IW
Workshops
Recent Workshops
Workshop "Navigating Polar Expertise"
08.05. - 09.05.2025
A successful early career workshop on the topic “Navigating Polar Expertise” took place from 8-9 May 2025 at Bielefeld University. It provided a comprehensive exploration of the growing significance of polar regions amidst climate change and geopolitical shifts. The workshop underscored the relational and negotiated nature of expertise at the individual level for scientists, its critical role as a nexus point between governance and states, and its growing legal significance internationally. Participants engaged in discussions on the increasing importance of expertise across various disciplines, such as sociology, International Relations, and political geography. An inspiring key note lecture by Dr. Jen Sidorova (North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network, NAADSN) emphasized the crucial role of Indigenous knowledge when studying polar expertise. The workshop served as a catalyst for future research initiatives, fostering collaboration and dialogue among early career researchers.
The organizers would like to thank the Institute for World Society Studies and the Worldviews of Ice: Constructions of the Arctic at the Science/Politics Interface for their generous support.
Workshop "The (im)possibility of global eco-social policy"
23.04. - 25.04.2025
Between 23 and 25 April, the workshop "The (im)possibility of global eco-social policy? Examining the contribution of international organisations" (co-funded by the Institute for World Society Studies and the Young Academy for Sustainability Research at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS), supported by the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation) took place at Bielefeld University. At the hybrid workshop, a diverse group of 28 scholars, including doctoral researchers, postdocs and professors, met in person and online to discuss whether we can observe the emergence of a distinct field of global eco-social policy. The workshop took place in preparation of a special issue proposal on the topic. Apart from the specific workshop proceedings, in which (groups of) scholars presented their papers, there was also a public roundtable organised by the group, which met under the topic of "Theorising and practicing global eco-social policy", exploring the limits and prospects of the globalisation of eco-social policy, aiming to build bridges between scholarship and practice. It included a mix of scholars and practitioners active in the field.
The workshop's topic was legitimized by the question that despite the global character of ecological crises, eco-social policy research remains largely oriented on the level of national policies, only rarely leaving behind this perspective by exploring European dimensions of eco-social policy. The discussions thus centred on the question whether international organisations and other transnational actors were also active in the field and in what capacity. Participants presented a variety of papers – from the normative underpinnings of global eco-social justice as a foundation of the field, to particular policy areas, including water, social security, fossil fuel subsidies, and agricultural policy, to broader concepts, such as the Sustainable Development Goals or the wellbeing economy. Overall, the workshop received very positive feedback and can be termed a success, preparing the grounds for the special issue proposal that it set out to inform.
Past Workshops
| 2023 | |
| 27.-29.03.2023 |
Conference 'Evidence based benevolence? The Role of philanthropic Organizations in Global Public Policies' (ZiF Bielefeld) |
| 25.04.2023 | Roundtable 'The Evolution of Orders: Uncertain Futures and the (Im-)Possibilities of Progress' (Bielefeld University), with Emanuel Adler, Mathias Albert, Silke Schwandt and Stephan Stetter, moderated by Thomas Müller. The event was co-organized by SFB 1288 "Praktiken des Vergleichens", GK "World Politics", Center for Uncertainty Studies (CeUS) and IW |
| 06.06.2023 | Roundtable 'Global Cooperation and Global Challenges' (Bielefeld University), with Bettina Mahlert, Sigrid Quack, Alina Isakova and Malte Neuwinger, moderated by Mathias Albert. The event was co-organized by GK "World Politics" and IW. |
| 20.-21.09.2023 | 'Military Thought and World Polity Theory' (Bielefeld University) |
| 2022 | |
| 07.-11.03.2022 |
'Migration Governance in Crisis' (Bielefeld University) |
| 21.-22.04.2022 |
DGS Founding Conference 'Aufgaben Historischer Soziologie' (ZiF Bielefeld) |
| 02.-03.05.2022 | 'The Malmö-Bielefeld Workshop on Global and World Politics' (RTG (2225) "World Politics" and Malmö University Global Politics PhD Programme, Malmö University) |
| 19.-20.05.2022 | 20th IW-Anniversary Conference 'Wie geht's eigentlich der Weltgesellschaft?' (ZiF Bielefeld): Conference Programme |
| 02.-03.06.2022 |
Open Conference of the DGS section 'Politische Soziologie' (Bielefeld University) |
| 06.-07.09.2022 |
'Global Challenges in World Politics: Discourses, Actors and Outcomes' |
| 01.-03.11.2022 |
'Svalbard Imaginaries' (Bielefeld University) |
| 2021 | |
| 29.10.2021 | 'Inter-organizational Relations and World Order' (Bielefeld University) |
| 12.-15.12.2021 | Conference 'Global Challenges in World Politics. Discourses, Actors and Outcomes' (RTG (2225) "World Politics", Bielefeld) |
| 2019 | |
| 09.-11.03.2019 |
'World Society and its History' (Bielefeld University) |
| 07.05.2019 | 'Symposium zum Abschied von Prof. Lutz Leisering, PhD' (Bielefeld University): Conference programme |
| 24.-25.05.2019 | 'IO Discourses in Global Social Governance' (Bremen University) |
| 05.-07.09.2019 | 'Entangled Comparisons. Grounding Research on Asia - Expanding Research Methodologies' (ZiF Bielefeld) |
| 30.09.-02.10.2019 | 'Polar- und Meeresforschung' (Bielefeld University) |
| 07-08.10.2019 | 'Views & constructions of global numbers. Workshop on the history & sociology of colonial & international statistics' (Centre Marc Bloch, Berlin) |
| 24.-25.10.2019 | 'Organising Competition & Contestation in World Politics' (RTG (2225) "World Politics", Bielefeld) |
| 21.-22.11.2019 | 'Envisioning the Global, Engendering Agency: Perspectives, Positions, Communities' (RTG (2225) "World Politics", Bielefeld) |
| 27.-28.11.2019 | 'Universities in Crisis or Crisis of the University?' (Bielefeld University) |
| 2016 | |
| 29.01.2016 | 'Migrationen und Grenzprozesse. Politiken und Praktiken von Zugehörigkeit und Exklusion vom 19. bis ins 21. Jahrhundert' (Bielefeld University): Conference programme |
| 2018 | |
| 01.-02.10.2018 | 'Imagining Belonging in World Politics: Concepts, practices, and struggles' (RTG (2225) "World Politics", Bielefeld) |
| 09.-10.11.2018 | 'Balance & Competition in World Politics' (RTG (2225) "World Politics", Bielefeld) |
| 2015 | |
| 23.-24.01.2015 | 'Zur Kommunikation durch Zahlen. Vergleichsdynamiken der modernen Gesellschaft' (Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology): Conference programme |
| 2013 | |
| 24. - 26.10.2013 | 'Spaces of Violence in Democracies' (ZiF Bielefeld): Conference programme |
| 11. -12.11.2013 | 'Quantifying the World Society. Knowledge technologies, governance, rights.' (ZiF Bielefeld) Author's colloquium with Sally Engle Merry (New York University) Conference programme |