[ Call for Papers ]

Conflict of interest (COI) is usually understood quite broadly as a social phenomenon related to corruption, lobbying, nepotism, patronage, clientelism or the activity of informal networks of power. What are the current expressions of conflicts of interest in various spheres of social life in Central and Eastern Europe - politics, economy, science? What approaches to COI social sciences should apply? Why does COI often remain an unexplored issue? In what ways are scientists, including social scientists themselves, involved in various conflicts of interest, such as ‘rent-seeking’ activities?

Conference date: 25-27 August, 2010, Torun (Poland). Deadline for submissions: May 31, 2010.

Although diverse examples of COI are studied by social researchers from Central and Eastern Europe who tend to agree about its ubiquity and importance in post-communist CEE countries, the questions mentioned above remain often unanswered. The aim of our conference is to fill the gap and ask about the many faces of COI and the role it plays in different areas of social life in post-communist countries.

We encourage researchers from various disciplines of social, political, and economic sciences, as well as legal scholars and historians to contribute papers, both empirical and theoretical, on the above mentioned issues. Also practitioners from institutions dealing with conflict of interest are welcome.

We want to provide enough time to discuss each of the papers. Therefore, the presentations will last about 30-40 minutes each (including discussion). The contributions will be published after the event in a peer-reviewed conference proceeding.

Besides the lectures of invited guests (see above) and participants’ presentations a discussion panel on combating conflict of interest in practice will be organized. The discussants at the panel will be:

Prof. György Schöpflin, Member of the European Parliament, formerly Jean Monnet Professor of Politics, University of London (confirmed)

Prof. Antoni Z. Kamiński, former President of Transparency International Poland, author of ”An institutional theory of communist regimes : design, function, and breakdown“(San Francisco, Calif.: ICS Press, 1992.) and ”Korupcja rządów : państwa pokomunistyczne wobec globalizacji” (confirmed).

Grażyna Kopińska, Director of the Anti-Corruption Program, Stefan Batory Foundation (confirmed)

Keynote speakers:

Prof. Janine Wedel, George Mason University, author of the Shadow Elite: How the World's New Power Brokers Undermine Democracy, Government, and the Free Market (Basic Books, 2009) (confirmed)

Prof. dr Andrzej Górski, Vice-President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, organizer of an International Conference ”Conflict of Interest and its Significance in Science and Medicine", Warsaw 2002, (confirmed)

Contacts: E-Mail: Email: coi@umk.pl, Piotr Stankiewicz (secretary of the conference): Tel. + 48 56 611 36 44, fax. + 48 56 622 4765, Institute of Sociology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Fosa Staromiejska 1a, 87-100 Toruń, Poland, more info: www.coi.conference.umk.pl