The European Union and the Arab Spring: Constructions of Security in the Southern Mediterranean
ACCESS EUROPE workshop
ACCESS EUROPE organises a two-day workshop on The European Union and the Arab Spring: Constructions of Security in the Southern Mediterranean. This workshop is organised by the ‘Europe in the World’ research theme.
Workshop description
Recent uprisings and related political and socio-economic transformation processes taking place in the Arab World invite for a reconsideration of how the EU engages with security in the Southern Mediterranean. The EU's immediate response to the uprisings recognises the shortcomings of previous attempts of political and socio-economic transformation in the Arab countries and calls for a shift in the Union's perceptions, strategies and approach in the constitution of security and political order in its southern neighbourhood. Pointing at the new political and economic landscape and changing power relations in these countries, the EU emphasises the need for rethinking security in the Southern Mediterranean and reflecting upon the prospects and challenges arising from the events with respect to the security of Europe.
The central goal of this workshop is to highlight what is at stake in the EU's current debates over the security of the Southern Mediterranean in the aftermath of the uprisings. The aim is to critically engage with the questions, themes and instruments that underlie how the EU thinks of security in its southern neighbourhood and relates it to its internal and external security politics. To that end, the workshop adopts a critical approach to EU representations and practices by focussing on the following questions: How does the EU perceive Southern Mediterranean security? What are the key threats identified in terms of regional and international political and socio-economic order? Whose security is seen to be in danger and what solutions are being put forward? And what political implications do EU constructions of security have in paving the way for particular practices and relationships, legitimising exceptional measures and drawing ideational, political and spatial linkages? To address these questions, the workshop seeks to bring together leading academics in the field and students so as to provide a forum for academic discussion and a critical review of existing conceptions and exercises towards policy improvement and policy change.
The workshop invites contributions from political theory, international political economy, European studies and postcolonial research. Possible theme areas for paper proposals include, but not limited to, the EU as an international actor, borders and migration, issues of crime and terrorism, peace and conflict, democratisation and development cooperation, civil society, minority, religion as well as international and transnational security networks. Selected workshop papers will be considered for a special issue in a peer-review journal.
Confirmed workshop participants
- Dr. Dimitris Bouris - College of Europe Natolin
- Dr. Vincent Durac - University College Dublin
- Prof. Dr. Michelle Pace - Roskilde University
- Dr. Halit Mustafa Tagma - Ipek University
Information
For more information, please contact Dr. Beste Isleyen (B.Isleyen@uva.nl), who is the workshop convenor as a member of the ACCESS EUROPE research theme 'Europe and the World' led by Prof. Marieke de Goede (University of Amsterdam) and Prof. Wolfgang Wagner (VU University Amsterdam).
Location
The conference will take place in the Regentenkamer of the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam.