Announcements

The Academic Swiss Caucasus Net (ASCN) is pleased to announce its 4th Annual Conference that will take place in Tbilisi, Georgia on 4 and 5 September 2015.

Content

The chain of revolutions in post-Soviet countries, starting with the November Revolution of 2003 in Georgia and ending with Maidan in Ukraine of 2014 have been a transforming factor not only for the countries where they were successful (Georgia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova), but also for those where large-scale political protest was attempted or just feared (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Belarus). These instances of political protest were mostly considered in the context of democratization; the electoral context - many of these revolutions succeeded or failed against the background of the allegations of vote fraud - reinforced the tendency to frame them in the context of democracy. But this framing is one-sided; in many cases it was the failing state, with its corruption and inability to provide basic services to its citizens, as well as the failing economy which have motivated the protesters. The drive to modernize was at least as important as the drive to democratize.

The modernization process leads to the protest of its own. Those left behind during the rapid transformation of society affected through radical reforms resort to extreme nationalism or religious fundamentalism to stop and to revert it. The backlash soon halts the reforms, forcing the political elite to accommodate the demands of the more conservative forces. As for the democratization process, it brings with it variety of forms of contestation, pluralizing the latter. No longer the revolution but nascent social movements with their particular focus on women's rights, minorities, ecology, labor rights etc. serve as paradigms for contestation. At the intersection of these instances of protest there arise tensions between modernization and democratization imperatives, which are then exploited by authoritarian or semi-authoritarian governments who choose or pretend to choose prosperity over democracy.

Is there an essential tension between modernization and democratization? Or do these two processes imply each other? How do different forms of contestation of power relate to them? Which are the social forces behind the protest dynamics and what function is played by different systems and organizations in the processes of transformation of post-soviet countries?

The conference aims to discuss different approaches for analysing political and social dynamics in post-Soviet countries against the background of the politics of contestation and the processes of modernization and democratization.

Call for Papers

Deadline for the submission of abstracts (300 words): 31 March 2015

Proposals can be linked to one of the following themes dealing with modernization:

•     Social movements and contentious politics (including color revolutions)
•     Political regimes and political elites (democracy vs. autocracy; democratization process, etc.)
•     Social change (value systems, Europeanisation, youth identity, gender politics, minority issues, etc.)
•     Forms of capitalism (state capitalism vs. liberal capitalism)

For more details and full instructions please refer to:
fileicon Call for papers.pdf (pdf) or visit our website.

Further Questions

Archil Abashidze, ASCN Local Coordinator Georgia

 About ASCN

ASCN is a programme aimed at promoting the social sciences and humanities in the South Caucasus (primarily Georgia and Armenia). Its different activities foster the emergence of a new generation of talented scholars. Promising junior researchers receive support through research projects, capacity-building trainings and scholarships. The programme emphasizes the advancement of individuals who, thanks to their ASCN experience, become better integrated in international academic networks. The ASCN programme is coordinated and operated by the Interfaculty Institute for Central and Eastern Europe (IICEE) at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). It was initiated and is supported by Gebert Rüf Stiftung.