The Federalism conference is an international and hybrid conference that seeks to explore one the one hand, normative and historical theories of federalism and, on the other hand, investigate federal practices based primarily on case studies from Asia. With many countries opting for a federal structure of the government, federalism has now become a popular research topic among political scientists and constitutional scholars, leading to the burgeoning of centers and research projects at the international level. Federal ideas and the reality of existing federal states cannot be sharply divided. A comprehensive analysis of institutional philosophical roots can thus help us to further a comprehensive understanding of federal institutions as well as design appropriate analytical tools for investigating elements of multilevel governance systems.

Argument

The Federalism conference is an international and hybrid conference that seeks to explore one the one hand, normative and historical theories of federalism and, on the other hand, investigate federal practices based primarily on case studies from Asia.

With many countries opting for a federal structure of the government, federalism has now become a popular research topic among political scientists and constitutional scholars, leading to the burgeoning of centers and research projects at the international level. Federal ideas and the reality of existing federal states cannot be sharply divided. A comprehensive analysis of institutional philosophical roots can thus help us to further a comprehensive understanding of federal institutions as well as design appropriate analytical tools for investigating elements of multilevel governance systems. 

Presentations will focus on: 

• Federalist theories to explain the rationale for rallying federalism
• Normative explanations for choosing federalism
• Constitutional foundations for federalism
• Convergence of participation and federalism theories 
• Decentralization and federalism
• Citizen participation and federalism
• Reasons in federalism’s success or failure in Asia

Program

May 24th, 2022

EHESS, Campus Condorcet, Centre des colloques (room 100), Aubervilliers, France Hybrid format (in person and online)

Online participation The conference will be followed by a cocktail

• 8:15 AM - 8:30 AM: Tea / Coffee / Snacks 
• 8:30 AM - 8:45  AM: Introductory remarks (Laure Gillot-Assayag, Vishnu Kumari Tandon, PhD candidates in the Law, Political Science and Philosophy Department, EHESS)

Panel I 

08:45 AM - 10:15 AM 

8:45 AM - 9:30 AM:  “Three New Approaches to Federalism Studies in Asia”

• Speakers: Baogang He (Professor in International Relations, Deakin University, Australia), Laura Allison-Reumann (Research Fellow, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), Michael Breen (Lecturer in Public Policy, University of Melbourne, Australia)
• Discussant: Stéphanie Tawa Lama-Rewal (CNRS Research Director of Political Science at Center for South Asian Studies, CEIAS, EHESS, France)

9:30 AM - 10:15 AM: “Federalism – Philosophical Aspects”

• Speaker: Andreas Follesdal (Professor of Political Philosophy, University of Oslo, Norway)
• Discussant: Philippe Crignon (Associate Professor of Political Philosophy and Philosophy of Law, Nantes University, France)

10:15 AM - 10:30 AM: Tea / Coffee Break

Panel II

10:30 AM -12 PM                 

10:30 AM - 11:15 AM: “Federalism and Secessionism: Static and Dynamic Autonomy”

• Speaker: André Lecours (Professor in Political Studies, University of Ottawa, Canada)
• Discussant: Bernard Fournier (Assistant Professor, Haute École de la Province de Liège, Belgium)

11:15 AM - 12: 00 PM: “Centripetal Federalism in Deeply Multilingual States”

• Speakers: Sean Mueller (Assistant Professor in Political Science, University of Lausanne, Switzerland), Nenad Stojanović (Professor in Political Science, University of Geneva, Switzerland)
• Discussant: Francesco Palermo (Head of the Institute for Comparative Federalism, Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law, University of Verona, Italy)

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM:  Lunch Break 

Panel III

1:00 PM - 3:15 PM

1:00 PM - 1:45 PM: “Continuity and Change in Indian Federalism: New paradigms of intergovernmental interaction (1991-2021)”    

• Speaker: Balveer Arora (Professor Emeritus, President of the Center for Multilevel Federalism, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi)
• Discussant:  Loraine Kennedy (CNRS Research Director, Center for South Asian Studies, CEIAS, EHESS, France)

1:45 PM - 3:15 PM: “Federal Nepal at its Formative Phase”

• Speaker: Krishna Hachhethu (Professor of Political Science, Tribhuvan University, Nepal) 
• Discussant: Marie Lecomte-Tilouine (CNRS Research Director, Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Sociale, EHESS, France)

2:30 PM - 3:15 PM: “Myanmar’s Federal Dream and its Dilemmas”

• Speaker: Sai Oo (Myanmar Research Coordinator and Country Representative Pyidaungsu Institute for Peace and Dialogue, Myanmar)
• Discussant: David Dapice (Senior Economist, Harvard Kennedy School, United States)

3:15 PM - 3:30 PM:  Tea / Coffee Break

Panel IV 

3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

3:30 PM - 4:15 PM: “From the Separation of Powers to the Federative Republic: The Federalist’s Interpretation of The Spirit of the Laws”

• Speaker: Hugo Toudic (PhD Candidate, Philosophy Department, Paris Sorbonne, France, University of Chicago, United States)
• Discussant: Constantine Vassiliou (Visiting Assistant Professor, University of  Houston, United States)

4:15 PM - 5:00 PM: “India and Nagaland: Examining Federalism in the   Context of an Evolving  Ethnic-nationalist Fervor”

• Speaker: Timmayo Thumra (PhD candidate, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, Ireland)
• Discussant: Philippe Ramirez (CNRS Researcher in Anthropology, Centre for Himalayan Studies, CHS, EHESS, France) 

5:00 PM - 5:10 PM Closing remarks 

5:10 PM - 7:30 PM  Cocktail

Registration

Registration is compulsory (for online and in person participation): Conference Federalism 2022 - Sciencesconf.org

For more information (program, directions, speakers' biographies), please consult the official website: Conference Federalism 2022 - Sciencesconf.org