BRIT XVIII Conference: Rethinking Borderlands in an Era of Polycrisis
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 7–11 May 2027
Organisers: University of Sarajevo – Faculty of Science and the Geographical Society of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ELTE Centre for Economic and Regional Studies (Hungary), University of Pécs (Hungary), University of Eastern Finland
Keynote speakers
Professor Gerard Toal, Virginia Tech, School of International and Public Affairs
Professor Nurcan Özgür, Istanbul University, Department of International Relations
This 18th Border Regions in Transition conference coincides with a period of exceptional social and political instability. We appear to have reached several “turning points” at once – not only in environmental terms, but also with regard to economic, demographic, social and geopolitical processes. Despite this backdrop of uncertainty, this conference upholds the BRIT network’s general philosophy that borderlands are fluid social realities and permeable frontiers that are potential catalysts of change and hybridization as well as spaces for community-building. Borderlands are interfaces, between ‘us’ and ‘them’, between sameness and difference. Borders and borderlands, at any geopolitical boundary, are themselves the interface, creating conditions that make borderland communities distinctive. At the same time, we recognize that borderlands can be exploited as agents in the ‘nationalization’ of group identities or as conflicted spaces between states.
Considering these perspectives, BRIT XVIII will provide a forum for investigating borderlands as interactive social spaces impacted by situated encounters of different cultural, social, and political realities at an everyday level. One significant contextual focus of this BRIT conference is of course the complexity of borders and borderlands in the post-Yugoslav – and post-conflict – regional setting. Cross-border and regional cooperation potentials in the Western Balkans are conditioned, among other factors, by structural, cultural and perceptual dimensions of security. Within this context, the impact of external regional players – the EU and Türkiye in particular – is substantial. While the Western Balkans are a major focus, this is a truly global conference and we welcome papers from all world regions.
BRIT XVIII will be structured around designated plenary sessions, special panels, and panels developed from individual abstracts. We warmly welcome abstracts from scholars representing multiple social science and humanities disciplines as well as civil society advocates and practitioners. As a main objective of the conference, we seek to achieve geographical diversity and conceptual multiplicity. While conference participation is not restricted by any specific topic, we especially welcome abstracts that discuss issues such as: transformations in borderlands, cross-border cooperation, post-conflict borderlands, geographical imaginations and imaginaries, migration, borders and borderlands, as well as culture and borderlands.
Conference homepage: https://brit18.pmf.unsa.ba/
Conference location: Faculty of Science, University of Sarajevo
In case of any queries, contact brit18@pmf.unsa.ba
Abstract submissions are limited to one individual paper per participant. This does not include participation in roundtables or closed panels.
Please submit abstracts through the form available at https://brit18.pmf.unsa.ba/registration/
Paper abstracts should be: 150–200 words in length and include three to five keywords, the contributor’s affiliation and email address.
Panel abstract length: 250-300 words