Advances in the Study of Statehood, Sovereignty and Conflict

Violent conflicts over territory and statehood are back on the political agenda and news channels around the world. Cases such as the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine and not least the 2023 escalation in the Middle East are the most vivid examples that outbreaks of violence can rapidly develop into major wars with broader regional and global implications. In other world regions, protracted secessionist conflicts, which had been considered to be largely ‘frozen’ or approaching resolution, were aggravated by flaring up tensions, like in the case of Kosovo, or attempts to resolve contested statehood by force, like in the case of Nagorno-Karabakh. How can we understand and explain this revival of territorial confrontation and violent conflicts over contested statehood? This Section intends to advance studies on conflicts over territory, sovereignty and statehood, with a particular focus on dynamics of escalation, de-escalation and conflict resolution. Simultaneously, it seeks to bring in contributions focusing on specific cases that have remained latent or ‘frozen’ for years, without facing a major outbreak or return of violence. The main aim of the Section is to advance our understanding of (1) how, when and why territorial conflicts escalate (or not), including patterns and drivers of escalation; (2) what implications these escalations (or their absence) have at different levels: local level of affected populations, regional and global security, role of external and international actors; (3) what instruments of conflict management and resolution can be promising; and (4) finally what broader conceptual implications of these conflicts and lessons (not) learned for Peace and Conflict Studies we can identify. The Section Chairs invite original contributions addressing areas such as (but not limited to): ▪️ The origins and escalation dynamics of conflicts over territory, sovereignty and statehood, including historical and contemporary examples, and new forms of warfare in these conflicts; ▪️ The role of non-state armed groups, notably studies on rebel governance and power-sharing mechanisms, de facto state formation, their governance structures and policies; ▪️ Effects of conflicts and conflict related governance structures on local populations; ▪️ Political communities with self-determination demands beyond traditional understandings of sovereignty and statehood, such as indigenous peoples from different areas of the world; ▪️ The role of international actors and interventions, including conflict enablers and stakeholders in crisis diplomacy, conflict management and conflict resolution processes; ▪️ Theoretical and conceptual interlinkages between statehood, sovereignty and conflict and other concepts and processes of global politics, such as nationalism, identity, citizenship, foreign policy, ideology, globalization, imperial and (neo)colonial politics, secession or civil war; ▪️ Dilemmas of knowledge production, expertise generation and reporting about conflict and peace, including critical, postcolonial, and decolonizing approaches; ▪️ Ethics and methods in studying statehood and conflict. The Section seeks to connect scholars from various disciplinary backgrounds and encourages innovative theoretical, conceptual and methodological approaches. The aim is to bring the disciplines of political science, international relations and law that have often dominated the debate into dialogue with disciplines such as history, political geography, political economy, sociology, postcolonial and indigenous studies. The Section also seeks to be diverse in terms of its geographic and thematic coverage, and inclusive of a variety of analytical and epistemic approaches. In terms of methods, we invite empirical works that might draw on single, small- medium- or large-N studies, papers aiming at a conceptual / theoretical contribution, as well as methodological reflections on the conduct and dissemination of research. Full panel proposals are particularly welcome. In addition to the thematic fit and relevance, Section Chairs will evaluate full panel proposals based on the diversity of their composition in terms of the career stage of the contributors, gender, academic background (e.g., Global South), and other characteristics underrepresented in academia.