Professor Rafal Soborski chairs an international conference in Poland
Professor Rafal Soborski co-chaired (together with Dr Marcin Galent) the Twelfth Global Studies Conference held on 27-28th of June at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland. The conference and the associated Journal of Global Studies have for over a decade provided a premier platform for connecting scholars in the field of globalization studies. Previous editions of the conference took place in the United States, India, China, South Korea, Dubai, Russia and the UK, among other locations, but this was the first time that the conference met in Central Europe. The special theme this time was The End of History 30 Years On: Globalization Then and Now. Poland is a fitting location for considering how the global system has been transformed in that turbulent era: beginning with the collapse of the Soviet bloc, through the accelerated neoliberal globalization of the nineties and noughties, to the great recession of 2008 and what is arguably its legacy, namely the current shift away from globalism towards nationalism both in Central Europe and elsewhere.
The program of the conference was intellectually stimulating as well as enjoyable. There were four plenary sessions and over 120 paper presentations concerned either with the special theme or the annual four themes revolving around globalization’s relationships with economy, politics, culture and the environment. Garden Conversations were held for informal discussion with plenary speakers about issues arising from their talks as well as Talking Circles that allowed participants to meet with others who share similar interests pertaining to a specific aspect of globalization.
Professor Soborski is Editor of the International Journal of Interdisciplinary Global Studies and Chair of Global Studies Research Network. He will also chair the Thirteenth Edition of the Global Studies Conference which will be held on 4-5 June 2020 at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada’s second biggest city and one of North America’s most cosmopolitan areas. The theme of the 2020 conference is Globalization and Social Movements: Familiar Patterns, New Constellations.
