Organizers:
Martin Klimke (HCA Heidelberg, Germany), Joachim Scharloth (University of Zurich, Switzerland), Kathrin Fahlenbrach (University Halle, Germany)

The Research Group “EUROPEAN PROTEST MOVEMENTS” invites applications from postgraduate students, early stage researchers (PhD-students) and postdocs who are working in the field of European protest movements since 1945 for the participation of two training workshops within a series of Marie Curie Conferences and Training Courses on “European Protest Movements since the Cold War: The Rise of a (Trans-)national Civil Society and the Transformation of the Public Sphere.”

Workshop I: “Tracing Protest Movements: Perspectives from Sociology, Political Sciences, and Media Studies”
Date: November 22-25, 2006
Location: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle,Germany

Workshop II: “Designing a New Life: Aesthetics and Lifestyles of Political and Social Protest”
Date: March 7-10, 2007
Location: German Department, University of Zurich, Switzerland

The aim of the workshops is to offer a platform to discuss innovative research in this area and to provide the trainees with an overall view of the scientific approaches to protest movements, enabling them to apply proper conceptual, theoretical and methodological frameworks to their own research (see www.protest-research.org for detailed information). All travel costs within reasonable boundaries will be covered by the European Union. The teaching for Workshop I will be performed by leading scholars from the fields of Sociology, Media Studies and Political Science, who will offer the following workshops:

· “Social Movements: Theoretical Approaches and Empirical Evidence”
Dieter Rucht, Social Science Research Center, WZB Berlin

· “Social Movements and the Democratic Process”
Donatella Della Porta, Department of Political and Social Sciences, European University Institute, Florence

· “Mass Movements and the Public Sphere”
Jostein Gripsrud, Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen, Norway

· “Mediapolitical and Institutional Constraints of a European Public Sphere” Hans Kleinsteuber, Institute for Political Science, University of Hamburg

· “Transnational Movements, Global Civil Society and Human Rights” (TBA)

· “Protest Movements and Participative Democracy in a Globalizing World” Roland Axtmann, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Wales Swansea, UK

Participants will present their research during the workshops in a 20 min paper. Although the conference language will mainly be English, we also invite proposals in French, Spanish, Dutch, German and Polish, if a short summary in English is provided.

EXTENDED DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS:
June 30, 2006
SELECTIONS WILL BE MADE BY:
July 15, 2006

PLEASE USE THE ONLINE APLLICATION FORM AT:
www.protest-research.org
FOR FURTHER QUESTIONS PLEASE CONTACT:
mail@protest-research.org