World Politics and Popular Culture Conference, Newcastle University‏

World Politics and Popular Culture Conference
November 19-20 2009
The Grand Hotel
Grand Parade
Tynemouth
NE30 4ER
(Organisers: Dr Matt Davies, Dr Kyle Grayson, Dr Simon Philpott, Politics, School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University)

After the attacks on New York and Washington of 2001, the Bush administration declared in all earnestness a 'Global War on Terror.' The irony of the phrase coincided with the death of irony itself. And, ironically, within a couple of months of the September 11 attacks, Karl Rove was meeting with 'liberal Hollywood elites' to discuss ways in which the industry could assist prepare American and global audiences for a long war.
Rove's effort to enlist the culture industries recognised the extraordinary reach and influence of popular cultural forms. In recent decades the range of popular cultural forms has extended dramatically. In anti-globalisation protests, old forms of minstrelsy, puppetry, and street theatre were coordinated in mass demonstrations using cell phones, internet video uploads, and blogs. Indeed, in culture at large, familiar media such as literature, radio, cinema and television have been expanded into new realms made possible by the advent of digital technologies: web communities, blogging, online gaming, video games. These have become important sites at which identity and community are made and contested, where issues of representation have taken on new impetus and where the orthodox politics of the real have unravelled.
World cinema and music have become an established feature of western lifestyles and consumption patterns but more recently the formerly colonised have begun writing back to western elites and populations challenging established and seemingly settled narratives of global politics. Al Jazeera, Hamas, Hezbollah and many other groups exploit the decentred realms of electronic media to confront western governments and populations with images of their violence and embedded racism. Popular music has become increasingly diversified and produced new communities of identity, politics and protest. Food, clothing, wine, cars, travel, clubbing, gambling, magazines and fanzines all form part of lifestyle choice and are central to the politics of consumerism and fetish. Political debate often characterised by more heat than light focuses on many of these sites: health risk (food), security (hoodies, ethnic minority apparel), wine and gambling (addiction), cars and travel (environmental security and sustainability). Just as much as the emergence of global insecurities unbound by national borders - not only the threat of 'terror,' but also of financial instability, disease, or climate change - these global public spheres have undermined received conceptions of international politics.
This conference seeks to explore the limits of the popular and to interrogate the category of culture in the context of this crisis - or at least destabilizing - of the international. What do these terms of 'popular,' 'culture,' and 'international' mean both in isolation and when used in conjunction? In what ways and with what effects has popular culture become a series of sites at which political meaning is made, where political contestation takes place and where political orthodoxy is reproduced and challenged? We welcome papers on any aspect of the politics of popular culture and particularly those that critically engage with the concepts of politics, popular and culture. In addition to welcoming papers on established areas of research such as television, cinema, news media, radio, music and theatre, we also hope that researchers interested in food, drugs, gaming, gambling, sport, clothing and other apparel, clubbing, automobile cultures, public art, consumption, fear, and audience studies will extend the range of topics and forms of analysis by contributing papers to this conference.

Please submit abstracts of up to 300 words by Friday March 13 2009: Sue.Tatah@ncl.ac.uk
For further information: Matt. Davies@ncl.ac.uk; K.A.Grayson@ncl.ac.uk; Simon.Philpott@ncl.ac.uk
Newcastle and Tynemouth:The conference is being held at The Grand Hotel (http://www.grandhotel-uk.com/) on the seafront at Tynemouth, about 10 miles east of Newcastle. It is easily reached by Metro, the hotel about ½ mile from Tynemouth Metro station. Tynemouth, Cullercoats and Whitley Bay offer an excellent range of restaurants, pubs, cafes and clubs as well as accommodation to suit all tastes and budgets. Newcastle itself is on the east coast main line that runs between London and Edinburgh and is readily accessed by train. Its international airport is also well serviced by a range of domestic, European and other international carriers including Easyjet, Ryanair, Emirates and KLM/Air France.

Dr Simon Philpott
Senior Lecturer in International Politics
School of Geography, Politics & Sociology
Newcastle University
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RUPh:+44 +191 2227473

The Meaning of Sarkozy by Alain Badiou‏

THE MEANING OF SARKOZY
BY ALAIN BADIOU
Published 02 February 2009
“Sartre and Plato with a dash of Derrida…those are the key ingredients of Alain Badiou’s philosophical cocktail, which is shaking the foundations of Western liberal democracy.”
Times Higher Education Supplement
“A figure like Plato or Hegel walks here among us!”Slavoj Žižek
“One of the most important philosophers writing today”Joan Copjec
----------------------------------------
Alain Badiou, France’s leading philosopher and radical commentator, assesses the politics of the French President in The Meaning of Sarkozy. This book argues that to understand Sarkozy’s significance we have to look behind his vulgarity to what he represents; a reactionary tradition in French politics, based on fear. Badiou provides a detailed reading of the election of this right-wing demagogue, whom he calls the ‘Rat Man’ at a time when the President has assumed the role of international peace-maker – despite being renowned for his aggressive domestic politics. The Meaning of Sarkozy, to be published on the first anniversary of Sarkozy’s celebrity marriage to Carla Bruni, is a trenchant and witty dissection of the French political scene, as Badiou takes on a society dominated by ‘parliamentary fetishism’, proposing a return to the idea of communism. ALAIN BADIOU teaches philosophy at the École Normale Supérieure and the Collège International de Philosophie in Paris. In additional to several novels, plays and political essays, he has published a number of major philosophical works, including Theory of the Subject (1982), Being and Event (1988), Manifesto for Philosophy (1989), Conditions (1992) and Gilles Deleuze: The Clamour of Being (1997). His Ethics, Metapolitics and Polemics are also available from Verso. ------------------------------------------

Postgraduate research studentship opportunities in POLSIS‏

MPHIL/PHD RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIPS
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES (POLSIS)
UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
www.polsis.bham.ac.uk
The University of Birmingham Department of Political Science and International Studies is offering postgraduate research studentships, starting in September 2009, for doctoral degrees in the principal research areas of the Department: Asian politics; diplomatic studies; European politics; international relations theory; international political economy; political sociology; political theory; and security studies. These studentships will be made available through the following programmes: - Departmental Award studentships: sponsored by the University of Birmingham, these provide full funding and living expenses for a period of three years. In addition, there will be opportunity to teach, for additional remuneration. The deadline for applications for Department Awards is 26 June 2009. - ESRC studentships: The Department will host a number of ESRC 1+3 studentships which provide full funding and living expenses for a year of social science training followed by three years PhD research; or +3 awards for applicants who already have a background in social science training. The deadline for applications for nomination to an ESRC studentship is 13 March 2009. Applicants who are not successful in obtaining ESRC support may be considered for a Departmental Award. In addition to these scholarships, all research students in the Department are eligible to apply for funding to attend conferences and conduct fieldwork.
Further details, including application procedure and eligibility criteria, are available at: http://www.polsis.bham.ac.uk/pg/prospectus.shtml .
Enquiries may be sent to the Director of Postgraduate Research, Dr. Edward Newman, at e.newman.1@bham.ac.uk Completed applications should be sent to Elizabeth Bradley at e.bradley@bham.ac.uk Edward NewmanSenior LecturerDirector of Postgraduate ResearchDept. of Political Science and International StudiesUniversity of BirminghamEdgbastonBirminghamUKB15 2TTT. +44 (0) 121 414 8228F. +44 (0) 121 414 3496
e.newman.1@bham.ac.uk
www.polsis.bham.ac.uk
http://www.polsis.bham.ac.uk/about/Staff/Newman.shtml

FELLOWSHIPS-2009 Returning Scholars, Academic Fellowship Program, Open Society Institute‏

FELLOWSHIPS-2009
Returning Scholars, Academic Fellowship Program, Open Society Institute
The Academic Fellowship Program (AFP) announces the 2009-10 competition for the Returning Scholars Fellowship. The program offers financial, professional, and departmental development support, as well as opportunities for further professional growth as AFP alumni. Fellowships include a monthly stipend and various allowances, including departmental, professional development, and mobility funds. Fellowships begin in August or September 2009, last one academic year, and are renewable. The program, as part of a conscious strategy to combat "brain drain" in the social sciences and humanities, places Returning Scholars in departments that have been carefully selected as AFP partners. A list of current AFP partner departments can be found on our website, though the list is subject to change for the 2009/10 academic year. Potential applicants are advised to explore placement possibilities with local AFP staff before applying.
Eligibility--Pursuing higher education career in: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan or Ukraine.--Hold an internationally-competitive Master's or other postgraduate degree. An applicant holding a Master's degree will be required to pursue a doctorate, if accepted. --Required degree in one of the following fields: anthropology, area/cultural studies, economics, gender studies, history, human rights & public law, international relations, journalism/media studies, philosophy, political science, psychology, public policy/public health, social work, or sociology.--A commitment to a career in higher education in the region, and a strong drive to participate in reform efforts in the academic discipline. Application deadline: April 7, 2009.
Apply online at https://oas.soros.org/oas/ For information and application guidelines, please see the AFP web site: http://www.soros.org/initiatives/hesp/focus/afp
Open Society Institute Academic Fellowship Program
Higher Education Support Program
October 6 utca 12, H-1051
Budapest, Hungary
E-mail: afp@osi.hu
Telephone: (36-1) 235 6160; Fax: (36-1) 411 4401

ΥΠΟΤΡΟΦΙΕΣ ΚΑΙ ΕΡΕΥΝΗΤΙΚΕΣ ΘΕΣΕΙΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΑΓΓΛΙΑ

Competition Policy Studentships: 3 year PhD and 1 year Masters
ESRC Centre for Competition PolicyUniversity of East Anglia
http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/RP014/

Research Co-ordinator
INCOREUniversity of Ulster
http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/MD679/

Full-time, fixed-term Tutor in International Relations
Department of Politics
Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences
University of Surrey
http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/QS894/

Postgraduate Research Studentships And Scholarships
Graduate School Of Social And Political Science
University of Edinburg
hhttp://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/CJ113/

Tutor
International Relations
The Department of Politics, Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences
University of Surrey
http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/BN919/

Hallsworth Research Fellowships
Faculty of Humanities
The University of Manchester
http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/QS924/

University Research Fellowships
City University
http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/BN968/

University Research Studentships
Any School Of The University
City University
http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/BN969/

CfP Globalisation and European integration: 'the nature of the beast' - Warwick‏

Call for papers

Conference: Globalisation and European integration: 'the nature of the beast'

Friday 5th and Saturday 6th June 2009.

University of Warwick.

The conference invites specialists from the fields of politics, international relations, international political economy and sociology to build on their experience of applying historical materialist theories in empirical settings related to global governance and regional integration, with an emphasis on the European Union (EU). Working papers designed to stimulate dialogue between invited speakers, Warwick research staff and postgraduate students will introduce workshops in
this two-day event.

The conference aims to stimulate interdisciplinary exchange on the historical materialist frameworks used to investigate the relationship between global governance, regional integration and the national state, with special reference to the European Union. It will also seek to stimulate a constructive engagement, in one of its panels, between historical materialist, constructivist and post-structuralist approaches to European integration.

The conference will showcase and challenge the most promising critical theories of regionalisation and globalisation, including neo-Gramscian, Open Marxist, Regulation and World-System approaches, with the purpose of generating useful connections and intellectual exchange. It will
bring together researchers thinking about the creation and reproduction of social and political authority in a variety of settings. Truly interdisciplinary in approach, it aims to break down institutional barriers by forging interpersonal relations, and searching for commonality between fields and approaches which are traditionally considered incompatible.

The participation of eminent speakers in a conference addressing issues and phenomena which are highly relevant to the social sciences, not to mention contemporary applied socio-political practice, will attract a strong inter-disciplinary academic audience from European and American universities.

Confirmed participants

Claes Belfrage; Andreas Bieler; Hans-J FCrgen Bieling; Werner Bonefeld; Peter Burnham; Jos E9 Caballero; Alan Cafruny; Guglielmo Carchedi; Ben Clift; Jan Drahokoupil; Otto Holman; Bob Jessop; Huw Macartney; Henk Overbeek; Magnus Ryner; Vivien A. Schmidt; Stuart Shields; Kees Van Der Pijl.


We are inviting abstracts addressing one of the conference's key themes:

Global governance, the EU and the national state:

- Sustaining or transcending international competition?

- The EU as a building-block or obstacle for global governance?



The EU and the global economy:

- The global monetary system and the single currency.

- Aid, trade and the relationship with the global South.



Social agency and European integration:

- Labour, migration and the EU: ideas, interests, and institutions in
the regulation of the social question in Europe.

- Global capital and the EU: transnational elite agency and the European
project.



Regionalisation beyond the EU:

- The EU in global perspective: comparative analyses of the EU and other forms of regionalisation.

- Explaining regionalism and regionalisation in America, Africa and Asia.





Engaging Critical approaches to European integration: constructivism, post-structuralism and other alternatives.

Abstracts should:

- Be no more than 250 words for a 20 minute presentation.

- Include your name, institution, level of study, department and paper title.

- Address an interdisciplinary audience.

- Be submitted by March 15th electronically to globeuropeconferencejune2009@googlemail.com




Other deadlines:

Registration: 15 April 2009.

Submission of paper: 25 May 2009.

Registration fee (Friday and Saturday): £327 per delegate.

Includes refreshments, buffet lunch, and wine reception on Saturday.

Conference webpage: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/ss/beast/

Co-organisers: Andreas Tsolakis (A.A.Tsolakis@warwick.ac.uk ) and Petros Nousios
(P.Nousios@warwick.ac.uk ).



This project is kindly funded by the American Study and Student Exchange Committee and the PAIS department at Warwick.

cfp: ISTC conference, "Re-Visioning the Future: Modernity between Utopia and Dystopia, 5/21-23‏

Call for Papers International Social Theory Consortium

SUBMISSION DEADLINE:MARCH 20, 2009

Since the 1980s, social theorists have become increasingly reluctant to relate constructively to thefuture of western societies, modern democracy, and human civilization. Both in the social sciencesand the humanities, postmodernist critics highlighted the affinity between utopianism and forms oftotalitarianism. As a consequence, social theorists refrained from recognizing as part of theirunique responsibility efforts to refine existing and to delineate new perspectives on the future.Social Theorists began to pay focused attention to problematic patterns of thought that need to beovercome, in order to reduce the odds that the kind of socially, politically and economically inducedcatastrophes that influenced the direction of historical change during the twentieth century willrecur—both directly and indirectly, positively and negatively. Yet whether we appreciate it or not,in the context of globalization, the imminence of change has pushed itself aggressively to theforefront of social-theoretical concerns. The inevitability of change is inescapable, and its centralityto modern civilization undeniable. Concordantly, the imperative to engage in informed andcritically reflexive discourses about the kind of world we will, should, or might live in, continues toincrease rapidly. The conference will serve to facilitate interdisciplinary exchange relating to thecontinuing challenge of capturing the warped nature of modernity at the intersection of the past andthe future and of utopia and dystopia. Organizer:Harry F. Dahms (Sociology)Co-Organizers:Steven P. Dandaneau (Sociology)Allen R. Dunn (English and Religion) Papers accepted for inclusion in the program will be considered for publication inCurrent Perspectives in Social Theory (ed. Harry F. Dahms) orSoundings. An Interdisciplinary Journal (ed. Allen R. Dunn). The organizers welcome proposals on any topic in social theory, and request submission of abstracts(between 150-250 words), 5-page outlines, papers, or proposals for sessions. Papers will receivepreferred consideration.

For list of conference theme-related topics, submission deadline, andregistration fee,
see the full call below: > full call: http://web.utk.edu/~hdahms/ISTC2009/ISTC2009CallforPapers.pdf

The conference will be hosted by the University of Tennessee, in Knoxville, May 21-23 of 2009. It is the 8th annual conference of the International Social Theory Consortium. Recent meetings have taken place in Singapore, Dubrovnick, Lexington, KY, Toronto, Tampa and Sussex. The submission deadline for proposals is March 20, 2009.