[Air-L] CFP: ‘Taking seriously the unserious in resistance — the subversive force of pop culture in authoritarian/socialist/non-Western states’ Panel at BISA 2025 and IPSA 2025

[Colin Yang]

Hi all,

Please see below the CFP for our proposed panel to be submitted to 2025 BISA (British International Studies Association<https://conference.bisa.ac.uk/call-papers-0>) and IPSA (International Political Science Association<https://www.ipsa.org/events/congress/seoul2025>) annual conference and share with your networks! Thank you!

Best wishes,
Colin

CFP: ‘Taking seriously the unserious in resistance — the subversive force of pop culture in authoritarian/socialist/non-Western states’ Panel at BISA 2025 and IPSA 2025

Call for Papers:
My fellow PhD colleagues and I are putting together a panel for submission to the 2025 BISA (British International Studies Association<https://conference.bisa.ac.uk/call-papers-0>) in Belfast and IPSA (International Political Science Association<https://www.ipsa.org/events/congress/seoul2025>) annual conference in Seoul. We are inviting scholars who are exploring themes related to any forms of pop culture, and their potential and implications for social movement, activism and resistance in the context of non-western countries and societies, to join our panel we plan to submit to both conferences.

Based on our common research interests and the theme of both conferences, our provisional title for the panel is: Taking seriously the unserious in resistance — the subversive force of pop culture in authoritarian/socialist/non-Western states. We'd like to explore how various forms of popular culture—such as vlogs, music, theatre, television, and more— can serve as a subversive force against ideological and political oppression in restrictive, non-liberal societies in non-violent, individual, 'everyday', tacit, and creative ways. Our aim is to emphasise the importance of taking these cultural forms seriously in political and International Relations (IR) studies, beyond their traditional perception as mere entertainment.

Our topics currently range across queer digital vlog culture in China, the consumption of foreign pop music in North Korea and former East Germany, and the censorship of anti-Kremlin protest musicians in Russia.

If you are interested in contributing to our effort in forming this panel and potentially sharing your research to bring more attention to the power of pop culture and entertainment in Politics and IR studies, please submit your paper title and a 300-word abstract along with a short introduction about yourself including your full name, affiliation and position to y.yang at bristol.ac.uk<mailto:y.yang at bristol.ac.uk> and sonja.nicholls at bristol.ac.uk<mailto:sonja.nicholls at bristol.ac.uk> by 27th October, 2024.

Warm regards,
Colin and Sonja