Film Pre-Preview and Discussion: Varieties of Anarchism

The International DissidenPoster.final-001ce research group and the Cluster of Excellence “Normative Orders” invite you to a film pre-preview and a discussion on “Varieties of Anarchism: Anarchist Projects and the Struggles that Define them” on 7 August 2022 at 6:15 pm.

Starting with a film pre-screening and a lecture by Prof. Lucien van der Walt (Rhodes University, South Africa), we will inquire into the differences and convergences among historical and modern anarchic projects in the subsequent discussion.

The film pre-screening and discussion will take place in the Normative Orders Building, Campus Westend, Room EG.01 (Corner of Lübecker Str. & Hansaallee).

Panels at the WISC Conference 2014

The International Dissidence research group organizes three panels on rule and resistance beyond the nation-state at the upcoming Fourth Global International Studies Conference sponsored by the World International Studies Committee (WISC) in Frankfurt, 6 - 9 August 2014.

The three interrelated panels are organized by Ben KamisJannik Pfister as well as Janusz BieneDaniel Kaiser and Holger Marcks and cover the following topics: “Depoliticized Rule in Transnationalizing Governance” (Chair: Ben Kamis), “Rule by Definition: How International Authority is Encoded into Normative Language and Concepts” (Chair: Jannik Pfister) and “Transnational Dimensions of Violent Dissidence” (Chair: Christopher Daase).

Participants and discussants include: Christian Volk (University of Trier), Regina Hack (Goethe-University Frankfurt), Isabel Rocha de Siquiera (King’s College London), Sebastian Schindler (Goethe-University Frankfurt), Juha Antero Vuori (University of Turku), Claudia Baumgart-Ochse (PRIF, Frankfurt), Benjamin Wilhelm (University of Erfurt), Svenja Gertheiss und Carmen Wunderlich (PRIF, Frankfurt), Priska Daphi (Goethe-University Frankfurt), Lucien van der Walt (Rhodes University), Carolin Goerzig (Virginia Commonwealth University) und Jérôme Drevon (Durham University).

Lisbeth Zimmermann and Nicole Deitelhoff are also going to present a paper on resistance against the Responsibility to Protect at the panel “Norm anti-preneurs and the Laws of War” (Chair: Alan Brian Bloomfield) and Christopher Daase presents a paper on the historical perspectives of Just War Theory at the panel “Justice and Just War Theory” (Chair: Simone Wisotzki).

For more information on the conference see www.wisc2014.uni-frankfurt.de.

Working Paper #2 on terrorist violence is out

In their contribution to the “Dissidenz” Working Paper Series titled “Reflections of Rule in Resistance. A Relational Typology of Terrorist Violence”, Janusz Biene, Daniel Kaiser and Holger Marcks ask under what conditions violent dissidence can mobilize social support.

Particularly in the case of terrorist violence, a form of resistance generally deemed to be disreputable, this may be hardly comprehensible. Indeed, common concepts in terrorism research, as the effectiveness or success of terrorist actors, are incapable of adequately answering this question. On the one hand, effects of terrorism can be comprehensive and nevertheless detrimental to the influence of the group. On the other hand, success is usually measured by the achievement of political ends, even though terrorism serves foremost as a strategic way to gain influence. Therefore, the authors put forward the concept of “political influence” (politische Wirkungsmacht), which allows us to take into account the relativity of power and to investigate whether actors are able to mobilize resources in order to promote their cause. This necessitates to adopt a relational perspective, thus, considering the interplay of dissident actor, opponent and the group to be mobilized.

You can download the paper, together with other contributions from this new working paper series, from http://dissidenz.net/en/publications/working-papers/.

Workshop with Jeffrey Checkel

Rule and resistance in global politics include many transnational phenomena. As conventional as it might sound, most analyses of rule and the resistance against it, whether violent or not, ignore or underestimate the transnational dimensions and dynamics.

Photo credit: Normative Orders

The transnational dynamics of violent dissidence were the focus of an internal colloquium of the working groups “Transnational Escalation Mechanisms of Violent Dissidence” (led by Christopher Daase) and “The Transnationalization of Rule and Resistance in International Relations” (led by Nicole Deitelhoff and Christopher Daase) at the Cluster of Excellence: Normative Orders on February 3, 2014. Distinguished guest of the colloquium was Prof. Jeffrey Checkel, Professor for International Studies and Simons Chair in International Law and Human Security at Simon Fraser University (Canada), who presented his edited volume “Transnational Dynamics of Civil War”, published by Cambridge University Press in 2013 (more on the book). This valuable contribution to International Relations, Comparative Politics and Conflict Studies addresses how transnational relations affect supposedly intra-state conflicts. Moreover, the colloquium discussed conceptual, theoretical and methodological issues, including, for instance, various concepts of transnationalism and the promises and pitfalls of mechanistic understandings of causality and the application of process tracing as a research method.

New job openings - Deadline: January 10

There are currently four new positions for doctoral students and post-docs to be filled as soon as possible in the Dissidenz context and beyond. The deadline for applications is January 10, 2014. Part of the positions will be within the Cluster of Excellence “The Formation of Normative Orders”, the other will form part of a new Dissidenz project funded by the DFG. A good working knowledge of German is required for all positions.

Im Rahmen des Exzellenzclusters “Die Herausbildung normativer Ordnungen” sind an der Professur für Internationale Organisationen (Prof. Daase) und der Professur für Internationale Beziehungen und Theorien globaler Ordnungen (Prof. Deitelhoff) der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt folgende Positionen zum nächstmöglichen Zeitpunkt zu besetzen für die Dauer von zunächst drei Jahren zu besetzen:

1 Wissenschaftliche/r Mitarbeiterin/Mitarbeiter (E13 TV-G-U)

1 Wissenschaftliche/r Mitarbeiterin/Mitarbeiter (E13 TV-G-U, 50 % Teilzeit)

Bei Bedarf kann die ganze Stelle geteilt werden. Gesucht werden Wissenschaftlerinnen/Wissenschaftler, die sich gleichermaßen für empirische wie normative Fragen internationaler Politik interessieren und zum Forschungsprofil einer der genannten Professuren passen (bei diesen Stellen auch explizit über den Dissidenz-Zusammenhang hinaus). Erwartet wird theorieorientierte Forschung zu Fragen der normativen Struktur des internationalen Systems, zur Rolle von internationalen Normen und Institutionen und zur Bedeutung von Herrschaft und Widerstand sowie ausgewiesene Sachkenntnis in mindestens einem Politikfeld der internationalen Politik.

 

Darüber hinaus sind im Rahmen eines von der DFG geförderten Projektes “Alternativlos? Gesellschaftlicher Protest in der Globalisierungskritischen Bewegung zwischen Opposition und Dissidenzan der Professur für Internationale Beziehungen und Theorien globaler Ordnungen (Prof. Deitelhoff) folgende Stellen zum nächstmöglichen Zeitpunkt zu besetzen:

2 Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterinnen/Mitarbeiter (E13 TV-G-U, 65 % Teilzeit)

Gesucht werden Wissenschaftlerinnen/Wissenschaftler, die Radikalisierungsprozesse innerhalb von sozialen Bewegungen vergleichend analysieren. Ein besonderer Schwerpunkt soll auf der Rekonstruktion der internen Diskursprozesse liegen.

Wir erwarten sehr gute sozialwissenschaftliche Hochschulabschlüsse, einschlägige theoretische und methodische Kenntnisse, Kreativität und Eigenständigkeit sowie Kooperations- und Teamfähigkeit. Die Möglichkeit zur akademischen Qualifikation ist gegeben. Für die ganze Mitarbeiterstelle ist eine sehr gute Promotion erforderlich.

 

Bewerbungen mit den üblichen Unterlagen richten Sie bitte bis zum 10.01.2023 an Beate Stein, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Exzellenzcluster “Die Herausbildung normativer Ordnungen”, Grüneburgplatz 1, 60323 Frankfurt am Main.

Bitte beachten Sie, dass Bewerbungsunterlagen nicht zurückgeschickt und nach Ablauf des Verfahrens vernichtet werden.

Call for Papers: WISC 2014

“Transnational Dimensions of Violent Dissidence”: our project “Transnational Escalation Mechanisms of Violent Dissidence” is currently seeking contributions to a panel under this title for the Fourth Global International Studies Conference to be held in Frankfurt on August 6-9, 2014. You can download the full call for papers here. The deadline for abstracts is November 15, 2013.

 

 

Lecture series “Beyond Anarchy: Rule and Authority in the International System”

“Beyond Anarchy: Rule and Authority in the International System”, is a new installment of the “Normative Orders” lecture series, organized in this winter term 2013/2014 by Christopher Daase and Nicole Deitelhoff.

2013_WS_Ringvorlesung_Beyond-Anarchy_PosterThe normative order of the international system is often described as anarchical, denoting a system in which an overarching authority is missing that could dissolve conflicts between the main actors in this system, traditionally perceived to be nation-states. While the latter assumption has been relaxed during the last decades with the rise of non-state actors on the one hand and inter- and supranational organizations on the other, debates still cling to the notion of anarchy. Even if developments such as supranational decision-making in international organizations, informal decisionmaking in clubs or private transnational bodies undermine the classical understanding of anarchy, they are often portrayed as a (retractable) delegation of authority by states, but not as an element of rule in the international system. By contrast, international legal scholars think of the international system as an order governed by legal rules which, since the 19th century, is characterized by an increasing degree of “centralization” (Hans Kelsen) within the United Nations, a move from a management of coexistence to a spirit of co-operation, a proliferation of international organizations and growing influence of constitutional norms. Accordingly, the paradigm is not power, but law.
The lecture series covers the tension between these two perspectives and raises an issue that concerns both: What does authority and rule mean internationally? While some hold the position that authority is dependent on legitimacy, others would suggest that legitimacy is rather an  accompanying feature of authority or even prefer the term rule, pointing to the existence of opposition and dissidence in the international system. In order to arrive at a thorough understanding of the changing normative order of international politics, distinguished speakers from different disciplinary (political science, law, sociology) and theoretical backgrounds are invited to discuss. In the coming months, the following researchers will talk in Frankfurt: Robert O. Keohane (Princeton), Nikita Dhawan (Frankfurt), Nico Krisch (Barcelona), Michael Zürn (WZB), Ian Hurd (Northwestern), David A. Lake (UC San Diego), Armin von Bogdandy (MPI Heidelberg), Clifford Bob (Duquesne), Harald Müller (HSFK Frankfurt), Nicholas Onuf (Florida International), and of course Christopher Daase and Nicole Deitelhoff .

See the full programm (pdf): Here…

Goethe-University Frankfurt, Campus Westend, Hörsaalzentrum

Presented by the Cluster of Excellence “The Formation of Normative Orders”

Debate on new protest movements

On May 27, Nicole Deitelhoff will discuss riots, protests and revolts within the IfS series “ZeitBrüche – Diagnosen zur Gegenwart” in cooperation with program 2 of the Hessian public radio (hr2) and the Literaturhaus Frankfurt. The debate includes Sabine Kurtenbach, Ferdinand Sutterlüty and Oliver Nachtwey.

The evening will focus on protest movements of recent years, especially in Europe: Occupy, Indignados, unrests in French banlieus, and riots in London. The discussion will cover a general description of these movements as well as analysis of their roots and causes. Are we witnessing an emerging social conflict or perhaps a new protest cycle in the crisis of democratic capitalism?

The debate will take place at the Literaturhaus Frankfurt, Schöne Aussicht 2, starting at 7:30 pm. It will be hosted by Peter Kemper of hr2.

More information (in German) can be found directly at the Institut für Sozialforschung or the Literaturhaus.

Volume on Power and Resistance in Global Politics

A new volume, Power and Resistance in Global Politics (edited by Julian Junk and Christian Volk), was published recently in German with Nomos and contains contributions from the Dissidence project.

Power and resistance are supposedly inextricably linked. But is this really the case? And how should one characterize the various facets of this relationship? This volume focuses on the connection between various forms of power and resistance, and it examines how the powerful and the dissenters alike view them.

The volume contains three parts, the first of which deals with different conceptions of the interplay between power and resistance from the perspective of the history of political thought. It also considers the consequences of this interplay for theories of international relations. The second part of the volume investigates empirical phenomena that enable us to reconstruct different places, modes and genealogies of power and resistance. A third part sketches a possible research programme uniting the various lines of inquiry from the volume.

The volume contains contributions by Christopher Daase, Nicole Deitelhoff, Julian Junk, Sebastian Schindler and Christian Volk, among others.

More information directly from the publisher is available here.

Junk, Julian/ Volk, Christian (2013): Macht und Widerstand in der globalen Politik, Baden-Baden: Nomos.