4* Savoia Hotel Regency – Bologna

Via del Pilastro, 2
40127 Bologna Italy
E mail: [email protected]
 
Bologna is one of the beautiful cities of central Italy, capital of Emilia-Romangna region, containing an immense wealth of important medieval, renaissance, and baroque artistic monuments. Bologna hosts the oldest university in the world and is famous for having only in the historic center 38 kilometers of elegant arcades. The leaning towers of Bologna – the central “Due Torri” (Asinelli and Garisenda) – are iconic popular symbols of the town. The red roofs in the historic center are a typical splendor of the town that made Bologna to be nicknamed “la rossa”. Home town of Guglielmo Marconi and Pier Paolo Pasolini among many personalities that lived there, Bologna became adoptive town for Umberto Eco. Add to all that the famous Bologna cuisine and you have still a minimal impression of the unique atmosphere of Bologna.
 

 

Bologna can be easily reached by plane, train car or bus. Bologna has its own international airport situated conveniently close to town. Alternatively, Bologna can also be reached by flying to Florence that is regularly connected by trains to Bologna.

 
See map with details for arriving at the conference location:

HERE

Conference participants are fully responsible for arranging their accommodation and travel to Bologna.

Conference Program

The Conference Agenda is available in the right sidebar.

The conference program with abstracts and available draft papers is accessible below by clicking on the panel number tabs and individual presentations.

Thinking Contemporary Europe: The Politicization of Europe and the Integration/Disintegration Nexus in the European Union

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  Senka Neuman Stanivukovic, Department of International Relations and International Organization, University of Groningen / Euroculture, The Netherlands
  Theorizing European Disintegration in Times of Complexity The paper makes three central claims. First, the European subject is polymorphous. Europe is realized in multitudinal assemblages and practices. Second, European integration is essentially relational rather than unidirectional. Third, the European subject is both symbolic and material. Europe is enacted by speeches, monuments, flags but also documents, technologies, financial instrument, architectural artefacts, or agricultural land. In the context of redefining European integration as multitudinal, disintegration is debunked as a useful concept and events widely referred to as disintegration are consequently re-examined via the actor-network theory.

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  Antonio Sergio, Aston Centre for Europe, Aston University, Birmingham UK
  The Brexit Vote: Conceptualizing European (Dis)Integration This paper will take stock of the emerging literature on European (Dis)integration (Schmitter and Lefkofrid 2015; Scheller and Eppler 2014; Vollaard 2014; Oliver 2015) and will apply it to the outcome of British EU referendum. In particular, the contribution will explore the Brexit vote by comparing and contrasting Neo-functionalism's concept of "spillback" and "countervailing forces" with the six hypothsesis of the New Intergovernmentalism.

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  Jean F. Crombois, American University in Bulgaria
  Politicization and Crises of European Integration: For a Re-Politicization of the European Union The paper argues that the negative impact of such politicization has been over-estimated by Hooghes and Marks while its positive impact has been under-estimated. In other words, the possibility of a re-politicization of the EU integration project. The condition, however, to capitalize on its positive impact lies in the need for the EU to change its approach, from technocratic one to what we call a more pragmatist one.

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  Gerhard Eichweber, Silva Plan / Value Group, Switzerland
  Europe and the Last 30 years – Consequences of Abandoning Qualitative Distinctions The paper outlines the concepts prevailing during the passage from "European Community" to "European Union", also Great Britain's changing role in the Community. Observing economic crises not as individual events, but as continuously increasing developments of ever increasing frequency and amplitude, the paper also focuses upon the principal errors leading to such ever accelerating downturn and its consequences for society, in order to outline what, instead, as prerequisites, leads to sustainable development, employment and prosperity.

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Europeanization as a Process and the Ongoing European Crisis: Parties, Perceptions and Attitudes towards European Integration

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  Andreas Goffin, Institute of International Area Studies, Charles University Prague
  Politicisation of the EU During European Crises – Example of the German Post-Communist Left This paper is concerned with the radical and its reaction on the three recent crises: The Euro Crisis, The Ukraine conflict and the Refugee crisis. Here the German party Die Linke is examined. The party is from interest because it presented in all of the crises rather views off the main stream. In the center of the analysis is the question how the party responded to the crisis and used them. It should also be considered if the decisions taken on European level are pushing the party to new programmatic ideas or policy proposals. In order simplify it the paper is concerned with the politicization of the EU within the party.

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  Monika Gabriela Bartoszewicz, Vistula University, Poland
  Fortress Europe: The Dangers of Democratic Insecurities European Community begs for a deepened reflection regarding the drivers and determinants of these phenomena and decide whether radicalisation of European politics is a temporary occurrence or will it become a permanent feature of European political landscape due to structural reasons. This paper argues that the crisis of societal security (Buzan et al. 1998) manifests itself through a crisis of representative democracy (Rosanvallon 2008) institutions and mechanisms visible in “radicalisation of politics” taking forms of anti-establishment initiatives (radical parties, social movements, and vigilante groups) and various forms of direct democracy (referenda, manifestations, demonstrations).

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  Osman Sabri Kiratli, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey
  The Role of Civilizational Identity in Shaping Public Attitudes on Foreign Policy Following the constructivist route, this study aims to analyze the role of identity on individual attitudes on foreign military interventions. More specifically, drawing from the literature on democratic peace theory and clash of civilizations this paper investigates to what extent culturally and ideologically similar countries will be labelled as 'we' by the public and perceived positively whereas dissimilar countries will be perceived as 'others' which will be followed by a negative reaction in foreign policy attitudes.

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  Federico Cavalleri, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy
  The Borders of Europe The aim of this paper is to show how Europeanisation should not be seen as a standing element, but rather as one of the main knots in which the global flows of culture, images and ideas crossing the European’s imagination are entangled. Europeanisation is to be considered as a discursive process through which the European identity (the so-called Europeanness) becomes part of a wider narration that includes other symbols, values, imagines etc. The paper is based on an ethnographic research carried out on the island of Cyprus after the economic and financial crisis of 2013. It analyses the rhetorical use of the adjective European by Greek-Cypriots when asked to define their ethnical and national identity as well as the way it changes depending on the different “Other” Cypriots want to distinguish from.

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European Cultural Diplomacy Instruments: From Art Exhibitions, Cultural Institutes to Public Diplomacy Tools

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  Patricia García-Montón González, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
  “Le tenebroso est à la mode”. The Prado Museum and the Italian Baroque Exhibitions in the Economic Golden Age of Western Europe In 1957 Europe would live a very important moment for its unification: the signing of the Treaty of Rome which established the new EEC. And the best way to celebrate it was with an exhibition à la mode about Il Seicento europeo. This mostra pointed a new geographic dimension in the historiography: beyond the construction of national histories of art was gradually forged a new history about an artistic Europe with a coherent identity. But Spain –and therefore the Prado– was a resounding absence. The museum gave up its loans policy and this involved a turning point in the construction of the Spanish Art History in the European context.

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  Roksana Filipowska, Doan Fellow, Chemical Heritage Foundation / University of Pennsylvania, USA
  Behind the Synthetic Curtain: The Politics of Plastic in Czechoslovakia Using Design A Plastické Hmoty as a starting point, I explore the material and cultural importance of plastic and its design within Czechoslovakia’s Fifth Five-Year Plan. My study contextualizes Lamarova’s project within several utopian collaborations between artists and polymer chemists that were shut down after the Soviet invasion of 1968 and the lingering anxiety over plastic’s “capitalist” aesthetic. Focusing on furniture and home accessory design, I consider how plastics shaped the socialist consumer’s interaction with her changing environment, and examine the role of exhibition catalogue publishing as an act of soft diplomacy.

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  Gretchen Simms, University of Vienna and the University of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria
  The International Activity of Cultural Institutes The 21er Haus in Vienna and the structure (architecture) that was awarded a prize during the cold war at the world fair, transferred to Vienna to serve as the museum of contemporary art and today is showing work mostly by Austrian artists but currently bei Ai WeiWei -- this type of history as a carrier of Austrian culture and art to showing an artist who works on an international scale (with a political agenda) demonstrates the international activity of one art museum. This paper would cover the history of the house as well as the current exhibition and the vice-directors purpose behind the exhibition. The paper would be both historical and cover the current political and cultural activity of the museum.

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  Denise Tamborrino, Polo Museale dell'Emilia-Romagna, Italy
  Bologna’s Iconography. The Representation of the City in the Paintings of Pinacoteca Nazionale Perceived city and real city are two artistically distinct concepts that do not always identify themselves in a unique representation, due to the architectural presence. Analyzing the paintings inside the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, this paper wants to focus on how and why the representation of the city of Bologna differs from the real urban landscape between the fourteenth and the seventeenth century, despite the presence of the great architectures that have profoundly marked the face of the city as well as still perceived.

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Assessing the EU’s Normative Influence: Neighborhood Policy, Conflict Resolution and Foreign Policy Impact

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  Lia Moran-Gilad, Dep. of Politics and Government, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
  How do Israeli Government Officials Perceive the EU Neighborhood Policy? Implications to Normative Power Europe Taking Israel as a case-study, a semi-structured interview approach was used to study the perceptions and attitudes of senior technical officers and decision-makers in four Ministries of the Israeli government. This paper will examine NPE from a new angle by exploring whether capacity building is a new form of diffusion of NPE that has not been previously identified and characterized. Specifically, this study seeks to analyze the relation between capacity building in European neighborhood and NPE and contribute to the theoretical discourse spanning NPE by assessing if capacity building is indeed a modality of normative diffusion.

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  Shu Uchida, Marie Curie Early-Research Fellow, The University of Coimbra, Portugal
  What Kind of Role Should the European Union Play for Achieving Sustainable Peace in Georgia? : Improving the Effectiveness of the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) This research discusses the EU’s role in Georgia, with specific focus on improving the effectiveness of the EUMM. What kind of role should the EU play in Georgia for achieving sustainable peace? It argues that the EUMM should focus not only on early warning but also other conflict prevention activities e.g., post-conflict stabilization. Moreover, it provides implications that emphasize the importance of conflict transformation for addressing protracted conflicts via the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM), which was established in tandem with the Geneva International Discussions.

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  Alper Yurttas, Istanbul University, Turkey

  Selma Sekercioglu, Nisantasi University, Turkey
  The EU’s Changing Discourse in the EU Documents on Civil Society in Turkey Considering democratic changes of Turkey, the position of civil society and their ability to self-expression, it is crucial to determine their situation. In this regard this study will focus on the EU’s changing discourse about the civil society in Turkey in the progress by analysing the Commission reports and the EP resolutions. By doing so, it has been aimed to show changes of the EU’s perception on Turkey’s accession process.

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  Elena Tilovska-Kechedzi, Faculty of Law, University St. Kliment Ohridski, Bitola, Macedonia
  European Diplomacy: Mediocrity of Diplomatic Action in Syria  It is extremely important in today’s globalizing world that the EU stays a global foreign policy actor and not only a mediator or a soft power. That chance is given to the EU with the Geneva process, by leading the peace initiative and by promoting its diplomacy. Effective diplomacy will demand compromises that will aim to secure an international settlement. This has to be done by bringing the Syrian and regional participants on the same table. The challenges to the diplomatic success are big but Europe should promote the idea of peace and stability in Syria and not in any case fall under the temptation to trap Russia into a swamp, in which it can fall itself.

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  Dusan Spasojevic, Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade
  Europeanisation of the Serbian Party System – Accountability to Brussels or to the People? Candidate states usually begin their EU accession process with high level of EU enthusiasm and end up with significant euro skepticism. Serbian case is different due to strong pre-existing divisions regarding EU integration during the initial phase – negotiations for a Stabilization and Association Agreement (2005). However, in the last 10 years euro skepticism has been gradually pushed away from the mainstream arena of Serbian politics, reaching the point that the anti EU parties have not even been represented in the parliament in the last years. In this paper we are analyzing the process of Europeanization of the Serbian party system as the consequence of EU integration process and cooperation of Serbian parties with their European ideological counterparts.

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  Ali Abo Rezeg, Turkish State Anadolu Agency and Yildrim Bayazit University, Turkey
  Pragmatism and the Turkish Strict Position towards the 2013’s Coup in Egypt This research studies the motives behind the Turkish position and identifies what pragmatism is in order to analyze the Turkish position towards the Egyptian coup in light of the school of pragmatism, hence this paper attempts to answer the question: What are the motives that had driven Turkey to strictly reject the coup in Egypt?, and was the Turkish position in this regard a pragmatic?

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  Liljana Siljanovska, South East European University, Tetovo
  Media Analyses of Political Crisis and the Enlargement Policy of the European Union: Impact on European Integration Processes in Macedonia Through the analysis of media content, interviews with academics and experts in the European integration processes, this research assesses and confirms the thesis that the institutional and political crisis in the EU mediated by the unresolved Greek blockade affects the integration processes of Macedonia, or the agreement on a date for starting negotiations for accession to membership.

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  Flávia Faermann, The Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
  The European Union And The Same Gender Relationship – A Legal View The paper intends to address the following questioning: what is the current legal treatment given by the European Union law to the same gender relationships and if there is a reglementation’s need to the theme. Considering the European citizens mobility, the European Union foundation on the free movement, the values of non-discrimination and respect for privacy, it is paradoxical the situation that exists in some countries that treat the topic in such different legal positions. This scenario leads to the impossibility to uniformly exercise the individual rights in the EU for those part of a same sex relationship.

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  Jon Davidann, Hawaii Pacific University
  American Internationalism and Cultural Diplomacy: The Rise and Decline of an idea in the Twentieth Century Committed internationalists became cultural diplomats in the United States government or as private citizens in the pre-war period spreading mutual understanding and democratic values worldwide. They did battle against other Americans who then as now saw treachery in the outside world and opposed cultural diplomacy as a feeble or dangerous response. This presentation also offers a usable past of Americans who embraced an increasingly integrated globe, but at the same time a sobering reminder of the roadblocks to internationalism. American Internationalism provides insight into a world we should well remember as we grapple with the sometimes disagreeable realities of an interconnected globe.

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  Jonathan Rosenberg, Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center, USA
  Diplomatic Instruments: U.S. Symphony Orchestras And The Cold War This paper will explore the intersection between classical music and international politics during the Cold War. As part of a larger study I am working on, Dangerous Melodies and Diplomatic Instruments: When Classical Music Mattered in America (W.W. Norton, forthcoming), which explores the relationship between classical music in the United States and twentieth-century world affairs (from the Great War to the Cold War).

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  Gretchen Simms, University of Vienna and the University of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria
  The Difference Between Art as Propaganda and Art as Cultural Diplomacy In my paper I would compare the mission of artists as opposed to governments in addressing political issues. The Cold War and the American National Exhibition in Moscow would serve as a prime example of how art was used as propaganda. Exhibitions at the America Houses and at galleries in Austria would serve as further examples to underline the cultural diplomacy of the United States. In looking at Europe and how artists were influenced by this and how their art evolved due to exhibitions viewed by them (Pichler and Attersee for example) I would be able to demonstrate how contemporary Austrian artists and their political expressions are not used as propaganda by any government but as an artistic message from the artist to an audience.

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  Fatima Ahmed, St. Francis Xavier University, Nova Scotia, Canada
  Exploring Arts Based Ways to Counter Radicalization Among Youth A team of three Muslim women co-organized BreakWord, a spoken word gathering during the fall 2010 term. This event was executed as an assignment for a Trauma and Healing event. The underlying need the event aimed to address was the traumatization of Muslim youth as a group due to the current geo-political trends. The assumption behind BreakWord was that communication about identity issues and encouraging civic engagement can help to decrease the tendency towards violent radicalization.

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  Antonio Sergio, Aston Centre for Europe, Aston University, Birmingham UK
  Adjustment In The Us And European Monetary Unions: The Cases Of Puerto Rico And Greece Form an Optimum Currency Area perspective this paper provides a comparative analyzes between the (ongoing) Puerto Rican and Greek debt crisis and between the United States and European monetary unions. More specifically, the thesis engages with two of OCA’s criteria required to sustain monetary unions in the long run: the Insurance Principle and homogeneity of policies. The contribution aims to answer the following research question: how to share the cost of adjustment in a monetary union?

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  Laura Bonacorsi, Boston College, USA
  Scale Economies in European Trade Using the gravity framework, I investigate the existence of economies of scale in trade costs for European international trade. 26 manufacturing sectors exhibit such scale economies: a 10% increase in trade volume corresponds on average to a 0.64% decrease in trade costs. It appears that the EU expansion affected these economies of scale, though this happened for some sectors only: trade with an EU partner entails scale elasticities 50% lower than trade with a non-EU member for 11 sectors out of the 26 considered. I also investigate whether scale elasticities can be rationalized by the existence of informational asymmetries.

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  Ioannis Kostakis, Harokopio University, Athens

  Eleni Theodoropoulou, Harokopio University, Athens
  Fiscal Consolidation, Shadow Economy and the Sustainability of Private Consumption: Further Evidence from Selected Eurozone Economies This research uses an alternative growth of private consumption approach using dynamic panel data regression analysis of 17 (14 excluding Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) Eurozone countries and endeavors to shed light on these issues. Empirical findings show that consolidation periods experience a marginal lower private consumption growth, questioning the generality of neoclassical theory implication. Furthermore, as expected, informal economy leads to a higher private consumption, but with a high cost for public economics

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