The growing critique of so-called 'methodological nationalism' within the social sciences is a particularly difficult issue for a state-focused area of study such as German politics.

The official line is that public authorities do not negotiate with terrorists. However, governments frequently do end up negotiating with hostage talkers and kidnappers and with political groups classified as terrorists. But this introduces a whole set of questions about legitimacy.

Given recent developments in the global economy, the impact of privatisation policies across the Middle East is a subject which requires further examination.

Whether you are working in a humanitarian emergency or development context you will need to be conflict sensitive in order to be effective.

The workshop aims to examine existing scholarship on research methods in political philosophy as well as to explore more generally the link between methods and political thought.