UNAIR NEWS – International Conference on Contemporary Social and Political Affairs  (ICoCSPA) is an activity held regularly by the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) every year. Entering its seventh year, ICoCSPA activities was opened on Friday, August 20, 2021.

The theme is Building Resilience and Cohesion during the pandemic. The theme was chosen to reflect the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, where the pandemic condition also continues to have significant implications for social and political life.

“Therefore, we hope that this conference can act as a forum for the formulation of ideas that can be a solution to increase and build resilience together in this difficult time,” said Dr. Tuti Budirahayu Dra., M.Si in her opening speech.

Vice Dean III of FISIP UNAIR, Irfan Wahyudi S.Sos., M.Comms., PhD., also said that theme was based on the common challenges faced by all countries in the world and the fragility of the structure of modern society.

“Hopefully, this meeting can be a place to discuss this situation more thoroughly from a socio-political perspective,” he said in a welcoming session.

This year, ICoCSPA is still being held virtually through a Zoom meeting. Even though they cannot meet in person, this condition actually makes it easier for various academics and researchers worldwide to participate in the activities.

At the ICoCSPA webinar session, several international speakers attending include Prof. Andrey Makarychev from the University of Tartu, Estonia, by presenting material on the Biopolitical dimension of the COVID-19 pandemic and Prof. Alan H. Yang from National Chengchi University, Taiwan, who spoke about building government and community resilience in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak.

In addition to these two academics, Prof. DR. Zuhairah Ghadas from Universiti Sultan Zainil Abidin, Malaysia, and Prof Xun Wu, a public policy academic from Hong Kong, were also present. Each of them presented material related to the accuracy of legal regulations in accommodating social entrepreneurship and discussed issues regarding government and data tracing management in the pandemic era.

Some Indonesian experts and practitioners also enlivened the ICoCSPA event. They are Dr. H. Emil Elestianto Dardak, B.Bus., M.Sc., Deputy Governor of East Java Province, and Prof. Dra. Rachmah Ida M.Com., Ph.D., Professor in the field of media and communication, Department of Communication, FISIP UNAIR. (*)

Author: Dita Aulia Rahma

Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia