Event

Did you miss out on this years' conference? Check out The World Stage's episode Constructivist theorizing in tumultuous times (ft Nicholas Onuf and Stefano Guzzini) here:

Watch the recording of the roundtable  Constructivism in an Era of Geopolitics here:

Conference invitation:

Join us in Oslo 22-24 September for the inaugural NUPI Theory Conference, to discuss the relevance and development of constructivist theory amid global upheaval and geopolitical turbulence. Against the backdrop of challenges such as climate change, military conflicts, great power competition, and democratic backsliding, we invite critical reflections and insights into whether and how constructivism can illuminate today’s international politics.

Amid profound global changes – from ideological realignments and great power competition to acute crises and wars – constructivist theories demand attention. Are these approaches, many forged in a Cold War context, equipped to address such developments, or are we now in a realist’s world? At this year’s theory conference, invited scholars will explore constructivist theory considering contemporary global challenges.

NOTE: The conference ais a highly specialised academic event and by-invitation only. If you have questions, please contact the organizers: Morten Skumsrud Andersen (msa@nupi.no) or Benjamin de Carvalho (bdc@nupi.no). 

Photo: UN Photo/Mark Garten

Program

Monday 22 September

11:00-11:45       Registration and Lunch

11:45-12:00       Welcome

Kari Osland (Director, NUPI)

12:00-13:45       Panel 1: Constructivism and History

Oliver Kessler (University of Erfurt) and Halvard Leira (NUPI):  Constructivism meets Historical IR

Tora Berge Naterstad (University of Oslo): Russian civilisationism and chronotopic politics

Jorg Kustermans (University of Antwerp) and Benjamin de Carvalho (NUPI):
Metaphors We Think From: Stag Hunts, Alien Encounters, and Feasts

Sindre Gade Viksand (Gothernburg University):  Realism and the Moral Person of the State

 Chair: Morten Skumsrud Andersen (NUPI)

Discussant: Anna Rio (NUPI)

13:30-14:00       Coffee Break

14:15-16:00       Panel 2: Constructivism and Theory

Nicholas Onuf (Florida Internationl University) and Kurt Burch: Constructivism as an ‘Ism’

Thaís Simoes Dória (University of Warwick): Ontological Positionality and Inter-Narrations

Jason Ralph (University of Leeds): Pragmatic Constructivism.  A normative theory of social learning

Kristin Eggeling (University of Copenhagen) and Rebecca Adler-Nissen (University of Copenhagen):
Constructivist writing: Examples from the ‘Brussels Bubble 

Chair: Øyvind Svendsen (NUPI)

Discussant: Patrick Thaddeus Jackson (American University)

16:00-16:30       Coffee Break

16:30-18:00       Roundtable: Constructivism in an Era of Geopolitics

Rebecca Adler-Nissen (University of Copenhagen)

Kristin Haugevik (NUPI)

Patrick Thaddeus Jackson (American University)

Oliver Kessler (University of Erfurt)

Nicholas Onuf (Florida International University)

Moderators: Morten Skumsrud Andersen (NUPI) and Halvard Leira (NUPI)

18:30    Dinner

Tuesday 23 September

09:30-11:00       Panel 3: Constructivism and Concepts

Michael John Anglim (King’s College London): The Feeling of Concepts

Jens Bartelson (Lund University): Concepts as Weapons

Benjamin Herborth (University of Groningen): Semantics of Struggle in Global Politics

Wrenn Yennie Lindgren (NUPI): Recognizing Rogue Regimes

Chair: Halvard Leira (NUPI) Discussant: Oliver Kessler (University of Erfurt)

11:00-12:00       Lunch

12:00-14:00       Panel 4: Constructivism and Violence

Richard Ned Lebow (King’s College London): Constructivism and War

Isabel Bramsen (Lund University): Theorizing Peace as Action

Mariia Vladymyrova (University of Copenhagen): Lawfare as Ritual Transgression

Johannes Nissen Feldt (University of Copenhagen): Imperial intensification in Greenland

Juha Vuori (University of Turku): Macrosecuritization and Identity

Chair: Kristin Haugevik (NUPI)

Discussant: Karsten Friis (NUPI)

14:00-14:30       Coffee Break 

14:30-16:30       Panel 5: Constructivism and Worldmaking

Eda Ayaydin (University of London, Institute in Paris): Sovereignty as Performance

Nikolaos Lampas (American College of Greece)
Constructing Europe as a Rival

Lucas de Oliveira Paes (NUPI): Environmental Governance and Sovereignty

Mariana Grilli Belinotte (Brazilian Army Command): Constructing (Cyber)Space

Nanna Lilletvedt Sæten (University of Cambridge) Silicon Valley’s Authoritarian Worldmaking

 Chair: Benjamin de Carvalho (NUPI)

Discussant: Patrick Thaddeus Jackson (American University)

16:30-17:30       Keynote

Stefano Guzzini (European University Institute)

17:30-18:30       Reception

18:30                      Dinner

Wednesday 24 September

09:00-10:30       Panel 6: Constructivism, Security and the Environment

Kacper Szulecki (NUPI) and Ole Jacob Sending (NUPI): Rituals of Climate Diplomacy

Katharina Glaab (NMBU) and Kirsti Stuvøy (NMBU): Constructivist Security and Geopolitical Ecology

Line Marie Breistrand (NUPI): Rethinking Chinese statecraft: a relational model

İpek Nil Ozat (Bilkent University): Spatializing Security in the Fergana Valley

 Chair: Morten Skumsrud Andersen (NUPI)

Discussant: Paul Beaumont (NUPI) 

10:30-11:00       Coffee Break

11:00-12:30       Panel 7: Constructivism and Contested Orders

Paul Beaumont (NUPI): Global Governance Indicators, Liberal Norms, and the Trump Dilemma

Marinana Andrade e Barros (PUC Minas Gerais): Contesting Liberal Norms from the Margins

Øyvind Svendsen (NUPI): Diplomacy and the Backlash Against International Cooperation

Muhammed Yusuf Yilmaz (McGill University): Temporal Comparisons: The Roots of Civilizational Turn in Russia and Turkey

Chair: Julie Wilhelmsen (NUPI)

Discussant: Lucas de Oliveira Paes (NUPI)

12:30                      Lunch and departures