SCRIPTS invites paper proposals for a forthcoming international conference on regional organisations (ROs) and their role in contesting or being contested by the liberal script. The event will take place on 27–28 November 2025 in Berlin, with a follow-up conference planned for spring 2026.

While much research has addressed challenges to the liberal script at national and global levels, this project seeks to examine the regional level—specifically, how ROs serve as sites or agents of contestation.

We welcome contributions from from scholars working on or within Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe that either:

a) analyse episodes of contestation of the liberal script within or through a specific RO, as well as their causes, or

b) explore the consequences of such contestations for the resilience of ROs and their regional orders.

To apply for this authors’ conference, please submit a 500-word abstract together with the name of all authors, their affiliations, academic positions and contact details (postal address, email address and website) to conference@scripts-berlin.eu no later than May 15th 2025. In the abstract, please explicate which specific episode of liberal script contestation you are investigating and whether your chapter will speak to the causes (see option (a) above) or the consequences (see option (b) above). The deadline for submissions is Thursday, 15 May 2025.

The selected papers will form part of an edited volume to be submitted to Oxford University Press. SCRIPTS will cover travel and accommodation costs for one author per chapter.

For detailed information on the conference theme, submission guidelines, and timeline, please refer to the full Call for Papers (PDF).