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Call for Applications Theme: Nations, States and the Transformation of Boundaries Type: RVP Annual Seminar Institution: Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (RVP) Location: Washington, DC (USA) Date: 16.8.–17.9.2021 Deadline: 1.4.2021 __________________________________________________ Thematic Description We may say that there are two fundamental histories of nationalism. One is the history of peoples struggling to be free from the domination of a stronger neighbor, a colonial power to achieve their self-governing and sovereign status as nations in their own right. The other is the history of many instances in which nationalism is expressed in terms of tribal and civil conflicts, such as the two major European Civil Wars in 1914-1918 and 1939-1945. After World War II, ethnic conflicts have been tragically present in the Balkans and in Cyprus, between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Israel and Palestine, Iran and Iraq, India and Pakistan, Nigeria or Syria, just to mention a few. History also registers events such as the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the Vienna Congress of 1815, the creation of the Society of Nations after World War I and the founding of the United Nations immediately after World War II. The annals of the world have witnessed the processes of the establishment of the European Union, the creation of the Organization of African Unity, the intergovernmental forum of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, etc., some of the major international organizations express their attempts to overcome the principle of unlimited state sovereignty. Limited sovereignty is indeed in the order of the day, even when the idea of the world government might be dismissed as either utopian or undesirable. Peoples and nations are called to embrace systems of governance that go beyond unlimited sovereignty. A peaceful world demands states that are not just well-governed but also constitutionally recognize the limits of their strict autonomy; as well as states that are willing to engage in peaceful cooperation with others. Since the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for example, the world is well aware of the need to bring nations into acceptance of policing structures and an effective enforcement of justice among nations. Indeed, a major imperative of our time remains the avoidance of a nuclear war, and consequently the need to implement systems of governance capable of containing the indiscriminate proliferation of arms of mass-destruction. The goal of the seminar is, thus, to promote a sustained research on political realities, such as nations and state, ethnicity and identity, nationalism and cosmopolitanism. In line with some of Charles Taylor’s intuitions, the seminar will pursue a better and more effective understanding of those “imagined communities” that are at the origin of the modern nation-states. Issues concerning power and political cohesion, law of the state and the people, the meaning of borders and the conditions for international cooperation will be at the center of the proceedings. The seminar will also analyze what Taylor describes as the “shift from hierarchical, mediated-access societies to horizontal, direct-access societies,” but also illuminate some of the mechanisms that determine the life of the citizen within the modern state. In the pre-modern stage citizens tended to operate as embedded in “translocal entities” and in dependence of some higher power; while a citizen in the modern state is to live integrated in a common space defined by “action in secular time” (Taylor). The investigation will focus on both the formation and consolidation of the nation-state and how new forms of state-building and international governance might transform the system of political order based on the idea of sovereign nations into something more adequate to the (ethical) demands of our global era. The seminar thematic can be categorized as the following: State and Nation: State and Constitution; State and Civil Society; The Sovereignty of State and People; State and the Rule of Law; State and Violence; The Democratic State; Political Cultures and the Formation of Nations; The Totalitarian State; Christianity and the State; Islam and the State; Judaism and Zionism; State and Nation in German Idealism. Nationalism: Nationalism and Ethnicity; Nationalism and the power of Ideologies; Nationalism and the Role of Religion; Nationalism(s) and Democracy; Romantic Nationalism; Marxism and Nationalist Questions. Laws and Justice: International Public Law; Boundaries and Natural Law; Civil and Political Justice; Just and un-just Wars; War and Peace; National Conflict and Global Solidarity. Cultures: Ethnos and Polis; Cultural Perspectives on Ethnicities and Nations; Humanitarian Intervention; Races, Cultures and State-Formation; Trans-National Political Formations; Confucianism and Issues of Governance and the Role of Boundaries. Methodology This annual seminar will proceed with the following characteristics: 1. A maximum of 15 scholars from different countries around the world will be selected to take part in the Seminar. 2. As an interdisciplinary and intercultural initiative, the seminar shall draw not only upon contemporary capabilities of various realms of humanities and social sciences but also from the richness of cultural traditions represented by seminar participants. 3. The duration of the Seminar will be 5 weeks (August 16 to September 17, 2021) and participants will be asked to be present for the entire five weeks in order to develop a well-integrated community of research, as participants are encouraged to practice mutual understanding in order to achieve lasting forms of academic friendship and cooperation. 4. Seminar participants will present their well-developed papers in the last week of the seminar. Papers should focus in a rigorous and innovative manner on the theme of the seminar. The final version of the paper must reflect in an adequate manner the readings and discussions to be held during the seminar in order to be considered for publication. Application for Participation Applications for participation in the RVP international seminar should be submitted no later than April 1, 2021 by email to cua-...@cua.edu. Participants will cover their own travel costs; the RVP/McLean Center will provide simple room and food during the duration of the seminar. The seminar will be conducted in English. The seminar will be held at the RVP/McLean Center Seminar Room: Gibbons Hall B-12, 620 Michigan Avenue, North East, Washington, D.C., 20064. Email: cua-...@cua.edu; Telephone: 202/319-6089. Notification of acceptance (or rejection) will take place by April 15, 2021. Upon confirmation of participation, a preliminary set of readings will be made available for remote preparation. Those who are interested in participating in the RVP international seminar should email the following materials (Word and/or PDF format): 1. CV describing the applicant’s education, professional positions and activities; 2. List of applicant’s publications; 3. Statement of interest and motivation to participate in the seminar; and 4. Abstract (300-500 words) of the research paper that the applicant intends to present during the seminar and subsequently submit to RVP for publication (a basic bibliography must be included). Website of the seminar: http://www.crvp.org/seminars/2021/Washington.html __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: https://interphil.polylog.org InterPhil List Archive: https://www.mail-archive.com/interphil@list.polylog.org/ __________________________________________________
