Workshop in London: Popular geopolitics in Russia and post-Soviet Eastern Europe
University College London calls for papers for a workshop on 'Popular geopolitics in Russia and post-Soviet Eastern Europe', to be held at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies on 19-20 February 2015. This workshop is intended to advance research into the societal or 'popular' dimension of geopolitics in Russia and post-Soviet Eastern Europe.
Participants are invited to tackle the following interrelated questions:
- How do citizens in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other post-Soviet states perceive 'the West' and its constituent parts (the European Union, the USA and other individual countries), their regional neighbourhood and their place on the geopolitical map;
- How are geopolitical narratives sustained and/or challenged by domestic and transnational media, popular culture, government policies (including education and public diplomacy) and processes outside state control (such as travel and increasing internet use);
- How do public attitudes reflect, contradict and/or shape official geopolitical rhetoric and policy choices;
- How might theoretical approaches and evidence from different disciplines and geographical areas be combined to further our understanding of such issues.
Contributions are invited from all relevant disciplines, particularly: Political Science and International Relations, Geography, Anthropology, Sociology, Education and Media/Communication/Cultural Studies.
Some funding is available to assist the strongest applicants with their travel and accommodation costs.
Application:
- indicate your name, title, institutional affiliation, research interests and the level of financial assistance you would require to attend;
- send an abstract of 250–300 words to the workshop convener, Dr Joanna Szostek: j.szostek@ucl.ac.uk.
The deadline for abstract submission is Friday 17 October 2014. Notifications on decision will be sent out by Friday, 7 November 2014. For more information, please, visit the official website.