When: 29 November 2023, 15:00-17:00 (CET) 

Today’s global affairs are becoming increasingly complex and overwhelming. The pace of tectonic geopolitical shifts, the intensity of continued unbearable conflicts, as well as the level of devastation through climate change are difficult to cope with and to sufficiently comprehend. While this global context is maximizing the need for patient and inclusive dialogue, time and space for such dialogue are becoming more and more limited. A new level of polarization is dominating the public discourse, leaving very little room for context, nuances and a multi-angle perspective on complex realities. 

At this year’s 4^th CARPO Research Forum, we want to shed light on what kind of impact this trend may have on dialogue initiatives, as well as on mediation efforts. Is it, indeed, more challenging to conduct dialogue and mediation in a multipolar world? To address this question, we have ensured the participation of truly distinguished speakers who are both scholars and practitioners of dialogue. With their help, we want to examine what the merits and limits of dialogue are, how dialogue initiatives can lead to actual mediation efforts, and how the need for neutrality and balance can be reconciled with moral convictions.   

As it has been the case in the past, the CARPO Research Forum does not aim to answer all of these questions but to provide some guidance on how to address those questions with the help of experienced experts.  

The CARPO Research Forum is a public online event for which everyone can register.  

When: 30 November 2022, 15:00-17:00 (CET)

If knowledge is an imperial instrument of colonization, then the decolonization of knowledge is one of the most urgent tasks: Global structures of knowledge production are still marked by asymmetries. Once referred to by Quijano as the “coloniality of knowledge,” this “epistemic violence” of knowledge production is still present in the 21st century. 

Against this backdrop, CARPO’s third virtual Research Forum (CRF) investigates and critically discusses the underrepresentation of the so-called Global South in global knowledge production. Among others, we address the following questions: Which persisting asymmetries of knowledge production prevail? How can these inequalities in the system of global knowledge production be reduced or even eliminated? And what is the role of different actors from different world regions in this process towards knowledge justice?  

Overall, the CRF wants to shed more light on an often under-represented topic and put the finger on the prevailing asymmetries in global knowledge production. The event shall provide a platform for discussion by bringing together experts from the Global South and North on this issue. Furthermore, it discusses initiatives to reduce asymmetries in global knowledge production and, in terms of positionality, locates the challenges, responsibilities and fields of action for scholars working in the Global North.  

You can register here.

When: 30 November 2021, 14.00 – 16.30 (CET)

The Gulf region provides a whole bunch of examples of how leaderships strategically engage in global sports. For instance, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Saudi Arabia organize sports mega events such as the Formula One races and boxing fights. Additionally, Gulf state organizations are heavily involved in sport business through large-scale investments in the French football club Paris St. Germain by Qatar or British football clubs such as Manchester City and Newcastle United by the UAE and Saudi Arabia respectively. The FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar is the most recent climax in a series of events and initiatives related to sport politics in which the Gulf Arab region has emerged as an international center of gravity.    

Against this backdrop, CARPO’s second virtual Research Forum (CRF) looks at the multi-layered impact of sport politics in the Gulf region. Using a multidimensional perspective, we consider not only outward-oriented issues such as sportswashing or -branding but also its inward-oriented implications on state-society relations in times of socio-economic transformation.

Together with scholars from the Gulf region and Europe we will highlight some of these aspects: The political trend to use sport and sport events as a soft power measure and foreign policy instrument of development cooperation, for instance. On the societal level, guiding themes and questions include sport’s impact on national identity, culture, women empowerment, lifestyle, and activism among others.  

Overall, the CRF wants to shed more light on the multidimensional role sport plays in the Gulf region by highlighting obstacles and grievances but also chances and opportunities of future social and political developments.