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British and Comparative Territorial Politics Specialist Group
Foundation and Rationale
The British and Comparative Territorial Politics Group is an official specialist group of the Political Studies Association of the UK. The Group was founded by Jonathan Bradbury in 1994, as the British Territorial Politics Group, amid growing British political and academic interest in devolution and campaigns for regional government. The comparative dimension was added to the name and focus of the Group’s activities in 2002, reflecting a belief that the dynamics of devolution in the UK can be best understood in a comparative context.
The Group provides a vibrant and engaging forum for scholars to share and develop ideas and disseminate their research. It has also sought to strengthen the links between the academic and political communities, inviting elected representatives from devolved administrations in the UK and beyond to get involved in debates and question and answer sessions at our biennial conference. The Group had a close association with the ESRC Programme on Devolution and Constitutional Change between 2001 and 2006, and has had a strong commitment to feature the best research by both established and young researchers. The Group is particularly keen to support graduate students in the field.
Researchers on any aspect of territorial politics are invited to get involved. Key research themes include centre-periphery relations, comparative regionalism, the politics of devolution, nationalism and identity politics, inter-governmental relations and multi-level governance, ethno-territorial conflict and conflict resolution, sub-national territorial politics and elections, parties, institutional politics, public policy and political ideas.
Biennial Conference 2010
Previous conferences
10-11 January 2008, Annual Conference, University of Edinburgh
11-13 January 2006, Territorial Politics in Perspective, Institute of Governance, Queens University Belfast.
8-10 January 2004, UK Devolution in Comparative Perspective, Dept of Government, University of Strathclyde
11-13 January 2001, Devolution in Transition, Hanover International Hotel, Cardiff
10-11 December 1998, Preparing for Devolution, Dept of Politics, Newcastle University.
14 February 1996, English regions: will they happen?, Southampton Institute (in conjunction with the PSA Urban Politics Group).
Panels at the annual conference of the Political Studies Association.
We have organised two to three panels at most annual conferences since 1995 and will convene several panels at the 60th anniversary conference in Edinburgh in 2010.
We issue a regular electronic newsletter, disseminating information on publications, conferences, job/research opportunities, etc.
Membership of the group is currently free. Anyone wishing to join should contact the convenors.
Convenors:
Dr Jonathan Bradbury
Department of Politics and International Relations
University of Wales Swansea
Singleton Park
Swansea SA2 8PP
j.p.bradbury@swansea.ac.uk |
Dr Nicola McEwen
School of Social and Political Studies
University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh. EH8 9LL
N.McEwen@ed.ac.uk |