How Can Europe Border Russia? The Grassroots Perspective – Call for papers

This interdisciplinary conference departs from conventional security-centered debates. Drawing on historical experiences of border design in Eastern Europe, it assumes that “just” borders are rarely – if ever – achievable, but that fairer and more cooperative arrangements can emerge through inclusive and locally informed processes of border making.

The conference revisits a question left unresolved since the end of the Cold War, which forms the overarching theme of the conference:

How can the European Union border Russia? What form and type of border would be fairer and more sustainable, and how can the negative consequences of drawing borders be mitigated for the people living on the borderlands?

Dates: June 25–26, 2026
Location: School of Transnational Governance, European University Institute (EUI), Florence
Organized by: School of Transnational Governance (EUI); Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development; LUISS Guido Carli University.

We invite contributions from scholars and policy experts across disciplines, including anthropology, history, political science, sociology, geography, economics, international law, and cultural studies—engaging with one or more of the conference questions. A limited number of discussion policy papers will be commissioned and offered to guide discussion.

Please submit an abstract (maximum 600 words) by March 24 to bordersconference@luiss.it. Applicants will be notified of acceptance by April 10.

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