On 29 November 2022, BICC will hold its Annual Conference entitled “Infrastructural power at the global frontier: prospects for conflict and peace”.
How are we to understand conflicts around infrastructural megadevelopments in global frontier spaces? Can infrastructures forge peace? Large infrastructure corridors integrate ports, roads and railways with agricultural lands, energy systems and tourism spaces in remote areas. Infrastructural mega-plans like the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative are globally discussed, yet their local imprint is often overlooked, and local populations tend to be rendered invisible. Planners project frontier spaces as “empty”. Brochures of prospectors and investors do not mention the contestations connected to the implementation of such schemes. Grand projects stir high hopes and deep-seated fears among the residents in the infrastructure corridors.
The conference asks how we are to understand conflicts surrounding infrastructural mega-developments in global frontier spaces – and how these infrastructures may also be used to forge peace. For this purpose, we aim to bring together international academics from various disciplines and practitioners, policymakers and activists.
You are cordially invited to attend the event. The conference will be held online via Zoom.
Hinweise zur Teilnahme:
Please find an outline of the conference, the preliminary programme and the registration tool here: https://conference.bicc.de/
