CALL FOR PAPERS
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND POLITICAL TRANSITION IN KOSOVO

International Conference
"Economic Development and Political Transition in Kosovo"
Rochester Institute of Technology / American University in Kosovo
Pristina, Kosovo

12-13 October 2012

Due to delays on the donors’ side and the large volume of applications coinciding with the summer recess, the conference Review Committee has decided to postpone the event until 12-13 October.

NEW DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION: 6 August 2012

Thanks to the generous support of the Balkan Trust for Democracy (German Marshall Fund) and USAID-BEEP, AUK will provide FULL FUNDING (covering travel and accommodation) for all invited paper-presenters.

Guest speaker: Susan L. Woodward (CUNY). The following journals will consider the publication of the conference proceedings as a special issue: South East European and Black Sea Studies and Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies.


The American University in Kosovo (AUK) and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) – AUK’s academic partner – are organizing an international conference on “Economic Development and Political Transition in Kosovo” on Friday 7 – Saturday 8 September 2012 at the AUK Campus in Pristina, Kosovo.

The aim is to further develop an international research network of scholars working on the political economy of Kosovo’s development and to transcend the focus on post-conflict transformation that has characterized the recent literature on Kosovo. Furthermore, the Conference aims to promote professional and scholarly cooperation between international academic circles, on the one hand, and Kosovar researchers and policy-makers, on the other.

Call for Papers:
We aim to attract contributions from scholars based at international and regional universities or affiliated with other research or policy institutions. 20 papers will be selected from a pool of open submissions based on peer review.

The Conference aims at including contributions from economists and political scientists interested in the institutional determinants of economic development and political change in Kosovo. Papers are solicited on (but will not be limited to) the topics listed below. While papers may adopt a comparative perspective, the core focus should be on Kosovo.

1. General topics - Kosovo’s political and economic development in comparative and regional perspective:
- Kosovo’s economic policy, how it affects development outcomes and how it is influenced by domestic constituencies and the donor/international community
- Economic development of post-independence Kosovo in regional/global political economy perspective
- Comparative growth and development experiences in the Yugoslav successor state
- Kosovo’s sovereignty dispute in political economy perspective
- Economic, political and material history of Kosovo and Yugoslavia
- Impact of euro-crisis on the monetary system in Kosovo
- Kosovo’s integration in regional, international and European institutional structures (UN, EU, NATO, etc.) and its implications for economic and political change
- Forms of local resistance to economic and political reform in Kosovo

2. Sectoral debates:
- Regional trade integration in the Western Balkans; Kosovo’s trade policy and CEFTA; Kosovo’s accession to the WTO; trade disputes and emerging forms of economic nationalism
- Investment policy, industrial policy and industrial development in Kosovo; procurement and concessioning rules in Kosovo
- SME development and business environment in political economy perspective
- Mining and natural resources development in Kosovo and its impact on growth and the environment
- Energy-sector governance and carbon policy in a transition economy; regional integration through energy trade
- The political economy of privatization and infrastructure development
- Rural development, agricultural growth and agrarian change
- Environmental challenges to sustainable development
- Financial and banking system in Kosovo
- Parallel structures in northern Kosovo and the their impact on economic development, rule of law and state-building
- Party and electoral politics in Kosovo in political economy perspective, including issues of party-funding
- The democratization/development nexus in Kosovo
- Aid and donor coordination in Kosovo
- Labor relations and informal economy in Kosovo
- Migration and remittances and their impact on socio-economic development
- Decentralization and institutional reform in Kosovo
- Issues of post-socialist transition in Kosovo
- The political economy of peace-building
- Health-care, education reform, welfare state and social policy in Kosovo

Publications:
We have secured preliminary expressions of interest from South East European and Black Sea Studies and the Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies for the publication of a selection of the conference’s papers as a thematic special issue. After the Conference, paper-presenters are given time to revise and resubmit their papers before the conference proceedings are passed on to the journals’ editors for review. By participating in the Conference, paper-presenters agree to having their papers considered for publication in the above journals. Possibilities for a guest-editor position might also be explored.

The papers will also be translated into Albanian and Serbian, to facilitate dissemination into local (non-English-speaking) academic and policy-making circles. Replies and commentaries from local scholars, researchers and policy practitioners will be actively sought during and after the Conference. All Albanian- and Serbian-language contributions will be collated in an edited volume to be published by RIT Press.

Important Dates:
10th June – Deadline for submission of extended abstract (800 words)
25th June – Notification of acceptance
31st August – Deadline for submission of full papers
7th-8th September – Conference
28th September – Deadline for submission of revised papers
Submissions:
To submit abstracts and papers, or for further details about the Conference or the planned publications, please contact Luca J. Uberti (luberti@aukonline.org). The subject line of all emails should be “AUK Conference 2012”. Please also include a one-page resume or a short bio, clearly indicating contact details and institutional affiliation.

Funding:
Participation in the event is free. AUK hopes to offer paper-presenters a conference grant to cover travel and accommodation expenses. USAID-BEEP and the Balkan Trust for Democracy have expressed their interest in potentially supporting the Conference and the associated follow-on activities.

Guest-speakers:
The Conference will feature two renowned academic guest-speakers and one guest-speaker from a Kosovar policy-making institution.

Review Committee:
Michael Waschak, Visiting Assistant Professor, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)

Petrit Gashi, Assistant Professor, University of Prishtina

Besnik Bislimi, Lecturer, American University in Kosovo (AUK)

Luca J. Uberti, Research Fellow, Centre for Energy and Natural Resources, AUK

Gëzim Visoka, Dublin City University

William Wechsler, Lecturer and Vice-President for Academic Development, AUK

Jim Myers, Centre for Multidisciplinary Studies, RIT

Venera Demukaj, Lecturer, AUK