Thematic Approach

GIRES, the Global Institute for Research, Education and Scholarship seeks to explore a vast and promising field, that of the modernization of local Governance. The last years there has been an effort in many parts of the world to democratize “democracy” through the enactment of practices that actively engage citizens in the decision-making of their local government. 

We hope that through the analysis of active and past projects of participatory budgeting (PB) (Brazil, Spain and France are only some of the examples) we will explore the strengths and weaknesses of citizen-determined budget priorities along with the ways that local governance can become decentralized and affective, in other words offer democratic liberation. At the same time, the efforts for democratization of local governance and the promotion of equatable public spending shows the limitations of democracy in modern era and pinpoints the gaps in active participation of citizens in the decision-making process. 

We invite scholars from different fields including history, philosophy, religion, sociology, international relations, literature, art, space studies, peace studies, cultural studies, minority studies, war and/or genocide studies, journalism, immigration studies, psychology and psychiatry, political and social studies, and those working in archives, museums and NGOs. 

Proposed Topics

-Examples of participatory budgeting case studies (e.g. Serbia, Philippines, Brazil, Bolivia,  Indonesia,India e.t.c.)
-NGO’s and PB projects
-Citizen education in participatory democracy
-Old and new techniques/methods in PB projects
-Aspirations and limitations in PB programs
-Impact of PB in government transparency and accountability
-PB and marginalized and poor citizens
-PB, local governance and central state government: connections and conflicts
-Policy implications/ Benefits of participatory budgeting initiatives
-Theories and theorists
-Gender, social stratification and PB initiatives
-PB and technology
-PB during Covid-19 crisis 

Proposed Formats (Lingua franca: English)

*Individually submitted papers (organized into panels by the GIRES committee)
* Panels (3-4 individual papers)
* Roundtable discussions (led by one of the presenters)
* Posters

Our proposed topics & formats are not restrictive and we invite additional germane ideas
Due to the restrictions of Corona Crisis our event (for the time being) will take place VIRTUALLY