2015 General Conference, Montreal

The 2015 General Conference was held at the University of Montreal

This was a significant milestone for the ECPR as it was the first event to be held outside Europe. Some 1,300 participants from across the world and all stages of their career came together at the University of Montreal for four days of sharing the best thinking across the discipline. The result, according to some of the feedback received from participants was ’I have learnt a lot and made connections with colleagues from around the world‘ and ’I really enjoyed the conference because our session was very diverse, active and the group was very friendly‘. 

This Conference demonstrated the broad church the ECPR has become in terms of location of its members, and the internal democracy it adheres to when planning events. As a Full Member, eligible to host an event, the University of Montreal were able when others were not, to offer to hold the General Conference and we thank them for their excellent organisation and warm hospitality.  

The academic programme was rich and diverse, with 59 Sections covering the full gamut, from ‘Across the Atlantic: Voting Advice Applications in a Comparative Perspective’ to ‘Political Psychology in Europe and the World’ (a full list is available here). Across these Sections, 362 Panels (with an average of three to four Papers presented in each) discussed those overarching themes.

Alongside this, participants could attend three Roundtables:

• The Language of Political Science – chaired by André Blais and with speakers David Lublin, Jane Jenson, Peter A. Kraus and Jean-François Laslier
• Transatlantic Relations and European Integration – chaired by Frédéric Mérand and with speakers Anand Menon and Sergio Fabbrini
• Attitudes Towards Immigration and Ethnic Diversity in Minority Nations (funded by the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) – chaired by Antoine Bilodeau and Luc Turgeon, with speakers Xavier Escandell and Alain-G Gagnon. These are always a popular addition to the programme.

This year six Featured Panels also took place:

• Family Values: The Morality and Politics of the Family as a Social Institution –sponsored by the Critical Review of Social and Political Philosophy (CRISPP) and the ECPR Standing Group on Political Theory)
• Is there Life Beyond Academic? Sponsored by the ECPR Graduate Student Network
• Political Science in the 21st Century – sponsored by the American Political Science Association (APSA)
• The Paradoxes of Language Institutionalization at the Local Level – sponsored by the International Political Science Association (IPSA)
• The Politics of Populism and Negative Campaigning: A discussion of two books and of different conceptions of what politics is about – sponsored by the ECPR Press
• Maurice Duverger (1917-2014): Evaluating the Contributions of a Political Science Giant

The Welcome Address, Plenary Lecture and awarding of ECPR prizes were a highlight of the event, attended by approximately 800 participants enabling an enjoyable evening of good food, good wine and networking in the Roger Gaudry building, complete with an inspirational sunset (see below).