SovereignPerformance is a research project focused on the political repertoires of democratic movements that strive for independence or autonomy. We study these by looking at the performative and aesthetic dimensions of politics.
CENTRAL IDEAS OF THE PROJECT
The project is hosted by the Conflict Research Group at Ghent University and funded by a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council. It is executed by a team of five post-doctoral researchers and a team leader (Bart Klem).
NEWS
Two new post-doc researchers starting their work
We are welcoming Demet Arpacik and Francesco Colin, who will both start their work as post-doctoral researchers in the project. Both academics come with a wealth of experience. Demet will lead the ethnographic work on the Kurdish case. Francesco will lead the ethnographic work on the Catalan case.
SovereignPerformance hosts the Sri Lanka Roundtable
We are pleased to announce that the next Sri Lanka Roundtable will be held at Ghent University on 5-7 May. This academic event will bring together over 50 researchers working on Sri Lanka to present their work and debate current affairs in the country. As a vibrant intellectual community, the roundtable offers vital inputs for the Sri Lanka case study of SovereignPerformance.
ECPR workshop on self-determination
SovereignPerformance is co-organizing a workshop of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) in Innsbruck on 7-10 April. The workshop is co-convened by Marc Sanjaume-Calvet and Bart Klem. It is titled “Self-determination and democratic backsliding: New directions in the study of secession and minority rights”, and it brings together thirteen specialists form across political science, international relations, anthropology and geography.
EWIS workshop on secession and autonomy
SovereignPerformance is co-organising a workshop of the European Workshops in International Studies (EWIS) in Izmir on 1-3 July. The workshop is co-convened by Marc Sanjaume-Calvet and Bart Klem. It is titled “Self-Determination in an Era of Democratic Shifts: New Directions in the Study of Secession, Autonomy and Minority Protection”. Details will soon be announced.
New article in Citizenship Studies
“Contested citizenship in the liminal spaces of a divided Cyprus” (authored by Nasia Hadjigeorgiou and Bart Klem) combines the critical citizenship literature with political geography. It studies three supposedly “out of place” communities on the divided island Cyprus, to conceptualize the interplay between law, political conflict dynamics, and people’s everyday practices.
New article in Political and Legal Anthropology Review
“Legalizing Oneself”: Citizenship,Waiting, and Fake Fakeness in Northern Cyprus (authored by Bart Klem) reflects on citizenship constellations in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). The article presents four life histories to map out how the unrecognised status of the TRNC affects different kinds of citizens differently. Conceptually, it combines three theoretical strands: the idea of “citizenship as claim”, reflections on the subjectivity of waiting, and the notion of faking fakeness.