RESEARCH WORKSHOP ▼

The Future of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) in Times of Populism and Political Uncertainty

13-14 December 2018, University of Bamberg.

____Workshop Concept

▐ Recent events such as Brexit, the Schengen governance crisis, the rise in the number of asylum-seekers, or the increase in terrorist attacks on European soil have brought the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice to the forefront of electoral and budgetary concerns.

At the same time, there are growing concerns about how political contestation across and within member states might affect the further evolution of this policy area, as the rise in populism has reinforced long-existing tensions between nationalisation and Europeanisation.

On this basis, the workshop proposed to look into the impact of populism and political uncertainty on the content and structure of internal security policies, as well as on the evolution of AFSJ institutions and actors. More specifically, the workshop evolved around the question what it means to build an Area of Freedom, Security and Justice in a framework of crisis and uncertainty, and how it affects the process of integration at the European Union level. The lecturers participating in the workshop proposed to explain how populism and political uncertainty within and beyond Europe have contributed to shaping the definition of this ‘core state power’ (i.e. a power linked to the key func-tions of states, notably the control of the territory and the legitimate use of force) at the European level both in substantive (policy content) and procedural terms (state of integration). In order to better appreciate what the evolution of the AFSJ can tell us about the European Union more generally, the lecturers were aiming to bring internal security matters into mainstream Political Science and International Relations by focusing on four main issues, namely Power Dynamics, Ideas, Insitutions and Agency. ◼

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___Guests

Sarah Wolff, Queen Mary University of London
Natascha Zaun, London School of Economics and Political Science
Elaine Fahey, University of London
Sandra Lavenex, University of Geneva
Helena Farrand Carrapico, Aston University
Ben Farrand, University of Warwick
Oldrich Bures, Metropolitan University Prague
Christof Roos, University of Flensburg
Emek Ucarer, Bucknell University
Raphael Bossong, German Institute for International and Security Affairs
Uwe Wunderlich, Aston University
Danny Fitzpatrick, Aston University
Adina Maricut-Abkik, Hertie School of Governance
Natasja Reslow, Maastricht University

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___Workshop Programme

For more information take a look at the workshop programme(230.9 KB, 4 pages)

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___Organizers

Ariadna Ripoll Servent, Political Science

Helena Farrand Carrapico, Aston University

The workshop was funded by Aston University and the Bamberg Graduate School of Social Sciences (DFG Excellence Initiative).

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