CONFERENCE: 5th International Conference on International Relations and Development (ICIRD) 2017, "Paradox of Human Security: Democracy, Rights, and Conflict" [23-24 June 2017]

08:00 - 18:15

Hosted by Faculty of Political Science and Peace Information Center, Thammasat University

Co-Organized by Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University; Master of Arts Program in International Development Studies, Chulalongkorn University; Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies, Mahidol University; Regional Center for Social Sciences and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Chiang Mai University; School of Social Innovation, Mae Fah Luang University

 

Over the past few decades, the concept of human security and policy implementation has constantly faced challenges and criticisms. Among others, the 9/11 attacks particularly persuade many that traditional (state-based) security should be at the core of international relations debates. These debates call for the mobilization of military efforts to curtail the widespread of global ‘terrorist cells’ at the expense of overlooking social, economic and political conditions that provide fertile ground for the acts of terror. Participants in these acts are often from the marginalized parts of the world where resources are monopolized by the local and global elite class. More importantly, they emerge from territories occupied by foreign powers whose collaboration with national leaders exacerbate the oppressive situation. Even though this is not the case for every ‘perpetrators,’ one can still argue that a crucial justification for their acts of terror originates in the globalised state of human insecurity – be it exploitation, inequality, prolonged civil war, and dismissed rights to express one’s identity.

It is necessary to bring back debates of human (in)security in connection with ongoing threats to state security. Without reviving this connection, it is unlikely that we would arrive at a comprehensive understanding as to why acts of terror have increasingly become the weapon of choice that has killed 30,685 lives in 2014 alone; what drove participants in cruel attacks in France, Belgium, Nigeria, Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq, Australia, Somalia, Lebanon and Indonesia; what are the justifications for the use of indiscriminate violence by fundamentalist groups; how civil wars have created waves of refugees; and how the failure in reforming global economy has precipitated economic disparity between the rich and the poor, and how this economic phenomenon is interpreted in a discourse of oppression that urges armed and unarmed resistance to it. Put differently, addressing and tackling the current state of global (in)security requires the understanding of the interwoven relationship of global peace, development, human rights and democracy.

 

Conference objectives

The International Conference on International Relations and Development (ICIRD) is one of the key activities organized within the framework of the ICIRD Knowledge Network.

The main objective of the conference is to provide a forum for debate between scholars, practitioners, civil society and community representatives on current development, international relations and human rights trends in Southeast Asia, with a particular focus or themes which differ from year to year. 
The International Conference on International Relations, Development and Human Rights (ICIRD) will held in Bangkok, Thailand, on 23-24 June 2017, which aims at engaging its participants in the discussion and debates which seek the relevance of different aspects of human (in)security with contemporary global issues, especially the current state of international security.

The International Conference on International Relations and Development (ICIRD) is one of the key activities organized within the framework of the ICIRD Knowledge Network.

The main objective of the conference is to provide a forum for debate between scholars, practitioners, civil society and community representatives on current development, international relations and human rights trends in Southeast Asia, with a particular focus or themes which differ from year to year. 
The International Conference on International Relations, Development and Human Rights (ICIRD) will held in Bangkok, Thailand, on 23-24 June 2017, which aims at engaging its participants in the discussion and debates which seek the relevance of different aspects of human (in)security with contemporary global issues, especially the current state of international security.

 

Conference themes

Scholars, researchers, graduate students, civil society organizations, governments and inter-governmental organisations representatives who work on the research and greater understanding of international relations, human rights and peace in the Asia-Pacific and beyond are encouraged to share their researches on the following areas: