Crisis and (re)Definition

Crisis and (re)Definition: Exploring the impacts of the 2008 global financial crisis on pan-Europeanism, nationalism, and political identity in the European Union and North America 

This interdisciplinary conference was hosted by the EUCE at UVic and the Centre for Global Studies on May 25th, 2016.

In 2008, a serious collapse of the global financial market set off a series of cascading fiscal crises across North America and Europe. The sorts of social and political action that emerged out of the crisis and continue to characterize post-crisis political discourse suggest that an epistemological rupture between political and social movements and their traditional ideological concerns is emerging. 

The aim of this conference was to use a cross-disciplinary and comparative perspective to investigate the nature of these epistemic ruptures, and to explore the geographies of new, post-crisis politics, identities, and activism. The call for papers suggested topics such as the re-articulation of political ideology, the birth of anti-austerity protest movements, the growth of xenophobia and nationalism, and more. 

Dr. Stefán Ólafsson, from the University of Iceland, delivered the keynote address on May 25th at 7pm in the David Strong Building C103. The workshops will be held on May 25th.

Full Program

This activity was funded by the European Union Centre of Excellence.