Call for Papers: Annual Conflict & Change PhD Workshop 2026
PhD workshop: 18th-19th May
Deadline for abstracts: 15th February
The year 2025 has ushered in major changes in global politics. As the United States is scaling back from multilateral relationships, raising questions over the stability of the ‘liberal international order’, the European Union tries to increase its unity and rearm itself, while China projects itself as a potentially reliable trade partner for many countries. Against this backdrop of changing geopolitical alignments, armed conflicts have reached a historic high in the post-World War II period, causing unimaginable human suffering – from Gaza to Myanmar, Sudan, and Ukraine. At the same time (and probably not coincidentally), democracy is on decline. Even ‘solid’ democracies such as the United States have seen rapid democratic decline. In some contexts, the erosion of democratic institutions has been met with popular resistance, as citizens take to the streets to defend democratic norms, but in other contexts, mobilization has coalesced around illiberal and exclusionary projects. Understanding these major developments require analytical approaches that can connect protest, institutional change, violence, and global power dynamics, drawing on diverse theoretical and methodological tools.
The Conflict & Change annual workshop for PhD and doctoral students across the UK and Europe provides a platform for a discussion of these and similar issues, bringing together insights from various disciplines to build an understanding of the issues presented above.
The workshop focuses on the work of early career researchers, provides an opportunity to receive feedback from senior academics from the Conflict & Change research cluster at UCL, and fosters a strong community engaged in cutting-edge research. The workshop will be held on 18th-19th May, 2026. Supported and hosted by the Conflict & Change research cluster at the UCL Department of Political Science, the workshop brings together doctoral students from various disciplines in the social sciences, humanities, and beyond, such as political science, economics, sociology, geography, and computer science. Papers on all issues related to peace and conflict, contentious politics, mobilisation, institutional change, human rights, and migration are welcome.
The two-day workshop will take place in London at UCL’s Bloomsbury campus and will feature research presentations and discussions, a keynote speech, a workshop dinner, and additional opportunities to socialize. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee any funding for travelling and accommodation at this time.
Please submit an abstract (no more than 250 words) by 15th February via the link below. For questions and enquiries, please contact Seth MacCutcheon (seth.maccutcheon.24@ucl.ac.uk).
