Call for Papers for the Annual Conference of the Thematic Group "Critical Security Studies" at CISS

18 June 2024

From 6-7 November 2024, the open annual conference of the thematic group "Critical Security Studies" of the German Political Science Association (DVPW) will take place in cooperation with the Center for Intelligence and Security Studies at the University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich. The Call for Papers can be found here (in German only): (https://www.dvpw.de/fileadmin/user_upload/tg_kritische_sicherheitstudien/CfP_DVPW_KritSich_UniBW_2024.pdf)

The research field of Critical Security Studies brings together different perspectives on policies and practices of (in)security. What these diverse approaches have in common is that they aim to go beyond traditional, often realistically inspired approaches focussed on military (national) security. From these perspectives, for example, the rise of right-wing parties and movements in Europe becomes not only a question of security policy, but also of social policy, and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine cannot be explained purely in terms of realist geopolitics.

Rather, many research approaches in the field of critical security studies work with a broader understanding of security as a social value and are interested in the emergence and consequences of new security logics and dynamics. Complementary to more problem-solving orientated research perspectives, one of the central research interests here is how social and political power relations produce and change the form and function of security institutions and security discourses. The field is interdisciplinary; contributions come not only from international relations and other areas of political science, but also from criminology, sociology, law, geography and history.

The thematic group aims to provide a forum within the German debate in which the various (sub-)disciplinary debates are brought together and an exchange on the development of inter- and transdisciplinary research agendas in this field is facilitated. It sees itself explicitly as an "open forum, not bound to a specific paradigm, for scholars from various fields of political science and neighbouring disciplines to exchange views on common interests and issues relating to the 'politics of (in)security'" (https://www.dvpw.de/gliederung/themengruppen/kritische-sicherheitsstudien/ueber-uns/).

With this in mind, this year's conference has been deliberately designed as an open event that is also intended to promote dialogue and networking within the broader field. Contributions can therefore address different topics and perspectives and are welcome to explore innovative approaches or interfaces with other fields and disciplines.

Conference presentations can be based on papers on specific issues, but a classic scientific conference paper is not mandatory. Please send proposals for conference papers (max. 200 words) by 26 July 2024 to: kritischesicherheitsstudien@dvpw.de.

Membership in the thematic group or the DVPW is not a prerequisite for participation, the event is open to all interested parties.

The conference will take place from 6 to 7 November 2024 at the Universität der Bundeswehr München. Unfortunately, travel and accommodation costs cannot be covered. It is planned to organise the programme in such a way that it should be possible to arrive on 6 November and depart on 7 November. The conference language will be in German.

Organising team:

- Susanne Fischer (Federal University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration)

- Hendrik Hegemann (Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg)

- Eva Herschinger (Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies at the University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich)

- Matthias Leese (ETH Zurich)