From the mid of September to October I will be giving a series of lectures in the module Knowledge Production and Evaluation of the newly launched MSc Programme in Security Risk Management at the University of Copenhagen. In the lectures I intend to explore a number of key categories of knowledge production, starting from different concepts of epistemic practices, epistemic spaces and devices, to actor-network theory as an approach to the study of knowledge production and controversies and a detailed investigation of quantification and big data. The lectures are related to my forthcoming article on the epistemic practices of piracy and ongoing work on the epistemic dimension of global governance which is part of my current case study on the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia.
Category Archives: Events and Presentations
Workshop on International Practice Theory
In a workshop titled “At the Boundaries of International Practice Theory: Norms, Pragmatism & Performativity”, from 11-12.9.2014 organized by our project at Cardiff University we discussed the frontiers of International Practice Theory (IPT) and the relations and boundaries to a range of research perspectives which share many of the concerns of IPT.
First Maritime Security Summer School great success
The Olympia Summer Academy provided the framework for the first summer school in maritime security (18-22.7.2014). The summer school organized by Cardiff University and piracy-studies.org brought together 12 students from across the world to discuss different aspects of maritime security and the future challenges for research. The summer school was taught by two academics (Dr. Christian Bueger, Cardiff University and Prof. Harry Papasotiriou, Pantheon University Athens) and one practitioner (Capt. Hartmut Hesse, former IMO special representative). The sessions focused on the concept of maritime security, theoretical perspectives on maritime security, naval strategy, the law of the sea, the work of the International Maritime Organization, an in-depth analysis of maritime piracy, and the challenges of maritime capacity building. The discussion revealed the many gaps in research and analysis that the young field of maritime security studies has still to fill. Especially the role of civil actors, capacity building, and new approaches to managing the complexity of maritime security requires more academic attention. The new generation of scholars in the field will play a vital role in this.
Into the Blue: Ideaslab on Maritime Security
On June 26th/27th we are organzing an IdeaLab on Maritime Security at Cardiff University. The objective of the two days IdeaLab is to explore how the maritime as a security space can be grasped from different disciplinary and practical perspectives. The intent is to discuss work in progress, exchange perspectives and develop ideas of what theoretical and practical contributions a collective project of transdisciplinary Maritime Security Studies can make to understanding the maritime and to facilitate the governance of maritime life. The aim is to address general theoretical questions pertaining to the maritime space as a field of international activity, to consider the governance of the maritime and the securitization processes underlying it and to study the international strategies towards maritime capacity building in regions such as Eastern and Western Africa. The IdeaLab will hence focus on the following themes:
- How can the maritime as a space of international practice be theorized?
- From Seapower to Maritime Security: How does the securitization of the maritime unfold?
- After UNCLOS: What are the challenges for governing the maritime?
- What responses to maritime threats such as piracy are available?
- What maritime security strategies are required for just and sustainable order at sea?
- What are the roles of navies, coast guards and development agencies in capacity building and external assistance in maritime security and developing the blue economy?
- What are the objects, methods and priorities of Maritime Security Studies?
The Ideaslab will feature contributions by Kimberly Peters (Aberystwyth), Jon Anderson (Cardiff), Douglas Guilfoyle (UCL), Peri Roberts (Cardiff), Peter Sutch (Cardiff), Anna Leander (CBS), Tobias Burger (FU Berlin), Heiko Borchert (Sandfire), Bryan Mabee (Queen Mary), Xu Ke (Xianmen), Lindsay Bremner (Westminster), Basil Germond (Lancaster), James Baker (Sandhurst), Ian Lynn (Royal Navy), Peter Roberts (RUSI), Thorsten Bargfrede (EEAS), Merceds Rosello (House of Oceans), and John Guy. A detailed report is available here.
The Diplomacy of Monsters
How do non-state actors participate in the games of international diplomacy? What strategies and tactics do actors, such as rebel groups, sub-state governments, governments in exile, diaspora, cities, or sports clubs employ when they act on the international stage? And in what way does this change or transform the practice of diplomacy? Those were some of the questions we discussed at a workshop from 29th to 30th of May which was hosted by the Wales Governance Centre and organized by the Department of Politics and International Relations. Continue reading
New Perspectives on the Public
How can one theorize and understand “publics”, their formations and their effects on politics and the organization of societies? What is, if any, the difference of a crowd and a public? These are some of the questions that the interdisciplinary conference “New Perspectives on the Public at Westminster University addresses. More information is available here. I am attending the conference on May 15th and chair one panel. It is a great opportunity to reflect on my field work what kind of publics counter-piracy governance entails. Is the contact group a public? What does it imply if the group wants to focus more on “public diplomacy”?
In the Field: Contact Group Meeting in New York
From May 14th to 17th I am attending the counter-piracy week of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS). I primarily attend as a participant observer to further record and study the working practice of the CGPCS, its plenary and its working groups. During the week the reform of the group’s structure and the future of counter-piracy will be discussed. At a side event after the plenary meeting the initial results of the lessons learnt project of the CGPCS (see llp.piracy-studies.org) will be introduced and discussed. I will give a presentation in which I will present some initial findings with regards on the replicability of the CGPCS experience in other contexts.
Sociology of the Discipline of IR Workshop in Berlin
Brainstorming on the Sociology of IR @ FU Berlin
Over the next days I will be attending the workshop “Studying International Relations Beyond the West: Between Divides and Diversity” in Berlin. The workshop organized by Wiebke Wemheuer-Vogelaar and Ingo Peters from the Free University Berlin, brings together a range of authors interested in the sociology of the discipline and how IR practices differ across locales and sites. The workshop documents how thriving the sociology of the discipline has become, and as the workshop’s paper document how familiar and strange IR is at different places around the world. Contributions to the workshop discuss IR in places ranging from China to Africa and Russia, and discuss problems such as gatekeeping, publishing, or gender.
PhD Course on the Methodology of Interviewing in Politics
Home of the Department of Politics and International Relations
On April 9th, 14:00-18:00, I am teaching together with Ian Stafford a PhD training course on different methodologies of interviews. The course provides an advanced introduction to the methodology of interviewing in a political science context. Along with text analysis, interviewing is perhaps the most widespread qualitative method used in political science and international relations. Interviewing is however not only one of the most complicated and resource intensive methods, but also requires a high degree of methodological reflexivity. In this short course we discuss the core problems of planning, conducting and interpreting interviews as well as writing with interview data. The course is suitable for PhD Researchers in Political Science and International Relations in all stages of their research. In the course we discuss the following issues: Continue reading
Roundtable on Ocean Governance @ Cardiff University
On April 8th we will discuss questions of maritime security and ocean governance in a roundtable on “How can the oceans be governed?” at Cardiff University. The roundtable brings together a range of scholars from Cardiff University from different disciplines working on maritime issues. The roundtable is a further step in strengthening cross-disciplinary collaboration in the field of maritime research. Further information is available here. In my own presentation I will discuss how the new maritime security agenda changes our understanding of the oceans and how they will be governed in the light of the UK’s upcoming maritime security strategy. I argue that what is going on here is quite a substantial if not radical revaluation of the meaning of the sea and an entirely new attempt to govern the oceans. The security logic is creeping into one of the last domains that was untouched from it before. The sea is becoming securitized. If you are an optimist this will imply that more attention will be paid to what happens at sea and the oceans as a social and environmental space will be better off. If you are a pessimist that will imply new forms of control and new sources of disputes and violence, and potential of escalation.