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Call for panel abstracts on secrecy/ignorance: Millennium Conference 2020 (deadline 29 July)

The Secrecy, Power and Ignorance Network (coordinated by Elspeth Van Veeren, University of Bristol) invites proposals for abstracts for a panel submission to Millennium: Journal of International Studies 2020 conference, taking place online 22-24 October. 

Whilst this area is traditionally associated with intelligence and spying, SPIN network members have a wide variety of interests, from queer theory to social media to decolonialism to nuclear weapons. We therefore welcome submissions from any of these areas, for example, or any others related to secrecy or ignorance, broadly conceived. More information about SPIN can be found below. 

Apologies for the very tight turnaround but abstracts need to be sent to me by July 29th in order to finalise the panel proposal before the deadline. My email address is natalie.jester@bristol.ac.uk.

When sending your abstract, please provide the title of your presentation, institutional affiliation and an approximately 100 word bio. It would also be really helpful if you could explicitly note whether you believe yourself to be an early career researcher, as we're looking to get a good mix of presenters and presentations. I presented last year myself as an early career researcher and found it to be a welcoming environment with useful feedback.   

Further details about the conference can be found here: https://millenniumjournal.org/2020conference/

About SPIN
With revelations associated with the War on Terror and the #metoo movement, obfuscations surrounding the climate crisis, calls for transparency and ‘open societies’, new technological developments (including ‘deep fakes’ and cyberthreats), the re-emergence of discourses of ‘fake news’, the deepening of conspiracy cultures, along with the ongoing struggles of marginalised communities to be recognised or acknowledged have resulted in an increased need to understand the political and social dimensions of secrecy and ignorance. Our work therefore reflects an urgent and ongoing ambition to rethink secrecy and ignorance as forces for driving social and political developments. For further information and a list of members, please see our website: