The Institute of Political Science of the University of Wrocław invites students and PhD candidates to submit their proposals for the XX International Student Conference “Politics & Society in Central and Eastern Europe”, which will take place on June 24th, 2022.

The conference is designed to enable the presentation of research findings by young researchers interested in current developments in Central and Eastern European politics and societies.

The theme for the upcoming conference is “War and Politics”.

Government and politicians use different means to achieve their political objectives and goals.One of the tools applied through centuries is war. War is a complex phenomenon. From one point of view, outcomes of war are easily observed: violence, death, oppression, despair, fear, anger, trauma, genocide. From another perspective, war is a complex organisational and logistical effort which combines various aspects of social organisations such as culture, economy, education, technology, international politics and so on. Scholars have described evolution of wars in parallel to development of human societies from primitive conflicts that include stabbing, shooting, or bombing to more sophisticated forms such as class wars, economical domination or cyberwarfare.After atrocities of WW1 and WW2, the humanity shaped global organisations such as the UN and regional ones such as NATO to strive to bring balance, peace and stability around the world. Yet, multiple conflicts occurred through decades: Vietnam War (1955-1975), Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989), Falkland War (1982), Yougoslav War (1991-2001), Iraq War (2003), War in Afghanistan (2001-2021), War with ISIS (2014-2019).

Today we face a new conflict. On 24th February 2022, the Russian Federation launched an unprovoked invasion against Ukraine. With this new tragedy, communities are obliged to address the conflict on various levels. It is scientists’ duty to attempt to understand the current events in their broadest historic, social, political and economic context. We want to contribute to this cause by organising our event and giving young researchers time and space for discussion on the past and especially current conflicts. We think that tragic events need to be described, explained and remembered in order to raise awareness and promote responsibility for the future. We also want to enhance empathy and eagerness to help, stressing their impact and significance. In times of crisis, let us not forget that science generates information. Information creates knowledge. Knowledge crates wisdom. Wisdom leads to greatness.

If your topic of interest concerns various social and political issues of past or present wars, you are welcome to participate in the conference and share your findings with us.

To submit your proposal, please fill in a registration form you can find at: https://forms.office.com/r/VuMbscpy5V 

Important dates:
- 10th June 2022 – Call for abstracts closes
- until 16th June 2022 – notification of acceptance
- until 15th June 2022 – the announcement of the final conference programme

Additional information:
- no participation/attendance fee;
- participants will be awarded certificates confirming presentation of a paper;
- participants will be provided with one free hot meal during the conference;

General Chair (contact):

Dr Kamil Błaszczyński (kamil.blaszczynski2@uwr.edu.pl)