent. Many from that time would wonder at accomplishments since then: both, Europe without borders, but also the terrible vulnerability of the European Union to sovereignism, populisms and nationalisms that we are witnessing at present. Brexit, after all, and albeit orchestrated on fake information, is nothing short of a demonstration of mistrust to the European project. In Central Europe, states who defied the communist rule during the Cold War, states that yearned for transatlantic support after the fall of the Soviet Union and the iron curtain, seem to be among the biggest EU-sceptics nowadays, joined by an illiberal, anti-democratic and anti-EU coalition that seeks to promote its understanding of the rule of law, but also human rights and democracy. The EU, hoping to become and remain a major player on the global stage, is turning into an onlooker of other players, especially in (Southeast) Asia, taking the grand stage. Its normative power has crumbled internally, as well as externally. What do all these developments mean for the IR community? How can we study them, understand them, and how and to whom can we communicate our findings so that the discipline becomes as engaging as it was in the past, and that it remains relevant?
This conference aims to capture both the past and the present, in the light of the challenges that the world has overcome or is yet to overcome. This is an open call, to our alumni who build their successful careers at universities both at home and abroad; to our friends with whom we have shared many working hours writing articles and books, founding international institutions; and to everyone who would wish to take some time to honour us with sharing their expertise, their critical thinking and knowledge and thus help us celebrate our anniversary. In this respect, we are proud to share the stage and partnership with the Central and East European International Studies Association (CEEISA), which since its creation in the 1990s has been an integral part of the IR community in Slovenia, and vice versa.
As this is the celebration of the IR discipline, we do not wish to make any restrictions concerning topics. Given the focus of our IR study programmes at the undergraduate, MA, and Ph.D. levels, we particularly welcome paper and panel proposals dealing with history, international politics, IR theory, international political economy, international economic relations, politics of international law, international organisations, human rights, development studies, international security and conflict management, migration, the role of education (teaching of IR), international environmental politics, EU studies (history, politics, and policies, EU as a global actor), regional studies and global governance.
This will be an online conference, via the Zoom platform. Please apply by filling out an application form, with a paper title, 300-word abstract, and up to four keywords. Or, if you plan to submit a panel or a roundtable: title of the panel/roundtable, convenor, a 300-word abstract (introducing the panel), up to four keywords, and a list of proposed panelists, Please include the following information with your submission: (a) full name, (b) institutional affiliation, (c) country of an institution, (d) email address. In case you submit a panel/roundtable, kindly include short descriptions of individual presentations (title of the paper, author of the presentation, a short abstract, and up to four keywords).
The deadline to send your proposal is 31 July 2021. The procedure to consider your proposal is the following: within up to three weeks after the deadline has expired, the Programme Chair will inform you if your proposal has been accepted.
Please note that on this celebratory occasion, participation at the conference is free of charge. Nevertheless, we would like to welcome everyone to join CEEISA and subscribe to the JIRD, at a reduced price of 20/40 EUR (CEE residents/non-CEE residents). For details see here: https://www.ceeisa.net/membership.
We look forward to welcoming you (albeit online) to Ljubljana! Your Organising Team can be contacted at international-relations.60@fdv.uni-lj.si. They are Professor Zlatko Šabič (programme chair); Ajda Hedžet, MA, Faris Kočan, MA (executive managers), Tara Sergeja Kadunc, Amadej Petan, Tadej Uršič (media production and support), Jelena Kovačević, Luka Radičević, Svit Rodež (programme assistants), Eva Omahen (public relations).