Conference abstract
For decades the global order seemed engaged– with a few, though significant, exceptions – in a process of integration across every dimension (economic, political, social, and cultural) and on every level (global, inter-governmental, transnational, regional, national and local). Increasing diversity accompanied integration, leading to both stabilisation and destabilisation of societies. However, in recent years that transformation has slowed down sharply, and in some cases come to a halt. Instability and mounting challenges to the liberal order and approaches across every dimension and on every level have replaced what appeared to be a smooth, inevitable, and supposedly benign ‘progression’, challenging historical consciousness. The diversity championed by the liberal order over the past decades has likewise been met with resistance from those seeking to return to more traditional boundaries – whether national, religious, ethnic, gender, or cultural. Is this the onset of a new era, or just the latest, perhaps temporary, development in an ongoing, open-ended transformation of global societies over the past centuries that has been marked by alternating moments of change and reaction?
This multi-disciplinary conference seeks to answer these questions from a variety of social science and humanities perspectives (historical, political science and sociological, economic, and legal) and represented through the EUI’s six thematic groupings. The conference welcomes regular presentations, poster presentations or panel proposals related to those thematic research groups, as well as contributions that address other issues of academic and social relevance. Submissions will be organised in specific sessions by the organising committee.
Read the description of individual sessions on the MWP Blog