BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
METHOD:PUBLISH
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:Europe/London
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZNAME:GMT
TZOFFSETFROM:+0100
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
DTSTART:19701025T020000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=10;BYDAY=-1SU
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZNAME:BST
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0100
DTSTART:19700329T010000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=-1SU
END:DAYLIGHT
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:6a0be8aa6f7a9
DTSTAMP:20260519T043554Z
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241128T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241128T173000
TZID:Europe/London
SUMMARY:The Contested Use of Staatraison/Raison d'Etat Against the Backdrop of the Gaza Conflict
DESCRIPTION:Abstract:  The talk discusses the contested use of 'Staatsraison / Raison d'Etat' against the backdrop of the Gaza conflict. In light of the horrific October 7 attacks by Hamas in 2023, the long dormant norm has been recently been reactivated by German government representative to demonstrate 'unwavering solidarity with Israel'. Over the past year, the maxim has become a regular feature in German political discourse. However, despite this frequent use, the norm's meaning and implication remain widely unknown. This accounts for both observers inside and outside Germany alike. To explore the norm's actual meaning-in-use the talk draws on norms research in International Relations (IR). Against that analytical background, Staatsraison is defined as a fundamental norm which carries relatively broad moral reach, yet fairly unspecified behavioural instructions. Unless further specified or explained, therefore, the degree of contestation generated by the norm's use is expected to be high. Two scenarios are possible then. In the best-case scenario public institutions facilitate proactive contestation by way of engaged and constructive public debate. By contrast, in the worst-case scenario where such constructive dialogue is not facilitated, objection expressed as reactive contestation is expected to generate resentment, uncertainty, and potentially conflict. In order to identify the norm's actual meaning and possible effect the paper undertakes an assessment of the norm's meanings-in-use from different analytical angles, including history, media, and science.     Bio:  Professor Antje Wiener, FAcSS MAE holds the Chair of Political Science, especially Global Governance at the University of Hamburg where she is a member of the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences as well as the Law Faculty. She is an elected By-Fellow of Hughes Hall University of Cambridge, a Fellow of the UK's Academy of Social Sciences, and a Member of the Academia Europea. Her research and teaching centres on International Relations (IR) theory, especially norms research and contestation theory. And previously she held Chairs in International Studies at Queen's University Belfast and the University of Bath and taught at the Universities of Stanford, Carleton, Sussex and Hannover. Current research projects include 'Contested Climate Justice in Sensitive Regions' at the Cluster of Excellence Climate, Climatic Change and Society (CLICCS) among others. She is co-founding editor of Global Constitutionalism (CUP, since 2012 ). And she also edits the Norm Research in International Relations Series. https://events.st-andrews.ac.uk/events/the-contested-use-of-staatraison-raison-detat-against-the-backdrop-of-the-gaza-conflict/
LOCATION:St Salvator\'s Quad
URL:https://events.st-andrews.ac.uk/events/the-contested-use-of-staatraison-raison-detat-against-the-backdrop-of-the-gaza-conflict/
End:VEVENT
End:VCALENDAR