Political Demography and Geography Section Newsletter

 

Note from the Political Demography and Geography Section Chair: Richard Cincotta

It is my privilege to serve you -- the membership of ISA's Political Demography and Geography Section -- as your Section Chair from 2012 to '14. My predecessor, Jacek Kugler (Claremont Graduate University, ISA President, 2004-05), created and organized this unique section, for which we all owe him a great deal of gratitude. My objectives for this chairmanship are to build PDG's membership, and to provide it with the ability to communicate. With your help, we can (1) build our membership from the current number, 64, to beyond 100 -- the minimum that PDG will need to attain permanent status within ISA; and we will (2) create mechanisms for PDGers to communicate with each other and with a range of academic and policy audiences. So, please forward the PDG Newsletters to potentially interested colleagues (and hint that they should join) and send me your ideas for facilitating PDGers' interactions, within and outside of ISA.

A little about myself: I am a demographer at the Stimson Center, a centrist foreign affairs research organization (non-profit) in Washington, DC. I also consult and lecture for a number of organizations and universities in the U.S. capital, including the Woodrow Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program (directed by Geoffrey Dabelko). My research is focused on relationships between demographic trends and the evolution of political conditions. I'm particularly interested in forecasting political tensions, opportunities, and change using various types of demographic projections, and I enjoy writing brief policy articles to disseminate my research results (like this one, on demography and liberal democracy).

During my career, I have worked for the (U.S.) National Intelligence Council and for the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of Population and Reproductive Health. And I have been fortunate enough to have conducted research and/or worked abroad for more than 10 years, in sub-Saharan Africa, Arab North Africa, India, China, Australia, Taiwan, Canada, and the U.K. In addition, I served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam Conflict years, in a military intelligence field.

Welcome to PDG's 2012-13 year. I hope to introduce you to two of PDG's board members in each of our newsletters (Alex Braithwaite, PDG's Program Chair, follows). Please do not hesitate to call or email me (rcincotta@stimson.org) if you have ideas or complaints. And, if we find ourselves together at ISA meetings or other events, please introduce yourself. I look forward to meeting as many of you as I can over the next two years.

Back to top

Note from the Political Demography and Geography Section Programme Chair: Alex Braithwaite

I am very happy to be serving the ISA's Political Demography and Geography Section as Section Program Chair for the 2013 and 2014 Annual Meetings. My predecessor, Tad Kugler (Roger Williams University), did a superb job, increasing our panel sponsorship and co-sponsorship levels from 5 panels in Montreal in 2011 (our first presence as a section) to 14 in San Diego earlier this year. It is my hope to be able to build upon his considerable successes. I am optimistic that this is possible. Next year's meeting in San Francisco (April 3-6) is being built around the theme of 'The Politics of International Diffusion.' Early indications suggest that the 2014 meetings, being held in Toronto (March 26-29), are likely to be organized around the theme of 'Political Geography.' I can barely imagine two better themes to facilitate the growth and participation of our exciting new section.

A few words about myself: I am a Senior Lecturer in International Relations based in the School of Public Policy at University College London (United Kingdom). My research is focused on the political causes of violence. I'm particularly interested in accounting for the geographic contagion of violent political conflict. Prior to joining UCL in late 2007, I worked as an Assistant Professor in Political Science at Colorado State University, as an Adjunct Instructor in Political Science at the University of Arizona, and as a Graduate Assistant at Pennsylvania State University, from where I received my PhD in 2006. I very much hope that you will continue to support the section by submitting proposals for papers or panels under the PDG section. Indeed, if you have ideas for either, I'd certainly be very happy to discuss them with you in more detail. Remember, the deadline for proposals for the 2013 meeting is June 1st 2012. In addition to the traditional route for paper and panel proposals, ISA has a new initiative for 2013. As some of you already know, the ISA decided to abolish poster sessions from next year. They will be replaced by the Junior Scholar Symposium. The JSS will offer junior scholars the opportunity to present and discuss their research in an environment focused on professional development. It will afford participants a focused, dedicated, atmosphere to provide consistent and useful feedback. The JSS also provides fantastic networking opportunities; participants will interact closely with senior scholars in their field as well as with peers across universities. In short, the JSS will provide everything that the old poster sessions failed to deliver. I encourage you to consider applying or to advise your senior students to do so. Please do not hesitate to email me (alex.braithwaite@ucl.ac.uk) if you have ideas or questions.

Back to top

Report from previous Programme Chair

ISA San Diego 2012 was fortunate to have an interconnected series of panels dealing primarily with five geographic and demographical research agendas.

The first focused upon systemic change in politics with demography being the key component in the rearrangement of international power. Similar effects at the regional level was tied to rising ethnic nationalism possibly exasperated by demographical changes, migration, and the resetting of local politics due to changing population. Asia was of primary interest with the 'youth bulge' being tied to conflict, or more hopefully, democratic change. Security concerns tied to demography was also a popular topic.

The second continued a greater academic research interest in water. Papers analyzed environmental concerns, resource allocation, systems of international negotiation, the complexity of adding the possibility of rising regional scarcity to politics, and the reality of geographical location. Rivers force participation in foreign policy and highlight the influence of geography on policy.

The third looked at borders. One paper in particular was a comparative piece on the disputed South Sudanese/Sudan border. The incentives of the local population is more interesting when the possibility of a successful local conflict having dramatic effects on a work in process map. Additional papers looked at other local secession efforts as a policy to create lasting peace. International arbitration and the possibility of voluntary and forced population movements were also on the agenda.

The fourth focused on the importance of women's equality. Papers worked with the current methods of legislating women into government positions be they elected or career, cross-nationally. The legal realities were a popular topic with research focusing on unequal property law, representation, and its association with violence towards women. Fertility choice with regards to One Child per Family policy and family planning access was also a popular subject. Many of these papers attempted to quantify sometimes difficult data, such as violence/rape measurements, and should lead to greater clarity on these pressing issues.

Lastly, papers conceptualizing the theoretical framework behind the idea of a city have been very popular. Community has a greater complexity of meaning beyond the location of a residence. How we organize and the structure of population concentration was researched using both critical and quantitative methods.

Back to top

Contributions/ Donations

Contributions to the Political Demography and Geography Section have been sent in the names of:

  • Center for International Studies, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
  • The Stimson Center, Washington, DC
  • Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, DC

We are very grateful for their contributions and would welcome new contributors!

Back to top

BISA/ ISA

The following papers will be presented at the session on Wednesday 20 June 2012 9.30-11.00 Session 1 panel 16:

  • Jacek Kugler, The world at the local level: the influence of sub-national politics on conflict and development
  • J. Patrick Ramey Jr., Constrained to Cooperate, Free to Conflict: Domestic, Regional, and International Determinants of Foreign Policy Choice
  • Ismene Gizelis, Steve Pickering, Henrik Urdal, Town and Country: Variation in Civil War Conflict Patterns
  • Andrea den Boer, Diversity in the Discipline: Tension or Opportunity in Responding to Global Challenges
  • Tadeusz Kugler, Elections in a state of conflict: the rise of provincial regional parties in opposition within a federal system
  • Kyungkook Kang, Relative Political Capacity and the mobilization of governments

Back to top

Future events

Conference at Collegium Civitas, July 2014, Warsaw, Poland

Theme: Eurasia - Defining and Crossing Barriers

One of the principal challenges of the 21st century is whether the division of Eurasia into Europe and Asia is still valid? Since from geological point of view there is no such thing as the continent of Europe, shouldn't we then consider Eurasia as one whole and common habitat of Eurasians? The more so that Asians have hardly accepted Asian identity as their own. Let us therefore challenge the Ural Mountains in their capacity of the border between Europe and Asia! Let us explore and ease the barriers determine continental affiliation! We the denizens of European Union are Western Eurasians and Russians, Indians and Chinese are Northern Eurasians!

Our query thus will concern main aspects of human activity such as economy, politics, culture, religion, and mental barriers. The aim is to identify and describe diverse barriers that have to be brought down or sometimes scaled up to bring about the possibility of an Eurasian entity.

Rector Edmund Wnuk-Lipinski welcomes our group to Collegium Civitas located in the palace of Culture and Science in the very centre of Warsaw. For our disposal will have 4 auditoria - each of them for 130 people, plus 15 class rooms with a capacity from 25 to 50 people. Also, a big auditorium with a capacity of 500 persons can be used for the inauguration and closing ceremonies. Electronic equipment is available that allows parallel participation of 12 speakers - microphones, loudspeakers and power-point facilities will be provided. Hotels in Warsaw close to the centre are anticipated to cost below $100 a night. For more information on the conference, contact: