With Thanksgiving behind us and the winter holidays and family time approaching, the season encourages some stock-taking and reflection. We at the Duck have been having a bit of behind the scenes emailing about the challenges of finding child care, and I wanted to recount a happier story from my own experience here at the University of Texas. Anne-Marie Slaughter's essay in The Atlantic last year prompted considerable debate about family...
The Theory Section Paper Awards recognize superlative work in International Theory. All papers with a strong theoretical focus are eligible. Two awards are made: one for a paper presented (or, in the case of ISA2020, which would have been presented) by a graduate student or other non-PhD holder, and another for a paper by a post-PhD scholar. Nominations may be made by anyone in the profession. We encourage discussants and chairs on Theory...
The ISA Theory Section Book Award recognizes the best book published in the two calendar years prior to the meeting at which the award will be given that contributes to the theorization of world politics. The award is open to all forms and styles of theorization. Criteria include such considerations as innovativeness, quality of argumentation, and significance for the broad discipline of international studies. The winner will receive a plaque...
The Distinguished Scholar Award is given for lifetime contributions to international theory. Ideal nominees will have made significant advances in theorizing world politics that transcend areas of specialization within international studies. They will also have superlative records of service and mentorship within the wider international-studies community. Nominees should be members of the International Studies Association. The...
Current Officers Section Chair (2018-2019): Aslı ÇalkıvikVice Chair and Program Chair (2018-2019): Stefano GuzziniCommunications Officer (2017-2019): Marta BashovskiTreasurer (2018-2020): Jason WeidnerGraduate Student Representative (2018-2019): Rafael Bittencourt Past Officers Section Chair (2017-2018): Alexander D. BarderTreasurer (2016-2018): Jairus V. Grove Graduate Student Representative (2017-2018): Mariana Kalil Section Chairs...
Much baking to be had this time of year, so it only makes sense that we play the Hungry Games again:
December 10th was UN Human Rights Day, starting off Human Rights Week. In many regards, 2013 has been a very good year for human rights practices around the world. In other regards, 2013 has had some abysmal failures when it comes to human rights on the ground, especially the rights of sexual minorities. For our academic understanding of human rights, 2013 has been a very good year, with many excellent and novel pieces published in political...
Editor’s Note: this is an abbreviated version of a post that originally appeared on my personal blog. How can international institutions foster cooperation given that they lack enforcement capability? One view, quite simply, is that they can't. This view is shared by realists and many outside the academy. Many would argue this critique is unfair. It is too easy to jump from "can't control rogue states" to "completely worthless" or "false...
When people lament about how broken academia is now (for example Higgs of Higgs-Boson), I am so tempted to generalize about the olden days: Many, if not most, jobs were not advertised publicly and many job processes were really old boys networks at work. The job market may not be efficient and does induce heaps of stress, but it is probably better than the olden days. Speaking of old boys, how many jobs were held at any level by women? By...
Mandela's memorial service was yesterday, and the speeches and coverage were laudatory, as they should be, and the crowd was raucous, celebratory, despite the rain. Obama in his speech challenged the audience to use Mandela's example in their own lives, to "take risks on behalf of ideals" but in a studied, disciplined manner. I was most struck by the notes of dissensus, the public in the stadium booing South Africa's President Jacob Zuma when...
The nature of cyber discourse concerns me, and this is a point I have written about extensively with Ryan Maness (Valeriano and Maness 2012a, Valeriano and Maness 2012b, Valeriano and Maness 2014). The idea is that threats we see materialize from cyberspace seem to vastly outweigh any other threats we have faced, ever. Some argue this cyber threat is different, faster, and bigger. I question this conventional wisdom. Is the cyber threat...
Did you see the photos like the one above out of Shanghai? For the first time ever, Shanghai's air pollution, like Beijing's before it, exceeded the scale for particulate matter. For the past seven days, the air quality has been so bad that schools and flights were cancelled, cars were forced off the roads, industries were shut down (Though a marathon last Monday went on as planned. Runners complained that their lungs hurt. Go figure!). This...