Call for Abstractsfor ECPR General Conference in Oslo, 6-9 September 2017
for Panel on “Arctic ‘exceptionalism’? Northern Contributions to I
nternational Relations (IR) Research”
Panel conveners:
Mathias Albert, Faculty of So
ciology, University of Bielefeld, Germany,
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Kat
hrin Keil, Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), Potsdam, G
ermany, This email address
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Seba
stian Knecht, Berlin Graduate School for Transnational Studies (BTS), Freie
Universität Berlin, Germany, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScrip
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Panel abstract:
The Arctic region was for a long tim
e considered to be of marginal importance for international relations (IR)
research due to what is framed as “Arctic exceptionalism”. Because of the r
egion’s special ecology and placid political relationships, the High North
was generally seen as detached from global political dynamics and hence unc
ompelling or unsuitable for IR theory and analysis. With few analytical too
ls at hand, many studies in Arctic political science have remained overly d
escriptive and atheoretical. It is only since the “new age of the Arctic” h
as received wider academic and political attention that the region has beco
me more and more attractive as a testing site for the application of tradit
ional concepts and theories from across the field of IR research.
This session approaches the Arctic’s distinctiven ess as a promising point of departure rather than an inhibiting factor for bringing innovative thinking to world politics at the intersection of envir onmental, resource and security governance issues, and from both Western an d non-Western IR perspectives. Accordingly, the session asks how Arctic stu dies can contribute to central debates, concepts and theories of internatio nal relations and global governance in a wider sense, and thereby strongly favours papers with a focus on concept formation and theory building. Issue s to be addressed may include, but are not limited to, questions of soverei gnty, security, borders and boundaries, conflict and cooperation, power and authority, geopolitics, and state-society relationships.
Please submit your paper abstract by 13 February 2017 to This emai l address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. including :