The European Centre for Minority Issues (Flensburg\, Germany)\, jointly \;with The School of Politics\, International Studies and Philosophy at \;Queen&rsquo\;s University Belfast\, and the Department of Central &\; Eastern \;European Studies\, University of Glasgow call upon interested scholars \;to participate in a multidisciplinary conference on the challenges of \;Non Territorial Autonomy (NTA) in a world of nation-states.
\nCultural diversity is the norm in a world of nation-states. A \;recurrent problem is how to organise what are in fact\, multi-ethnic \;and multi-nation states so that majorities and minorities are able to \;coexist and effectively participate in the life of the state\, \;bolstering allegiance without suffering cultural alienation and \;without resorting to territorial secession. Multicultural liberal \;democracies sincerely champion equality and individual human rights\, \;but often have considerable difficulties in accommodating culturally \;diverse minority communities. Territorial representation is only \;possible when minority communities inhabit a compact territorial \;space\, yet in the majority of cases\, minority communities do not \;reside compactly\, making any territorial representation impossible. \;This situation often causes intractable problems for the functioning \;of democratic polities\, and requiring modalities of non-territorial \;autonomy (NTA) as a solution.
The aim of this conference is to examine in theory\, empirically and \;through the work of legal practitioners\, the challenges\, and possible \;solutions offered by different models of NTA for the effective \;participation of minorities in public life. Non-Territorial autonomy \;takes variety of different forms\, such as Consociationalism and \;National Cultural Autonomy\, but also forms of representation that \;de-territorialises self-determination\, as in the case of indigenous \;communities\, the juridical autonomy as with religious communities\, or \;in the practice of some models of multiculturalism. \;We invite \;theoretical and comparative papers and case studies on NTA models \;that build upon theoretical consideration and/or consider empirical \;case studies.
The organising committee would like to welcome papers addressing the \;following issues:
\nThis list is not exhaustive.
Mode of application
Applicants should submit a 300 word abstract and a short biographic \;statement (max 300 words) indicating institutional affiliation and if \;they wish to be considered for the early career subsidy at the \;website:http://www.conferencepro.eu/nta/
The deadline for the submission of paper proposals is Friday 21 September 2012.
The selection committee will confirm the selection of speakers and \;make an offer and early career grant to selected candidates by 10 \;October 2012.
Conference organisation
We aim to attract innovative contributions that develop theoretical
arguments while embedding these in the context of case studies\, thus
we particularly welcome early career scholars to apply.
Please note that the conference will not \;organise accommodation.
\nEarly career travel grants
We will be able to offer £\;400 travel/accommodation grant to between 8 \;and 10 paper givers to support early career scholars\, i.e. doctoral \;students within six months of submission and the holders of PhDs\, \;awarded after September 1 2009. The preference to access grants will \;be given to affiliates of institutions outside the EU\, although \;relevance and innovation of the paper will principally inform the \;decision of the selection panel.
If you would like to apply for a travel/accommodation grant\, please \;state this clearly when submitting your paper proposal.
Questions regarding research on non-territorial autonomy and the \;remit of the conference should be addressed to \;ntaconference@qub.ac.uk \;indicating in the heading of your email \;conference remit.
If you have any further questions\, please email the same address \;putting conference application \;and your name \;in the header. Emails \;not addressed in this way will be significantly delayed.
Conference website: