4th Changing Europe Summer School

Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe before and after the End of Socialism,
National University of "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy" Kyiv
(Ukraine), 27 - 31 July 2009

organised by the Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen in cooperation with the EU Institute for Security Studies at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy with funding from the Volkswagen Foundation

The deadline for receipt of paper proposals
is 11 January 2009.
Please submit your proposal according to the
guidelines at http://www.changing-europe.de

The topic: The roles of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe are manyfold. Before the end of socialism civil society in this region was associated with dissident movements, human rights activists and above all the Polish Solidarity movement. However,
nationalist movements, sometimes referred to as the dark side of civil society, also existed under socialism. With the end of socialism civil society organisations in most Central and East European countries grew in numbers and quality. They gained new
opportunities to influence the development of their countries, but they also face challenges ranging from European integration in Central Eastern Europe to authoritarian pressures in some CIS and Balkan countries.

The Changing Europe Summer School adopts a broad understanding of civil society, including not only NGOs but all kinds of interest groups and societal organisations active in the public sphere between
the state and the individual. The Summer School will also cover discourses about and public perceptions of civil society insofar as they are related to Central and Eastern Europe.

The Summer School: Each year the Changing Europe Summer School brings together 20 to 30 young academics (i.e. mainly doctoral students from disciplines like political science, history, sociology, social
anthropology, economics, law and geography) working on issues related to countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Participation in the Summer School gives them a chance to present and discuss their research projects and to become better integrated into the academic community.

The core of the Summer School consists of the presentation of doctoral research projects and their discussion with senior researchers of international repute in their respective fields. In addition, there will be several sessions with experts on funding,
access to information, publication strategies and policy consulting. The sessions will be framed by lectures and excursions as well as other activities designed to give participants the opportunity to
socialise and establish contacts. Selected contributions to the Summer School will be published in an edited volume. The participants will be integrated into an alumni network.

Paper proposals: Paper proposals must be based on original research and may not exceed 1000 words. They must be drafted in English and must connect an empirical question with a theoretical approach and
concept in order to be accepted. Comparative approaches (across countries and across time) are encouraged. An international review panel will assess the papers for the conference in an anonymous
review process (for more information about the reviewers, see www.changing- europe.de).

Costs: Funding by the Volkswagen Foundation covers travel costs as well as accommodation and participation fees.
Location: National
University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, www.ukma.kiev.ua

Information: More information about the Changing Europe Summer Schools is available at http://www.changing-europe.de