The GEM-DIAMOND doctoral network is part of a multiannual international research effort on Globalisation, Europe and Multilateralism (GEM) and will assess the EU’s capacity to act given the challenges facing Democratic Institutions, the rise of Alternative MOdels and mounting Normative Dissensus (DIAMOND).

The consortium

GEM-DIAMOND involves a consortium of seven European and four international degree awarding Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) alongside six well-established non-academic institutions who will help involve the Researchers directly in relevant policy practices. It will address knowledge gaps associated with the growing normative tensions undermining multilateral and democratic practices.

Beneficiaries are:

• Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
• Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali “Guido Carli” (LUISS°
• University of Amsterdam (UvA)
• University of Copenhagen(UCPH)
• Babeș-Bolyai University (UBB)
• University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris1)

Associated partners are:

• University of Geneva (UNIGE)
• University of Warwick (UoW)
• Waseda University (WUT)
• Université Laval (UL)
• Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV)
• Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI)
• The Transatlantic Foundation (TF)
• EGMONT – The Royal Institute for International Relations (EGM)
• PATRIR – Peace Action, Training & Research Institute gf Romania (PAT)
• Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
• Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l’homme (FIDH)

GEM-DIAMOND: an ambitious research programme

The project will allow for 16 early-career researchers to conduct Ph.D projects. They will answer both conceptual and empirical questions surrounding the future of liberal democracy in Europe in the face of growing dissensus. GEM-DIAMOND’s researchers will first unpack the internal (within the EU and its MS) and external (beyond Europe) drivers of the growing dissensus surrounding liberal democracy. Subsequently, the 16 Ph.D. researchers that the project will bring together will analyse a set of individual cases to draw lessons on the continued effectiveness and legitimacy of the EU’s political and socio-economic policy instruments considering the mounting dissensus surrounding liberal democracy.  

GEM-DIAMOND’s overall research programme will collectively tackle three shared knowledge gaps regarding contemporary strains on liberal democracy:

• Conceptualising the seemingly mounting dissensus surrounding liberal democracy.
• Unpacking the ambiguous role different actors can play as both champions and challengers of liberal democratic norms, values and practices.
• Assessing the impact of increased dissensus regarding liberal democracy on the policy instruments of the EU and its capacity to act in its internal and external policies.

For more information on the calls and for how to apply, please check our GEM-DIAMOND website.