Call for Papers: 2nd Annual Interdisciplinary WZB Conference 2026, 7–9 October 2026
“Challenges to International Orders: Causes and Consequences”
7–9 October 2026 at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center
Submission Deadline: 23 April 2026
The 2nd Annual Interdisciplinary WZB Conference, to be held at the WZB in Berlin, addresses these challenges to international orders. The annual interdisciplinary WZB conferences are dedicated to combine insights from the different social sciences to address major challenges of our times. The conference will bring together researchers from political science, sociology, economics, and law to examine how international orders are being challenged and reshaped—and what this means for states, societies, and global cooperation.
This year’s organizing committee includes Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln, Steffen Huck, Yasemin Soysal, and Michael Zürn.
The conference opens on the evening of 7 October 2026 with a high-level public discussion featuring Odile Renaud-Basso (President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) and Boris Pistorius (German Minister of Defence; final attendance to be confirmed) on the roles of international organizations, financial institutions, and of Germany and Europe in a changing transatlantic and global order.
Paper Submissions
For the 2nd Annual Interdisciplinary WZB Conference, we invite paper submissions ─ full-length, unpublished papers − from interested researchers of all social science disciplines. Our goal is to foster exchange across disciplines and perspectives. Potential topics for the parallel sessions are (but are not limited to): • Changes in international orders across different issue areas such as climate policy, global health, migration, trade, technology, and development cooperation. • The causes of these changes, e.g., shifting power dynamics, economic transformations, identity politics, cultural scripts, and developments in world society. • The consequences for peace, economic development, environment, social solidarity, and global inequalities.
Funding
Limited travel and accommodation support is available for participants. However, the organizers would appreciate it if attendees who have access to their own research funds could use them to cover their costs.
For more details, refer here
