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Call for Papers: Youth, Politics, and Public Sphere – ValEUs Online Graduate Student Conference 2026

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CALL FOR PAPERS

ValEUs Online Graduate Student Conference: https://valeus.eu

Youth, Politics, and Public Sphere: Al Akhawayn University, Morocco, 29-30 May 2026

With the gradual rise of socio-economic and political challenges facing Morocco, the Middle East, North Africa (MENA), Europe, and different parts of the world, the youth have gradually and in different forms invested in the “public space” and the “public sphere” to set new agendas and claim different rights. The ways in which the youth have used the digital world to transform the nature of political participation have come to the forefront of scholarly debates and research by scholars in various fields of study.

This graduate student conference aims to explore the multiple layers of the relationship between youth and politics via the lenses of the concept of the “public sphere”, conceived as part of the interplay of first a physical locale that implies constant social relationships in a concrete public domain (public space) and second the constellations of socio-economic factors contributing to the rise of political debates (public sphere) via the digital world. Another aim of the conference is to probe how the youth reflect on and engage with various social, economic, and political problems via the theoretical lenses of the public sphere as well as the “counter-public” or “parallel discursive arenas” as elaborated by Nancy Fraser.

This graduate conference seeks papers or panels that draw on research on the relationship between youth and the public sphere / counter-public in relation to such themes as marginality, collective deliberation, protests, radicalism, political press, public opinion, and their interrelated relationships with questions of social inequality, freedom of speech, epistemic injustice, political oppression, democracy, and civil society. From this angle, we would like to attract young researchers in such fields as anthropology, international relations, political science, history, sociology, cultural studies, and communication who study youth in their involvement with the deliberative dimension of the public sphere. Meanwhile, we welcome themes related to youth and the public space as a maker of social bonds, subaltern politics, street art and culture, literary streets or cafes, and urban forums. Scholars in fields such as cultural studies, art, geography, and urban and environmental studies that focus on the place of youth in different public places are welcome to propose papers from their respective disciplinary perspectives.  The ValEUs Graduate Student Online Conference, a Jean Monet network on foreign policy co-funded by the European Commission, is organized by Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco, scheduled for 29-30 May 2026. Graduate students from different educational institutions in the MENA regions and from universities of members of the ValEUs consortium are strongly encouraged to participate. Suggested topics for the conference include but are not limited to:

 • How do youth invest in the public sphere to foster new forms of politics in Europe or the MENA region?
• How do the youth engage in the public sphere and what are the possibilities and constraints if we consider the nature of rule?
• What is the legal framework that enhances or limits youth political participation public sphere?
• What kinds of spaces do youth create for themselves?
• How do young people, through a particular space (physical or cyber), challenge existing power structures, demand new legislation, or ask for social transformations and reforms?
• What are the different forms of youth political participation or public engagement?
• What languages, discourses, or forms of representation are articulated by the youth in the public space?
• What categories of youth are engaged and what voices are included or excluded from debates in the public sphere?
• How consistent, efficient, or punctual is the engagement of youth?
• To what extent does the MENA region have a “public sphere” and what are the limits of the public sphere in “liberal democracies”?
• What kind of public discussions, if they do exist among the youth, are taking place?
• What are the ways in which the digital world and the Internet became an essential means by which young people contribute to sustaining a public sphere, or conversely create a counter-public sphere?
• What are the ways in which digital media influence perceptions and practices about the politics of space?
• To what extent do the youth create “popular spaces” as part of “subaltern politics”, self-support initiatives or new forms of sociability?
 

Conference presentations can be delivered in Arabic, French, or English.We encourage young researchers to submit either panels or papers. Panels can tackle the same issue from different disciplinary perspectives, whereas papers will be placed in multi-disciplinary panels. This conference is only for Master’s and PhD candidates, so we strongly encourage them to submit proposals even if they are in their initial stages of research.

About the ValEUs Project

ValEUs project is a comprehensive research initiative, led by the European University Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, that aims to address the current challenges facing the European Union (EU) and explore potential counter-strategies. The Jean Monnet Policy Network (JMPN), titled “ValEUs. Research & Education Network on Contestations to EU Foreign Policy,” is co-funded by the European Commission within the framework of the Erasmus+ programme for three years starting from January 2024. This ambitious venture, involving 20 partner institutions from 17 countries across five continents, focuses on scrutinizing the foreign policy of the European Union and the challenges posed to its values. Issues such as migration, asylum policy, and the enlargement process are highlighted as potential areas of systematic deviation from established normative standards.

 Abstracts: Abstracts should indicate the topic, the research question, the hypothesis and the methodology the paper plans to engage in and should not be more than 350 words long. Bios: The applicants should also add a short (max 200 words) Bio in their application.Timetable: Abstracts should be sent to the scientific Committee for review by March 15th, 2026. Acceptance notices will be sent by April 15th, 2026.

Submission: Please send your paper, or panel abstracts, together with the Bio(s), to ValEUs@aui.ma

Conference Organising Committee

Driss Maghraoui, Al Akhawayn University

Nizar Messari, Al Akhawayn University

Conference Scientific Advisory Board

Timm Beichelt, European University of Viadrina

Driss Maghraoui, Al Akhawayn University

Nizar Messari, Al Akhawayn University

Angela Bourne, Roskilde University

Ozge Onursal-Besgul, Istanbul Bilgi University

Ayhan Kaya, Istanbul Bilgi University