Call for Papers for the Annual Conference of the Critical Security Studies Thematic Group!

6 May 2026

The interdisciplinary field of Critical Security Studies (CSS) brings together diverse perspectives on the politics and practices of (in)security. Based on a critical approach, a central epistemological interest often lies in examining how social and political power relations produce and reshape the form and function of security institutions and security discourses, as well as the resulting normative implications. 

Against this backdrop, the current dynamics of (in)security can be fruitfully examined through the lenses of crisis, war, and critique. On the one hand, current geopolitical ruptures and the resurgence of major interstate wars challenge central assumptions of critical security research. After all, this field of research emerged in the aftermath of the Cold War, when the end of the confrontation between the blocs and the associated immediate military risks led to an expansion of security discourses and practices into other areas—from the environment and development to migration. On the other hand, these concepts not only capture key current empirical developments, but also serve as analytical starting points for examining how security is constructed, contested, and transformed.

The thematic group is taking up this triad of “crisis, war, critique” for its open conference this year and invites researchers to submit papers on “crisis, war, critique” as well as on all other topics in Critical Security Studies. For the annual open conference explicitly sees itself as “an open forum, not bound to any specific paradigm, for scholars from various fields of political science and related disciplines to exchange ideas on shared interests and questions surrounding the ‘politics of (in)security’” (https://www.dvpw.de/ structure/theme-groups/critical-security-studies/about-us/).

The conference will take place in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg from November 5–6, 2026. Abstracts (maximum 200 words) may be submitted by June 16, 2026, at kritischesicherheitsstudien@dvpw.de.

The Call for Papers can be found here.

Picture: iStockphoto | metamorworks