The BRIT XII (Fukuoka-Busan 2012) Organizing Committee invites all academic researchers and practitioners working on borderlands policy and border studies to participate in the BRIT XII Conference, a multi-disciplinary/area studies scientific meeting dedicated to the study of borders in all parts of the world. The conference will take place in Fukuoka, Japan and Busan, Korea, November 13-16, 2012. These locations provide an ideal setting for further understanding the realities of cooperation and conflict over Northeast Asia’s maritime and land borders. The conference will include an opportunity to participate in a special tour of beautiful Tsushima Island which lies halfway between Fukuoka and Busan. While papers on all topics and geographical areas related to border studies are welcome, the theme of BRIT XII is Borderland Voices: Shaping a New World Order. Papers addressing this theme will examine how those living in borderlands have been affected by the “bordering” processes of the state and central authority; how the voices of borderland communities can challenge the prevailing nation-state order; and the strategies and initiatives that people in the borderlands have devised in order to seize opportunities and overcome the difficulties associated with life on the border. Views from the borderlands give us fresh insights into the dynamic relationship between state and society; center and periphery; security and insecurity; politics and identity; territory and belonging. The theme of BRIT XII comes as a timely reminder that it is border communities (often marginalized, overlooked and powerless) who are most sharply affected by the global shifts represented by the terms “de-bordering” and “re-bordering.” However, these communities are not passive actors but part of a two-way process where those living in the borderlands are forming new kinds of connections and spaces. For borderland communities the power, violence and connectivity of the border are part of the very fabric of daily life. The border really matters to those living on it and border studies can uniquely engage with those metaphorically and geographically on the margins. It is a scholarly endeavor that has a humanitarian significance beyond the boundaries of academia. BRIT XII offers opportunities to use multiple lenses (from local to global) as well as cross-disciplinary approaches to refocus on the border in new and innovative ways. As part of this innovation, BRIT XII seeks to promote the development and advancement of theoretical and methodological approaches to border studies. Therefore, panels on theory and methods will be particularly welcome. Among other topics, we are also interested in accepting papers and panels on the following: •Local initiatives and borderland interest groups •Maritime border studies: conflict and cooperation •Comparative studies on land and sea boundary issues•Re-framing border discourses •Non-state dialogue across boundaries •Borders and the reconfiguration of geopolitics in Northeast Asia • “Mobile” and “hyper” borders •Natural environment and shifting borders •Borders in a world of supra-state organizations •Borders as a global-local nexus •Spaces beyond the state •Borderland identities •Locating and defining contemporary borderlands •Borders, migration and diasporas •Gender divisions on and across borders In order to advance collaboration between universities and policy makers, both academic researchers and practitioners working on border issues are warmly invited to attend. With the aim of promoting BRIT as a forum for exchanging ideas and overcoming disciplinary boundaries, individual papers will be particularly encouraged this year. These papers will be carefully considered by the BRIT XII Committee and organized into stimulating and engaging panels. Panel proposals are also acceptable though it is unlikely that panels with presenters exclusively from one country will be accepted. Panel organizers are encouraged to approach scholars from different disciplines and countries before submitting their proposal. Panel proposals must include all abstracts of the presenters involved. The Organizing Committee reserves the right to reallocate presenters in order to encourage the transgression of disciplinary boundaries. Outstanding papers will be invited to publish in journals such as Geopolitics, Journal of Borderland Studies, Eurasia Border Review and the proceedings of the conference. The final deadline for proposals is April 10, 2012 (For a limited number of Ph.D. candidates whose papers are judged by the Organizing Committee to best address the theme of this year’s conference, local accommodation in Fukuoka and Busan will be provided in the conference hotel. For those Ph.D. candidates who wish to be considered for accommodation, the deadline is March 30, 2012). The panel or individual proposal must include the title of the presentation, the name of the presenter(s), affiliation, e-mail address of the author(s), contact number and audiovisual needs. Abstracts should not exceed 200 words. Proposals should be submitted to: brit2012@borderstudies.jp After being notified of your proposal’s acceptance, you should register on our website: http://www.borderstudies.jp/brit2012/top.html

If you have further questions, please contact: Akihiro Iwashita, Coordinator of BRIT XII (Fukuoka-Busan 2012) iwasi@slav.hokudai.ac.jp Paul Richardson, Special Assistant to the Coordinator of BRIT XII paulrichardson@borderstudies.jp