As a KPSRL member, I have been invited to attend in person the hybrid in-person and online conference on ‘Reimagining Social Contracts’ by the Knowledge Platform Security & Rule of Law (KPSRL; www.kpsrl.org)) on 20 October 2022 from 09:00 till 17:00 in The Hague, the Netherlands. See for more details Annual Conference 2022: Reimagining Social Contracts | Knowledge Platform Security & Rule of Law (kpsrl.org).
The following text is reproduced from the link KPAC 2022 Program (eventsair.com) (accessed 14 October 2022):
About the Conference
The Knowledge Platform Annual Conference #KPAC22 is the Platform’s signature event that brings together our vibrant community for thought-provoking discussions. This year will be our 10th Annual Conference, and as in previous years, we invite representatives from national and international governments and policy organs, think-thanks, journalists, INGO practitioners, activists, diplomats, and field researchers from around the globe to join us. These diverse actors assemble each year with a singular aim: to present their latest projects and freshest ideas, and engage their peers to learn and improve security and justice policy and programs.
This year’s theme is Reimagining Social Contracts. What is the glue that holds societies together? In the Western tradition of political thought, the answer is often the ‘social contract’: citizens giving up part of their freedom in exchange for a stake in society and collective services. That contract is a fiction; there is no such document, and every societal arrangement has its own history and form. Humans were never free and unbound in the state of nature. However, it is a useful fiction. It provides us with a common language for the ‘bigger picture’ of what is fair and just; who gets what and who provides it.
Using this fiction, we see how many countries struggle in coming to inclusive, legitimate and sustainable societal arrangements. Simultaneously, we see that international interveners struggle to achieve their aims because of factors linked to broader societal arrangements or due to the application of Western ideas in societies with different a ideological background, culture or history.
Reflecting on this, the Knowledge Platform Security & Rule of Law (KPSRL) community indicated the need to Reimagine Social Contracts. This means supporting indigenous solutions and community responses to Security & Rule of Law (SRoL) arrangements and reflecting on the role Western actors play in doing so.
Our use of the verb ‘reimagining’ includes a series of interconnected moments and actions, although in practice never chronological nor separate. Three key points of reimagining are envisioned to constitute the ‘flow of the day’ for KPAC22 and are thus central in our call for contributions: Reinvent, Rearrange & Renegotiate. Please read the full Concept Note to learn more.