The University of Southern California and the Project on Middle East Political Science invite proposals to participate in the Rethinking Nation and Nationalism Workshop that will be hosted on February 6, 2015 at the University of Southern California.
The Arab uprisings of 2011 have shown that questions of physical boundaries and national identities long seen as resolved may in fact be open to reconfiguring. Insurgencies spanning Syria and Iraq and the (re)assertion of regionalism in Libya are only the most violent of the processes currently underway challenging long-established physical national frontiers. Embattled regimes have produced new national narratives to legitimate their rule, while sectarian and Islamist movements have taken on new manifestations. Refugee movements triggered by these conflicts and longer-standing processes of migration within, into, and out of the region have led to large communities of nationals established outside the countries of their citizenship.
This workshop brings together scholars working on questions related to these challenges – territorial, ideological, economic, political – to existing configurations of nation and nationalism in the region. Participants will write 1,500 word memos that present current projects, reflect upon the current literature, or lay out new theoretical or empirical research agendas. These memos will serve as the basis for discussion at the workshop, and then will be collected and published as an edition of the POMEPS Studies series. POMEPS will offer a $250 honorarium for memos, and cover all travel costs to the University of Southern California.
To be considered for participation in this workshop, please send a brief one-paragraph description of your proposed memo and a one page CV to me_casey@gwmail.gwu.edu by October 15, 2014. Participants must have a PhD or be currently enrolled in a PhD program in political science or a relevant discipline.