CFP: Managing and Settling Ethnic Conflicts

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From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Sat, 6 Nov 1999 11:32:41 +0200 (EET)
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Subject: CFP: Managing and Settling Ethnic Conflicts

From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: Stefan Wolff <[email protected]>

CFP: Managing and Settling Ethnic Conflicts


Call for Papers
 
Workshop: Managing and Settling Ethnic Conflicts
 
In 1989-91, the end of the Cold War was enthusiastically greeted as
the dawn of a new era of greater stability, prosperity, and
opportunity. Yet ten years on, these hopes have not materialized in
full. Many countries and entire regions in Central and Eastern Europe
suffer from political and economic instability: the Balkans, the
Caucasus, and the Russian Federation are just three examples. Other
countries, such as Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, have done
much better. One of the most troublesome issues has been the
heightening of inter-ethnic tensions and even the escalation of ethnic
conflicts across Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet
Union. Confronting the resurgence of minority and majority nationalism
in post-1989 governments had to engage in minority politics as one
part of the transformation process to open societies. Against the
background of foreign and domestic policy goals, they had to strike a
balance between the interests of the majority population and the
claims of ethnic groups.

Phenomena of this kind, however, are not a novelty in European
history. The 'Western' half of the continent has had its fair share in
ethnic conflicts in the twentieth century, most of which have been
resolved (e.g., South Tyrol), while few continue tocause strife in the
societies affected (e.g., the Basque country).

The workshop proposes:
 
to examine different types of ethnic conflict regulation across the
European continent, including minority rights, territorial autonomy,
federalism, power-sharing as well as bi- and multilateral conflict
management, involving ethnic minorities, their patron-states and their
host-states,
 
to analyze how and why some settlements have provided a lasting and
stable framework in which the conflict parties can reach mutually
agreeable solutions for their various differences without taking
recourse to the use of violence,
 
and to assess the future of ethnic conflicts and their management in
Europe. 

The workshop organizers welcome proposals on any of these aspects,
case studies (historical or current, single or comparative) as well as
more theoretical explorations of conflict settlement.

The workshop is part of the Seventh ISSEI conference: Approaching a
New Millennium: Lessons from the Past - Prospects for the Future which
will take place in Bergen, Norway, from the 14th to 18th August 2000.
Further Details about the organisation of the conference can be
obtained from the ISSEI 2000 website at
http://www.uib.no/issei2000/
 
Proposals for papers should be emailed to both organisers Ulrich
Schneckener ([email protected]) and Stefan Wolff
([email protected]).

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