PSA Annual Conference

The PSA Annual Conference - “What Next?" - convened by the University of Birmingham and Aston University, will take place from 14 – 16 April 2025.

The Call for Papers is now open! 

*CFP: 12 July to 18 October*  

With our Specialist Groups at the very heart of the PSA Annual Conference, we are taking a more streamlined approach to the call for papers this year.

If you are a member of a PSA Specialist Group (SGs), you may have already received information about the process from them. Several have also shared a list of topics about which they would particularly welcome abstracts. If you would like to know more, you can find contact details of the SGs here. 

Rather than prospective paper-givers submitting their abstract by email to our Specialist Groups, we invite you to log-in to Ex-Ordo. If you don’t already have an Ex-Ordo account, you can create one by following the link.

The Specialist Groups will have access to the abstracts you submit to compose their panels before release of the draft programme.

Please follow the steps below to upload your abstract and select which Specialist Group you intend to review your paper when assembling their panels.  

If you don't feel your abstract has a clear link with one, or more, of the Specialist Groups, you can select 'other' under the topics list and give details.

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE 

With sponsorship from our lead partners SAGE Publishing, this academic conference will ask ‘What Next?’

The world has faced a series of ongoing economic, environmental, health and (geo)political crises over the past two decades. In 2025, the year after the ‘year of elections’, we will know the latest electoral and ideological responses to such crises, and whether any new ones have been provoked. It is in this context that we ask, ‘What Next?’ (with whichever intonation you prefer).

Birmingham will provide an ideal venue for such discussions: the UK’s second city is “a true city of the future: endlessly becoming, never arriving” (C.D. Rose). One of the youngest and most diverse cities in Europe, Birmingham has retransformed itself over the past thirty years with extensive redevelopment and regeneration of the city centre and beyond. It has also found itself at the sharp end of austerity and budget cuts with the city experiencing a series of crises of its own. Birmingham is thus once again asking itself ‘what next?’ and is responding, in line with its motto of ‘Forward,’ with its usual stoic determination. 

The convening team will be led by Dr May Chu and Dr Stephen Holden Bates from the University of Birmingham and Dr Parveen Akhtar and Dr Patricia Correa from Aston University. Head of Department of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Birmingham and PSA Trustee, Professor Stefan Wolff said: “We look forward to welcoming you here to participate in a dynamic and thought-provoking conference in the heart of our brilliant city.”

The Chair of the PSA, Dr Rose Gann, added: “On behalf of the PSA, I warmly thank the Birmingham and Aston teams for convening this flagship conference at the heart of the city.” 

THE FORMAT 

This year's conference, taking place in Birmingham, will be fully in-person attendance. We aim to host around 700+ attendees creating a vibrant conference experience.  

Each panel will be held in a dedicated room at the conference venue with paper givers delivering their presentations in person, supported by a Chair and the conference team. 

THE SCHEDULE 

• 12 July - 18 October: CFP abstracts submitted via Ex Ordo conference platform
• Week commencing 15 November: Paper givers notified of abstract status
• December (TBC): Draft programme released and Early-Bird registration opens* 

* Registration fees will be confirmed ahead of Early-Bird registration. 

Abstract submission queries: psa25cfp@psa.ac.uk

General conference queries:  conference@psa.ac.uk.

Conference promotional opportunities: events@psa.ac.uk.