Fwd: 2nd Global Conference: Bullying and the Abuse of Power

2nd Global Conference
Bullying and the Abuse of Power

Monday 8th November ? Wednesday 10th November 2010
Prague, Czech Republic

Call for Papers
Bullying is present in every sphere of life and is
perhaps the most important ethical problem in the
modern world. It consists, essentially,
of the abuse of power, and can involve
psychological cruelty; cultural and personal
insults; religious and sexual intolerance; the
abuse of political and economic power, and
ultimately physical force. It can ruin
lives, and it can end lives. Like other enduring
cultural phenomena it has an ability to mutate
into new forms including the invasive use of
email to intimidate people, and the use of text
messaging and social networking sites, which have
claimed lives through the suicide of victims.

Most of us first come across bullying in school,
whether as victims or perpetrators, or as both.
But it is much more significant in human
affairs than a bit of pushing and name calling in
the playground. It is to be found in sport at all
levels; in prisons and detention centres; in
education at all levels, from kindergarten to
university, among both staff and students, and in
workplaces of all kinds. It is found within
families, where it manifests itself in the
squabbling that goes on between siblings; in
domestic violence; in the physical and sexual
abuse of children and elders; in the imposition,
within some communities, of unwanted marriages,
and in the explosions of human emotion that are
honour killings. It is found in international
relations, with powerful nations bullying less
powerful ones, and some multi-national companies
abusing the power that their financial and
business strength gives them, to bully suppliers
across the globe that provide the products that
they sell. It is found in the lack of empathy
and fellow feeling that leads to the abuse of
political power and physical force, by repressive
political regimes that suppress dissent
through torture and 'disappearances', and that can
lead whole nations from intolerance via
discrimination, to genocide.

Conceived as a way of thinking about the abuse of
power in every conceivable context, bullying is
clearly a multi-faceted phenomenon, of interest
and concern to academics and professionals of all
kinds, including psychologists, sociologists,
teachers, ethicists, politicians, therapists,
philosophers, theologians, political theorists,
physicians and human rights workers. It is because
it is so damaging to individuals
and communities, and because it results in human
misery and the corruption of societal values, that
it is important to address bullying
seriously, as happened last year during the 1st
Global Conference on Bullying and the Abuse of
Power: From Playground to International
Relations, which took place in Salzburg, Austria,
for three days in November 2009.

This year the project meeting will take place in
Prague, Czech Republic and is aimed at lay people,
as well as at professionals and scholars
with interdisciplinary interests, including
psychologists, sociologists, teachers, ethicists,
politicians, social workers, philosophers,
theologians, historians, physicians and human
rights lawyers. It aims to explore the phenomenon
of bullying as it manifests and has manifested
itself in a wide range of contexts, at personal,
social and global levels.

Abstracts are invited for papers, workshops and
pre-formed panels  that discuss bullying in any
context and from any perspective. The following
list of themes and sub-themes may be helpful, but
abstracts are welcomed that fall entirely outside
this list. Abstracts that illuminate and
comment on more than one sphere in which bullying
manifests itself, are especially welcomed, as are
abstracts that draw together insights from
more than one academic, professional or vocational
area, or that draw from more than one cultural or
theoretical perspective. Such abstracts may fall
into more than one of the themes outlined, which
in an interdisciplinary conference is, of course,
to be encouraged.

1. Bullying in School/in the Workplace
~ Bullying of older people/disabled people
~ Sexual bullying
~ Racial bullying
~ Religious intolerance

2. From Playground Bullying to Genocide/Bullying:
How Far Can it Go?
~ Human Rights abuses
~ Genocide
~ The Holocaust
~ Human trafficking

3. International Relations
~ Cultural intolerance
~ Terrorism as a means of persuasion
~ Imposition of the wishes of the developed world
on developing countries
~ Bullying of Indigenous people

4. Multinationals, Impoverished Nations and Corner
Shops
~ The effects of globalisation on business
~ Changing patterns of shopping: corner shops vs
superstores
~ Advertising and vulnerable consumers
~ Cut price goods and low pay for workers

Papers will be considered on any related theme.
300 word abstracts should be submitted by Friday
28th May 2010. If an abstract is accepted for the
conference, a full draft paper should be submitted
by Friday 24th September 2010.

300 word abstracts should be submitted
simultaneously to both Organising Chairs;
abstracts may be in Word, WordPerfect, or RTF
formats with the following information and in this
order:

a) author(s), b) affiliation, c) email address, d)
title of abstract, e) body of abstract.
E-mails should be entitled: Bullying Abstract
Submission

Please use plain text (Times Roman 12) and abstain
from using footnotes and any special formatting,
characters or emphasis (such as bold,
italics or underline). We acknowledge receipt and
answer to all paper proposals submitted. If you do
not receive a reply from us in a week you
should assume we did not receive your proposal; it
might be lost in cyberspace! We suggest, then, to
look for an alternative electronic route or resend.

Organising Chairs
Gavin J Fairbairn
Professor of Ethics and Language
Leeds Metropolitan University
Leeds
United Kingdom
Email: [email protected]

Rob Fisher
Inter-Disciplinary.Net
Priory House, Wroslyn Road
Freeland, Oxfordshire OX29 8HR
Email: [email protected]

The conference is part of the Ethos Hub series of
ongoing research and publications projects
conferences, run within the Critical Issues domain
which aims to bring together people from different
areas and interests to share ideas and explore
innovative and challenging routes of
intellectual and academic exploration.

All papers accepted for and presented at the
conference will be eligible for publication in an
ISBN eBook.  Selected papers may be developed for
publication in a themed hard copy volume.

For further details about the project please visit:
http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/critical-issues/ethos/bullying-and-the-abuse-of-power/

For further details about the conference please visit:
http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/critical-issues/ethos/bullying-and-the-abuse-of-power/call-for-papers/