Gadinger & Bode Chair 'International Practices' Section at Upcoming EISA PEC 2022, Invite Contributions

The 15th EISA Pan-European Conference on International Relations (PEC) will be held in Athens at Panteion University, 1–4 September 2022 and framed by the conference theme Pandaemonium: Interrogating the Apocalyptic Imaginaries of Our Time. About forty standing and regular sections cover a variety of research fields in international relations. Among them, International Practice Theory (IPT) has proven to be one of the most innovative research programmes.

Frank Gadinger, a Research Group Leader at the Centre in Duisburg and Invild Bode, Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Southern Denmark, will chair a section on 'International Practices' (section list > ST08). Bode and Gadinger invite scholars interested in international practices and IPT to take stock, to review ongoing research projects and reflect on conceptual vocabularies, but also to discuss the frontiers of international practice research.

In general, individual papers as well as panels and roundtables may be proposed. Abstract submission opened 20 January and the deadline is 20 March (> submission guidelines, application). Scholars interested in participation may contact the chairs (see contact data, right column).

International Practice Theory (IPT) developed into a pronounced research field at the Centre over the years, inspired, promoted and developed by Frank Gadinger. An international conference in 2021 ('New Voices in International Practice Research', a cooperation with the respective EISA section and the University of Copenhagen) and a subsequent issue of the Centre's Quarterly Magazine ('International Practice Theory and Security Studies') are among the visible results of this endeavour.

The main theme of the Athens conference provides a framework as genuine as multifaceted for current research with a focus on contemporary and prospective constellations. 'Pandaemonium' is the capital of Hell in John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost. In Greek, it literally means ‘all kinds of demons.’ As the organizers of the upcoming conference write, 'one could argue that there is no better term to describe the dizzying multiplicity and urgency of crises that humanity is faced with in our times.' With the flexibility and granularity of the practice theory approach in mind: why not put those 'demons' through a practice theory test?

Martin Wolf