50 Years DGA – Conference and Call for Papers

Deadline for abstract submission: 2017-01-15

“Asia –Transition of a World Region”
International Conference in Celebration of the 50th Anniversary
of the German Association for Asian Studies

Call for Papers

The German Association for Asian Studies (DGA) is turning 50 in 2017. During its 50 years of history, the DGA has observed, analysed, and commented on the tremendous transformations in modern Asia, in Asian–European relations, as well as in the academic environment both in Asia and in Europe. At the same time, the DGA has itself undergone a number of changes and adapted its flagship publication ASIEN to the needs of the internationalisation of research and the digitalisation of information. Most importantly, the DGA today features a number of working groups and circles organised by members with common regional interests, and strongly supports its working group of young scientists studying Asia.
To celebrate its 50 years of history the next DGA bi-annual conference will convene in May 2017 in Hamburg, where the DGA was first founded in 1967. The event will commence with a reception at Hamburg city hall on May 16, followed by an academic conference on May 17, and then a public event organised jointly with the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce on May 18.
During the academic conference, four panels will offer a space in which to discuss the political, social, and economic dimensions of transition in Asia in the light of current global challenges. We herewith cordially invite our members and all interested non-members to submit abstracts for papers to the following panels:

Panel 1: Urbanisation
Cities today are considered places having strong transformative power for sustainable global development. From smart infrastructure and eco-city planning to neighbourhood movements, initiatives for a sustainability transition in Asian cities are manifold. At the same time, Asia’s cities continue to be nodes for migratory movements—thus existing as places where forms of citizenship are negotiated and social inequalities persist. The panel invites scholars to submit papers that explore the diverse pathways of Asian urbanism in the light of a global sustainability transition.

Panel 2: Digitalisation
Asia is catching up in digital innovation and indeed is about to overtake many countries in Europe on that front. It already accounts for half of the world’s internet users and is the largest regional e-commerce market globally. Digital technologies are expected to significantly contribute to the region’s economic growth, particularly in China, Southeast Asia, and India. The panel will discuss how digitalisation is transforming Asia by looking at national digitalisation policies and business strategies, as well as at regional and international interactions in this field and the repercussions thereof for Europe.

Panel 3: Climate Change
Global greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow, now coming mostly from the developing world—and in particular from Asia. Many developing countries, furthermore, are on a CO2-intensive development path. The aggregate climate protection efforts that result from country-level nationally determined contributions (NDCs) are very likely to fall short of the mitigation actions needed for climate stabilisation. One year after the Paris Agreement and the subsequent climate conference held in Marrakesh in November 2016, the issues of unambitious emission reduction targets and weak implementation remain present. The panel in particular invites papers that look into climate mitigation programs in Asia, and how such actions can create win-win situations (or trade-offs) in terms of economic and human development.

Panel 4: Social Equity
While inequality between countries has been reduced to a certain extent in recent decades, within countries it has actually been on the rise. Against this background, discussions linked to the Sustainable Development Goals stress the importance of fighting absolute poverty and income inequality. At the same time, research has additionally pinpointed the importance of issues of asset inequality and social inequity—which have, on occasion, also been suggested as the main causes of rising populism in developed countries. This panel will scrutinize the multifarious causes of inequality and inequity in Asia (including those causes related to international trade and investment, labour migration, the digital divide etc.), the risks and trends that accompany these, and the appropriate respective countermeasures.

Papers may either cover developments in individual Asian countries or be of a comparative nature. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is January 7, 2017. They should not exceed 600 words in length, while full papers should be submitted at the latest two weeks ahead of the conference’s commencement (May 2, 2017). Please submit your abstracts via email at: post@asienkunde.de .

Selected papers from the conference will be published in a future special edition of ASIEN .

Important dates

Deadline for abstract submission: 2017-01-15

Feedback to panel and paper submitters: 2017-01-31

Submission of full papers: 2017-05-02

50th anniversary reception at Hamburg city hall: 2017-05-16

Academic conference: 2017-05-17

Public event at Hamburg Chamber of Commerce: 2017-05-18

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