On Monday, April 2, 2012, Prof. Birgit Mahnkopf of the Berlin School of Economics and Law will be at the Political Science Department on York’s Keele campus to deliver a lecture entitled “Geopolitics, Energy Imperialism and the Race for a ‘Green Economy'”. This lecture will take place in Ross South 674 (building # 28 on the map found here) and begins at 2:30 pm.

Birgit Mahnkopf is Professor of European Social Policy at the Berlin School of Economics and Law. She is one of Europe’s leading scholars on globalization and the political economy of work, social policy and ecology. Her major publications include: The Limits of Globalization (with Elmar Altvater, now in its 7th edition); Globalization of Insecurity: Working in the shade, black money and informal policy (2003); The Management of Globalization: Management, Structures, Perspectives (2003) as well as many articles and chapters in books on the EU social model being turned into the anti-egalitarianism of an aggressive commercial power. This presentation draws on her most recent research on EU energy strategies in the global economy.

All are welcome.

The European Union Centre of Excellence at housed at CCGES is pleased to present this year’s final lecture in the series “Whose (De)Fault is it Anyway? – The EU Crisis in Historical and Comparative Perspective”.  The lecture will be given by Prof. George Ross (ad personam Chaire Jean Monnet and Visitng Professor of Political Science at the Université de Montréal) on Wednesday, March 21, 2012 from 1:00-2:30 pm in room 305 York Lanes(building #24 on the map found here). The lecture will be titled “The Eurozone Crisis: To what degree are E.U. institutions and power relations to blame?”

Abstract: The Eurozone mess is obviously an important stage in today’s global capitalist financial crisis. This is far from being the full story, however, The institutions and power relations of the European Union have also been major culprits, transforming what might have been controllable problems into major threats to all of us. Discussing this story within the story and reflecting on what it means for the future of the EU are the main aims of this talk.

All are welcome and light refreshments will be served.

George Ross is Morris Hillquit Professor Emeritus at Brandeis University (USA), faculty associate at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University and presently ad personam Chaire Jean Monnet and Visitng Professor of Political Science at the University of Montreal. He has been Chair of the European Union Studies Association (2003-2005) and chair of the Council for European Studies (1990-1997). He is an editor of French Politics Culture and Society, Sociologie du Travail, Contemporary European Politics, and the Journal of European Integration. His honors and awards include the title of officier of the French Ordre des Palmes Academiques,and a Chaire Franqui from the Fondation Franqui of Belgium. His most recent books include The European Union and its Crises Through the Eyes of the Brussels Elite (Palgrave Macmillan 2011), What is Left of the Left?, edited with James Cronin and James Shoch (Duke University Press, 2011), Euros and Europeans: EMU and the European Model of Society, with Andrew Martin et al (Oxford University Press, 2005); Brave New World of European Labor with Andrew Martin, et al (New York: Berghahn, 1999); Jacques Delors and European Integration (Cambridge, England and New York: Polity/Oxford University Press, 1995); European Politics in Transition, with Mark Kesselman, Joel Krieger et al (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007)

This lecture series is a presentation of EUCE York and the Critical Research Laboratory in Law & Society at Osgoode Hall Law School and is intended to explore the intimidating dimensions of the European financial crisis from a variety of disciplinary perspectives including financial and economic history, political theory and European integration.

Date: Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Time: 1-2:30 pm
Location: 305 York  Lanes

Together with partners at the German Historical Institute (GHI), Washington DC and the Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto, the Canadian Centre for German and European Studies is pleased to a jointly organized workshop entitled “Models of Mobility: Systemic Differences, Path Dependencies, Economic, Social and Environmental Impact (1900 to tomorrow)”  at York University on March 23-24, 2011.

The workshop conveners are Matthias Kipping (Schulich), Christina Kraenzle (CCGES), and Christina Lubinski (GHI).
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The European Union Centre of Excellence project housed at CCGES is pleased to present a lecture by Nikos Skoutaris (Assistant Professor, International and European Law, Maastricht University) entitled “Federalism: The European Union’s Uncommon Principle”. The talk will be held on Tuesday, March 6th, in Leith Room (004), Atkinson College (building #33 on the map found here) from 12:30 to 2:00 pm.

An abstract for this lecture is found here.

Nikos obtained his LL.B. from the University of Aberdeen, his LL.M. from Maastricht University and his Ph.D. from the European University Institute (Florence). He has worked at Amnesty International, the Council of the EU, the Academy of European Law and Tilburg University. At the moment he is an Assistant Professor in the Department of International and European Law of Maastricht University where he teaches EU External Relations law and comparative constitutional law. He is an academic expert in the fields of EU constitutional law, EU external relations, comparative federalism and conflict resolution theory.

All are welcome and light refreshments will be served.

Date: Tuesday, March 6th
Time: 12:30-2:00 pm
Location: Leith Room (004), Atkinson College

The European Union Centre of Excellence project housed at CCGES is pleased to present Prof. Nikos Skoutaris (Assistant Professor, International and European Law, Maastricht University). Prof. Nikos Skoutaris will deliver a lecture in the series “Whose (De)Fault is it Anyway? – The E.U. Crisis in Historical and Comparative Perspective” on Thursday, March 8th from12:30 to 2:00 pm in room 2003 Ignat Kaneff Building/Osgoode Law School (building # 32 on the map found here). Entitled “On Sovereign Debt Crisis and Sovereignty: A Consitutional law perspective”, this lecture will be the fourth contribution to a highly-successful lecture series which is intended to explore the intimidating dimensions of the European financial crisis from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.

Abstract: Legal theory often differentiates between external and internal sovereignty. The former denotes state’s power to act independently from an external or higher authority while the latter is usually understood as “the ultimate source of authority within a state”. In this talk, I will argue that while signing the Memorandum has been nothing more than a voluntary act made by a sovereign state that failed to effectively meet its economic obligations by reference to the markets, still, the ratification and implementation of the Memorandum impedes the very foundations of popular sovereignty as described in the Greek constitution. In order to achieve this, my analysis will focus on the legislative procedures used to ratify the relevant treaties that undermine the Greek Rechtsstaat and the implications of the signing of the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the EMU.

Nikos obtained his LL.B. from the University of Aberdeen, his LL.M. from Maastricht University and his Ph.D. from the European University Institute (Florence). He has worked at Amnesty International, the Council of the EU, the Academy of European Law and Tilburg University. At the moment he is an Assistant Professor in the Department of International and European Law of Maastricht University where he teaches EU External Relations law and comparative constitutional law. He is an academic expert in the fields of EU constitutional law, EU external relations, comparative federalism and conflict resolution theory.

All are welcome and light refreshments will be served.

Date: Thursday, March 8th
Time: 12:30-2:00 pm
Location: Room 2003 Ignat Kaneff Building/Osgoode Hall Law School