Cohousing-L Mailing List: Call for Papers

[Osvaldo Croci (ocroci]

CALL FOR PAPERS

INTERNATIONAL PEACE RESEARCH ASSOCIATION
Global Political Economy Commission Panels 

The International Peace Research Association (IPRA) will be holding its 17th 
General Conference in
Durban, South Africa on June 23-26, 1998. Its overarching theme will be 
"Meeting Human Needs in a
Cooperative World".  The program will include panels organized by various 
specialized commissions. 
Our purpose here is to invite participation in the panels of IPRA's Global 
Political Economy
Commission (GPEC).

In line with the general IPRA theme, we would like to have presentations that 
focus on the
documentation and analysis of how "globalisation from below" can challenge 
"globalisation from
above." Documentation and analysis, however, should be guided by "the 
philosophy of praxis" i.e.
should be conducted with the aim of devising concrete courses of political 
action capable of
"meeting human needs" in the age of globalisation. 

We would like to organize at least four panels addressing such themes as:

1)      the variety of struggles taking place at the local, national, regional 
and global level by
social groups that are trying to cope with the deleterious effects of global 
restructuring,
organize themselves and work towards the establishment of structural conditions 
of peace and
substantive (as opposed to merely formal) democracy. 
2)      Problems of legitimacy encountered by states as they pass from the 
welfare to the competition
phase. 
3)      The problems created by the disjunction between global capital and 
nationally or locally active 
labour and other progressive social movements. 
4)      Examples and experiences of "politics of place" or "infrapolitics" that 
is to say, everyday
actions uniting people around those economic activities associated with the 
sustainability of
physical life that can be disassociated from the global economy .

Some of the questions that could guide our effort to document and analyse the 
politics of
resistance are the following: 

1)      What are the major internal and external difficulties that local 
movements find in co-ordinating
their action at a global level? How can these difficulties be overcome?
2)      Can "the politics of place" or "infrapolitics" affect national and 
global politics in a
progressive direction?
3)      How much progress have the 'ethical investment' and 'fair trade' 
movements made since their
inception?
4)      What factors impede/promote the spread of communitarian and 
stakeholding agendas?
5)      How has the implementation of neo-liberal policies affected the 
political fortunes of
social-democratic parties? Are there differences in the way social-democratic 
parties have embraced
these policies, and if so, how can they be explained? Have these differences 
affected in any
measurable way the international competitiveness of the countries in question?
6)      To what extent are trade unions superseding their traditionally 
national outlook?
7)      Are there new forms and agents of resistance? Is/can the internet be a 
new site of resistance?
8)      Can state power be re-articulated progressively in a direction that 
resists hyper-liberal
economic globalisation? Or, is resistance only possible at a larger, 
supra-national level (e.g. the
European Union) or at a lower than national level  (e.g. Québec rather than 
Canada or the Basque
country rather than France or Spain).
9)      What are the conditions for the emergence of a 'social Europe" as 
opposed to a 'neo-liberal'
one?
10)     To what extent do nationalist movements promote themselves by using an 
anti-globalisation
discourse and promising a return to more social-democratic policies.
11)     Can capitalism survive without the mitigating effects of the welfare 
state?. 
        

Proposals may take several different forms:

(1) You could propose to organize a panel (chair, 2-3 papers, discussant) on a 
specific topic.
(2) You could propose to present a paper on a specific topic.
(3) You could propose to arrange a Roundtable on a specific topic.
(4) You could propose to organize a Workshop on a specific topic.

Workshops differ from Roundtables in that they are more structured and may 
include some
experiential element.
We invite you to make a proposal for GPEC's panels.  Please contact one or both 
of the
Co-Conveners.  We are:

Osvaldo Croci
Department of Political Science
Laurentian University
Sudbury, Ontario, P3E 2C6
Canadaphone:  (705) 675 1151 ext. 4324fax:      (705)  675 4872email:   ocroci 
[at] nickel.laurentian.ca


and

Catherine Alum Odora Hoppers
Centre for Education Policy Development
3rd Floor, 76 Juta Street Braamfontein
P.O.Box 31892 Braamfontein 2017
Republic of South Africa
Tel (office): 27-11-403 61 31
Fax (office): 27-11-339 34 55
email: hoppodor [at] iafrica.com

Proposals for the GPEC's panels should reach us by January 10, 1997.  We plan 
to prepare a draft
program soon after that.

Unfortunately, the GPEC cannot provide any sort of financial assistance to 
participants in the
conference.

General information about IPRA can be obtained from its General Secretary, 
Bjoern Moeller, who can
be reached via email at bm [at] vip.cybercity.dk or bjoern [at] dk-online.dk 
General information about the
Durban conference can be obtained from Vasu Gounden, who can be reached via 
email at
hallen [at] accord.udw.ac.za  or at vgounden [at] accord.udw.ac.za  If you are 
interested in making a
presentation on some theme other than global political economy, send your 
proposal to Simona
Sharoni at ssharon [at] american.edu Please forward this invitation to other 
individuals and discussion
groups that may be interested.  Our apologies for duplicate postings.