This year’s conference will have ten working groups focusing on different sub-disciplines of political science. Below you will find information about the working groups and how to get in contact with the working group chairs.

Studenter, Sundsvall, utomhus

Workshops at SWEPSA 2021

1. Gender, politics and theory

*This group has been merged with group 8 (Critical perspective on power and politics)


 [LS1]Infogas under titeln, men innan beskrivningen

Through the use of gender as an analytical tool, feminist theory highlights important political science perspectives. Feminist political science focuses on questions such as women’s political representation, gender relations in institutions and leadership, implementation of gender equality policies, the role of women in nation building processes, violence, militarization and security. The scope has with time broadened to also include perspectives such as intersectionality, postcolonial feminism, the global emergence of anti-gender movements and political parties’ discourses about gender equality and LGBTQ rights. There is also a turn to questions about precarity and vulnerability, as well as possibilities for grassroots activism and political mass mobilization. This session calls for papers engaging with a broad range of topics within the field of feminist political science scholarship, including but not limited to the above topics. We welcome theoretical, methodological and empirical contributions, in English or Swedish. The workshop will be held in English if there are non-Swedish speakers attending.

Chairs

Anna Ehrhart, anna.ehrhart@miun.se

Anna-Karin Eriksson anna-karin.eriksson@lnu.se

 

2. Environmental politics

Focused on studying the relationship between human society and the natural world, environmental politics addresses some of the most important and pressing challenges of modern society. As these challenges naturally span across multiple policy dimensions and political/administrative levels, the study of environmental politics covers a wide range of sub-fields within political science, such as public administration, political theory, political behavior, political economy and international relations. This panel welcomes papers addressing all aspects of environmental politics and policy, from the local to the global level. Papers can, for example, deal with issues such as participation, public opinion, party politics, legitimacy, democracy, natural resource governance, and social movements. Since the working group on environmental politics seeks to attract researchers with different theoretical, methodological and empirical approaches, this panel aims to include a diversity of theoretical perspectives and empirical objects of study across local, national and international politics. Contributions can be written in either English or Swedish. (The workshop will be held in English if non-Swedish-speakers attend.)

Chairs

Stefan Linde, stefan.linde@miun.se

3. Political behavior and parties

Research on voters, elections, political parties, representatives and advocacy groups is based on a multitude of theoretical and methodological perspectives. A number of topics are covered within this field, such as issues of vote choice in elections, political turnout and participation, collective action, political recruitment and representation, political leadership, legislative behaviour, political parties' goals and organization, party competition, government formation and policy-making, and social movement activism and responsiveness. The overall aim of this workshop is to gather researchers interested in such issues. We are particularly interested in contributions that combine and draw on different research fields and geographical regions, and in studies of recent elections or party system developments. We welcome contributions with a wide range of theoretical perspectives and research methods within the overall theme of political behaviour, elections and parties. The workshop welcomes submissions from junior as well as established scholars who are interested in the topics outlined. Contributions can be written in either English or Swedish. (The workshop will be held in English if non-Swedish-speakers attend.)

Chairs

Niklas Bolin, niklas.bolin@miun.se
Stefan Dahlberg, stefan.dahlberg@miun.se

4. Challenges to democracy, answers from political theory?

Political Theory can give answers to the pressing problems democracies face today. It was political theorists like Mouffe who were among the first to argue that populism will rise and lead to a fundamental shift of our democratic systems. Political language, communication and interaction would change and polarize our societies. Political theorists have also been at the forefront in generating viable responses to this shift. The revival of the debate on militant democracy and democratic self-defense is just one case in point. Political theorists are called when it comes to generating adequate institutional, linguistic and practice responses to populism. We invite contributions from political theorists and all scholars that want to add a theoretical angle to their empirics to our workshop. We are interested in contributions focusing on the challenges and answers to the critical situation in which democracies are today. The contributions can also go beyond democracies analyzing what political theory can say about transitions from and to authoritarianism. The workshop welcomes submissions from junior as well as established scholars who are interested in the topics outlined. Contributions can be written in either English or Swedish. (The workshop will be held in English if non-Swedish-speakers attend.)

Chairs:
Josef Hien, josef.hien@miun.se 

5. Public administration and governance

The study of public administration is “eminently practical” yet in in need of theory, ”as old as government itself” yet changing constantly to adapt to shifting societal needs. (Peters and Pierre, 2012a n.p.; Peters and Pierre, 2012b; Stillman II, 2005; Wilson, 1887, p. 197). Though as Peters and Pierre (2012) note there is a tendency by the public and even by scholars in political science to equate politics and governmental action with elections or major geopolitical events, it is the banality of public service production and provision that makes a difference in the everyday-ness of citizens’ lives. Such public services range from health care provision to routine emergency management to garbage collection and primary education. These services are increasingly provided by actors other than public or in partnerships, as shifting governance structures reflect changes in the relationship between the individual and the state.

In this working group, we welcome a broad range of papers dealing with issues such as local governance, bureaucracy, policy (including policy implementation and substantive policy sectors), and comparative public administration. We especially encourage papers with theoretical and methodological contributions as well as research with an empirical focus.

References

Peters BG and Pierre J. (2012a) The Sage handbook of public administration. Concise 2nd edition ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Peters BG and Pierre J. (2012) Introduction:The role of public administration in governing. In: Peters BG and Pierre J (eds) The Sage handbook of public administration. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1-11.

Stillman II RJ. (2005) Public Administration: Concepts and Cases, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Wilson W. (1887) The study of administration. Political Science Quarterly 2: 197-222.

Chairs

Evangelia Petridou, evangelia.petridou@miun.se
Petra Svensson, petra_m.svensson@hh.se

 

 

6. European studies and international relations

*This group has been merged with group 10 (Comparative politics)

SWEPSA has, for a number of years, had a standing workshop on the European Union (EU) and European politics. This year the workshop will also include International Relations. The workshop constitutes an opportunity for scholars active in research on these topics to discuss recent developments in the field.

The workshop thus welcomes papers on a wide range of topics, dealing either with International relations or with European politics in a broad sense. Themes can include, but are not limited to European integration, the EU’s political system, its institutions and policies, globalization, foreign policy analysis, and international security studies. We also welcome papers that deal with theoretical or methodological developments within these fields.

The papers can be written in English or Swedish, however, the default workshop language will be English unless all the participants are Swedish speakers.

Chair

Sofie Blombäck, sofie.blomback@miun.se

7. Migration and integration – structures, policies and actors

The politics of migration and integration are among the most discussed and contested political issues today. These issues tend to affect all political landscapes and span over different levels, ranging from the international to the local. Particularly the local level has been highlighted in recent research since it exhibits an interesting dynamic through increasing variation in subnational policy-making concerning immigrant and integration matters. The complex nature of migration and integration issues involves different sectors and actors in society and thereby creates both challenges for scholars as well as great opportunities for novel contributions. Closely associated with the abovementioned issues are topics covering citizenship, human rights and welfare policies. Studies of that character can both broaden the scope of migration and integration research and provide theoretical and methodological lines of development. 

The aim of this workshop is to gather theoretical as well as empirical contributions that address migration and integration issues at large and the related topics of citizenship, human rights and welfare policy. We welcome contributions with a wide range of theoretical perspectives and research methods within the overall theme. The workshop welcomes submissions from junior as well as established scholars who are interested in the topics outlined. Contributions can be written in either English or Swedish.

Chairs

Gustav Lidén, gustav.liden@miun.se

Jon Nyhlén, jon.nyhlen@statsvet.su.se

8. Critical perspectives on power and politics

*This group has been merged with group 1 (Gender, politics and theory)

This workshop is open for all researchers interested in critical studies of power and the political. In short, this means that we welcome submissions that draw on critical approaches in the social sciences to explore political phenomena as they manifest in events, organizations, practices, structures and knowledge production in past or contemporary societies. Such approaches include, but are not limited to, post-structuralism, critical discourse analysis (CDA), Feminism, Foucauldian analysis, post-colonial studies, Marxism and post-humanism (for instance ANT, STS or new materialism). Papers are not limited to any specific sub-field of political science or any particular topic. That said, they often revolve around questions of (in)equality, the workings of power, subjectivities, otherness or questions of governing in an era marked by neoliberal forms of rule. We welcome theoretical, methodological and empirical contributions, in English or Swedish. The workshop will be held in English if there are non-Swedish speaking participants attending.

Finally, the workshop is also associated with the Swepsa Network for critical studies of power and the political. This is also open for interested researchers and contact information can be found at the Swepsa website.  

Chairs

Sara Nyhlén, sara.nyhlen@miun.se

Andreas Öjehag, andreas.ojehag@kau.se

 

9. Risk Assessment, Risk Analysis, and Crisis management

The consequences of climate change, bushfires in Australia, forest fires and mudslides in 2018, and the spread of COVID-19 are some examples of contemporary crises challenging societal functions and the ability of states to manage emergencies. The breadth and unpredictability of these events present new challenges for successful risk analyses and assessments. The aim of this workshop is to bring together researchers that share an interest in research on contemporary risk assessment and crisis management with a focus on the political organization and policy making. We welcome theoretical, methodological and empirical contributions, in English or Swedish. The workshop will be held in English if there are non-Swedish speaking participants attending.

Chair

Pär Olausson, par.olausson@miun.se

Christine Grosse, christine.grosse@miun.se

10. Comparative politics

Comparative politics is the systematic study of political institutions, organisations, processes and behavior at the local, national and international level. Comparisons across political systems and over time are central to the subject. This section welcomes papers on a broad range of topics, including the study of democracy, dictatorship and regime transitions, accountability and representation, civil war, comparative political institutions (political parties, party systems, electoral rules, legislatures, courts, and central banks, etc.), political behavior (participation, voting, and social movements), and comparative political economy. We encourage papers from a variety of methodological perspectives. The section welcomes submissions from junior as well as established scholars who are interested in the topics outlined. Contributions can be written in either English or Swedish. (The section will be held in English if non-Swedish-speakers attend.)

Chair

John Högström, john.hogstrom@miun.se

The page was updated 6/10/2021