Taskforce on Ocean Governance

Call for Panels and Papers: “Ocean And Polar Politics” (EISA)

European International Studies Association

13th Pan-European Conference on International Relations (Sofia, September 11-14, 2019)

Call for Panels and Papers: Section “S31”: “Ocean And Polar Politics”

Submission Deadline for Panels and Papers coming soon: 28 February!

Section Chairs: Annegret Kuhn, University Kiel (akuhn@politik.uni-kiel.de) Christoph Humrich, University Groningen (c.humrich@rug.nl)

In a poem of which the section’s sub-title is taken Robert Frost wondered, why people at a beach look at the sea and mesmerized, turn their back to the land. Frost, by contrast, thought, “the land may vary more” and warrants more concern, and regarding the ocean people cannot look out far or in deep anyway. It seems that the discipline of IR somehow shares Frost’s sentiment. Despite much political and public attention to the oceans and the polar areas and their increased material relevance for the future of the globe, research on international ocean and polar politics is not very visible in IR.

While in the media and public the polar areas and the oceans are represented by the exotic and esoteric aura attached to their symbolically laden representations, the section aims at making visible both, the unseen variance and variety of ocean and polar politics, and the political profanities beyond mystical pictures. The section wants to explore the insights which can be derived from the study of marine and polar issues for what lies at land. Finally, we would also like to systematically address gaps that exist, and assess new trends and developments in ocean and polar politics. We want to complement the maritime security section by mainly covering non-security related topics and more general questions concerning the ways of studying ocean and polar politics. The section thus will focus on both topical issues of ocean and polar politics as well as on the conceptual lenses and academic imaginary we use to deal with these.

We seek conceptual and empirical panels and single paper proposals focusing particularly, but not limited to, on the following questions and topics:

– What makes polar and ocean politics different (from terrestrial/non-polar politics)?
– Construction of the Oceans and Polar areas in IR
– Historical constructions of the Oceans and Polar areas
– Can we establish conceptual and analytical links between Polar and Ocean Politics as research areas?
– High and deep seas politics and governance
– Antarctic politics and governance
– Politics of Arctic and ocean sustainability
– Ocean and polar environmental governance
– International Politics and Governance of Shipping and/or Fisheries
– International Organizations of Ocean and Polar Governance
– Ocean grabbing and/or Power in the Oceans and Polar Areas
– Blue Growth and/or the political economy of the oceans
– Comparative governance and politics of regional seas

Abstracts are to be submitted electronically via the online submission system. Submission guidelines are available here http://www.eisapec19.org/abstract-submission-guidelines.htm and on the conference website http://www.eisapec19.org.

The submission deadline is Thursday, February 28, 2019. Please feel free to circulate this call among your colleagues and networks. Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact one of us.

Looking forward to your submissions!!

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