Political Violence and Popular Culture
Lisbon, 20-21 November 2025 – Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon
The Centre for International Studies (CEI-Iscte) at Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon is pleased to announce the Political Violence and Popular Culture conference, to be held on 20-21 November 2025, in Lisbon, Portugal.
In recent years, the world has repeatedly shown volatility and violence as its key characteristics. From terroristic violence to state repression, from football hooliganism to online radicalization, political violence continues to shape global politics in profound ways. At the same time, global audiences gain access to information and images of these political events through countless different media and genres, allowing for immersive experiences in real-time. Artefacts of popular culture are equally produced, consumed and negotiated at rapid speed and in various spaces, serving as critical lenses through which societies process, represent, and respond to violence.
Given the ubiquitous nature of visuals, images and narratives appearing everywhere from the digital realm to traditional channels and infiltrating our everyday lives, we aim to make this conference an event that transcends disciplinary and theoretical borders. We invite scholars to approach artefacts of popular culture from a multitude of vantage points, examining how various forms of violence are represented, narrativized, and consumed through popular media.
This conference welcomes established researchers as well as early career scholars and graduate students who wish to present their work in a collegial and supportive atmosphere. We are particularly interested in interdisciplinary approaches that bridge international relations, critical terrorism studies, security studies, media studies, and cultural studies.
While being thematically broad, key themes may include:
- Representations of political violence in popular media
- Popular culture as a site of resistance against state violence
- Narratives of terrorism and counterterrorism in entertainment
- Sports (particularly football) and political violence
- Digital platforms and the circulation of violent imagery
- Negotiations of relations of gender, race and sexuality in violent contexts
- Cultures of crisis and fear
- Visual politics of violence
- Methodological innovations in researching political violence and popular culture
We accept submissions for individual paper presentations, roundtables, and panels (3-5 papers). Submitted abstracts should not exceed 250 words per paper. The deadline for abstract submissions is May 15, 2025, 23:59 WEST. Notification of acceptance will be sent by June 30, 2025, allowing sufficient time for registration by September 2025 and travel arrangements.
Please submit all abstracts, queries, and questions to pcwpv16@iscte-iul.pt.
Important Dates:
- Abstract Submission Deadline: 15 May 2025
- Notification of Acceptance: 30 June 2025
- Registration Deadline: 15 September 2025
- Conference Dates: 20-21 November 2025