Anciens appels à communication 2007 (texte intégral)

"European Voices: Actors and Witnesses of European Integration" (Third HEIRS Colloquium): Geneva, March 16-17, 2007, Graduate Institute of International Studies; Deadline: January 6, 2007; After two successful conferences held at the University of Cambridge in November 2004 and at the University of Portsmouth last year, the History of European Integration Research Society invites post-graduate students to attend its third colloquium, which will take place in Geneva, at the Graduate Institute for International Studies, on 16-17 March 2007.; Aims of the colloquium; Current historiography on the process that led to the creation of the three European Communities widely acknowledges the role played by states, as well as by some of their major political leaders, diplomats, and civil servants (among them Monnet, Schuman, de Gasperi, Adenauer, Bevin.) Less attention has been given to non-state actors, to their visions of Europe, their stakes in the integration process, and the means at their disposal to voice their opinions and influence the process of European unification. HEIRS's third colloquium, entitled "European Voices: Actors and Witnesses of European Integration", aims to shed light on the position of non-state actors, while at the same time furthering research on the role of states in the European integration process.; The colloquium also aspires to foster the dialogue between historians and scholars from other disciplines in the area of social science, among them political science, sociology, and anthropology.; Hence, the colloquium welcomes contributions tackling the role of political and economic elites, intellectuals, citizens, and the media. It encourages papers discussing the role played by less frequently researched actors, such as businesses, trade unions, political parties and legal actors. It hopes to expand discussion on pro-European actors as well as on voices opposing the European project.; Papers discussing methodological issues related to the analysis of memoirs, biographies, and discourses, or addressing the challenges of oral history are welcome.; Although the timeframe addressed by the conference is not limited, its central focus remains on the early 1950s to the late 1970s.; The results of the conference will be published on HEIRS website, which you can visit at: http://www.cjcr.cam.ac.uk/heirs/heirs.html#history; Practical information; HEIRS encourages papers by PhD students and young scholars. Papers can be submitted in either French or English. They should be no longer than 8,000 words. Interested researchers should submit a 500-word abstract of their paper proposal by January 6, 2007. The abstract should be send by e-mail to both of the conference organizers, Sophie A. Huber (huberso0@hei.unige.ch) and Katrin Milzow (milzow2@hei.unige.ch).; Successful applicants will be notified by January 15, 2007. They should send their final papers to the conference organizers for circulation among participants and panel discussants no later than March 10, 2007.; Selected papers will be grouped in 4 thematic panels, each including 4 presentations. The presentations should last no more than 15 minutes, thus allowing time for discussion.; Participants will have the opportunity to revise their papers prior to publication on HEIRS website. A style sheet will then be provided.; For further updated information about the conference, please visit HEIRS' website at: http://www.cjcr.cam.ac.uk/heirs/heirs.html#events

2007 Economic & Business Historical Society Conference: Providence, Rhode Island, April 26-28, 2007; Deadline: January 7, 2007; The Economic & Business Historical Society welcomes proposals for presentations on all aspects of business and economic history at its 32nd annual conference at Providence, Rhode Island, April 26-28, 2007. Composed of more than one hundred North American and international members, the Economic & Business Historical Society offers its members and conference participants an opportunity for intellectual interchange within a collegial interdisciplinary group. The Society holds its annual convention in locations of historical significance. Both the annual membership ($30) and conference registration fees are modest. Papers presented at the conference may be submitted for publication in the Society's peer reviewed journal, Essays in Economic and Business History, edited by Lynne Pierson Doti, Chapman University.The Society seeks proposals for both individual papers and panel sessions. Proposals for individual papers should include an abstract of no more than 500 words, a brief CV, postal and email addresses, and telephone and fax numbers. Panel proposals should also suggest a title and a panel chair. Graduate students and non-academic affiliates are welcome. Graduate students may qualify for reduced registration fees. Submissions imply that at least one author will register for the conference and be present at the time designated in the conference program.; Proposals may be submitted by email to roberto.mazzoleni@hofstra.edu or sent by mail to:
Roberto Mazzoleni
2007 EBHS Conference
Department of Economics & Geography
200 Barnard Hall
Hofstra University
Hempstead, NY 11549; Additional information regarding the conference and Society can be found at: http://www.ebhsoc.org/

2007 International Graduate Student Conference on the Cold War: George Washington University in Washington, D.C., 20-21 April 2007; Deadline: January 15, 2007; The George Washington University Cold War Group (GWCW), the Center for Cold War Studies (CCWS) of the University of California Santa Barbara, and the Cold War Studies Centre (CWSC) of the London School of Economics and Political Science are pleased to announce their 2007 International Graduate Student Conference on the Cold War, to take place at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. on 20-21 April 2007.; The conference is an excellent opportunity for graduate students to present papers and receive critical feedback from peers and experts in the field. We encourage submissions by graduate students working on any aspect of the Cold War, broadly defined. Of particular interest are papers that make use of newly available primary sources. A two-page proposal and a brief academic C.V. (in Word or PDF format), should be submitted to gwcw@gwu.edu by 15 January 2007 to be considered.; Notification of acceptance will be made by 5 February. Successful applicants will be expected to email their papers by 2 April. Further questions may be directed to the conference coordinator, James Person, at gwcw@gwu.edu.; The conference sessions will be chaired by prominent faculty members from GW, UCSB, LSE and elsewhere. The accommodation cost of student participants will be covered by the organizers (from 19-22 April), but students will need to cover the costs of their travel to GW.; In 2003, GW and UCSB first joined their separate spring conferences, and two years later, LSE became a co-sponsor. The three cold war centers now hold a jointly sponsored conference each year, alternating among the three campuses. For more information on our three programs, please visit the respective Web sites: http://www.ieres.org/ for GWCW; http://www.history.ucsb.edu/projects/ccws/ for CCWS; http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/CWSC/ for the CWSC.

Eleventh annual conference of the European Business History Association

University of Geneva, September 13-15, 2007

Deadline: January 15, 2007

Conference theme: "International Business, International Organizations and the Wealth of Nations"

International business transactions have taken place within specific institutional frameworks, both at national and international levels. The choice of Geneva, the home of several international organizations, as the venue for the 2007 conference offers the opportunity to pay closer attention to the history of what might be called the international institutions of business activity.

International organizations have shaped international business activities ever since merchants have traded outside their home country -- one thinks, for example, of the medieval trade fairs, with those held in Geneva in the 15th century being among the most attended of their day. Throughout the 19th century, international cooperation and competition made ample use of international trade fairs, international exhibitions, international conferences, international cartels, as well as more permanent type of associations, such as the International Telegraph Union, set up in 1865, or the Universal Postal Union, established in 1874 in Bern.

The First and even more the Second World War led to increased state intervention and its international corollary, the rise of government agencies which, directly or indirectly, affected the course of international business -- from the Economic and Financial Organization of the League of Nations to the WTO (World Trade Organization) and the other multiple Programmes, Commissions, Organizations and Specialized Agencies of the United Nations (ILO, FAO, WHO, ITU, World Bank), as well as regional interstate agreements (ECSC, EEC and then EU in Europe, Mercosur in Latin America); to which must be added non government international movements such as ISO (International Organization for Standardization), or the World Economic Forum in Davos, but also its antithesis, the World Social Forum, or even ATTAC, not to mention a myriad of both pro and anti business NGOs, which haven't left the business world indifferent.

The department of economic history of the University of Geneva invites you to send drafts for papers or sessions. While welcoming papers on all aspects of international business (exports and imports, foreign direct investment, foreign correspondents and so on) in all sectors (natural resources, manufacturing industry, trade, shipping, banking and finance, and other services), this conference would like to encourage participants to look more closely at the links between international business activities, their mediation through international organizations, and the wealth of nations.

Suggested Issues. The following issues can serve as a guideline in this reflection:

Globalization and de-globalization:

International organizations and the opening up of the world to business.
International organizations, business enterprises and economic nationalism.
War and peace, international business and international organizations.
Foreign aid, firms and economic development.

Rules, norms and conventions:

Rules, norms and the conduct of international business.
Public and private international organizations.
Norms, conventions and innovation.
Legal and illegal practices.

Opportunities and constraints:

International arrangements and business strategy.
Markets, institutions and entrepreneurship.
Competition and cooperation worldwide.
Perceptions and attitudes.

National, regional and international interactions:

Nations, firms and international organizations.
The role of supra-regional organizations.
International business and international migrations.
International events (fairs, exhibitions, conferences, sport, etc.).

Although priority will be given to papers embracing this theme and closely related topics it is normal practice for EBHA conferences to include some papers outside theme of the conference.

Submission of Abstracts. Those interested in presenting a paper should prepare a one-page abstract. Proposals for panels should contain the abstracts of the individual papers as well as a short summary explaining the rationale of putting these together in one panel. Suggestions for chairs and discussants of the panel will also be welcomed. Please e-mail your abstracts or panel proposals till January 15, 2007 to Gilles Forster or Ileana Racianu email ebha2007@histec.unige.ch. All proposals will be evaluated by an academic committee. Decisions will be announced by e-mail before February 28th 2007.

Up-to-date information on the conference can be fund on the conference website: http://www.unige.ch/ses/istec/EBHA2007/. Registration forms and hotel details will be available from January 2007.

Exchanging Ideas on Europe 2007: Common Values - External Policies

Portsmouth, 3-5 September 2007

Deadline: January 15, 2007

Does your research have an emphasis on Europe? The 37th UACES Annual Conference is an opportunity to present a paper to an audience from a broad range of European-related disciplines. The conference will be hosted by the Centre for European & International Studies Research at the University of Portsmouth.

The 2006 conference was held in Limerick, Ireland and the 2005 conference was held in Zagreb, Croatia. If you have not attended a UACES conference before, please visit Limerick and Zagreb pages to get an idea of what to expect.

The invitation for proposals is for papers belonging to pre-organised panels. Individual paper proposals will still be considered but we are looking in particular for coherent panels which have been organised through your own networks. Papers belonging to pre-organised panels are more likely to be accepted.

We encourage contributions from all academic disciplines, including law, economics, geography, history, sociology, social policy and politics. We also encourage papers from established academics, practitioners and well-prepared postgraduate research students.

The diverse nature of "European Studies" is such that not all subjects will be of interest to all participants - the only way to overcome this, is for each discipline to lobby amongst its own networks, to ensure that it has good representation.

If you are looking for colleagues to help complete a panel, you are welcome to use the UACES email list, the EuroResearch email list or you can try the http://www.ExpertOnEurope.com website.

Guidelines for Papers and Presentations

UACES is keen to be inclusive and to allow researchers at all levels to present papers. We would also like to see a high standard and quality of presentations.

Please refer to the guidelines for research paper-givers to see what will be required of you.

If you have not presented a paper at a conference before, or even if you have, we strongly recommend that you read the presentation guidelines carefully.

To submit a Proposal

Paper Proposals can be submitted by completing the Paper Proposal form and by sending in your completed proposal by email.

As part of the proposal, you will be asked to include an abstract (up to 200 words) which should contain a clear summary of your arguments. If your Paper Proposal is accepted, the abstract will appear on this website.

Instructions on how to submit your Proposal are on the form. Please, only one paper proposal per form.

Finally, please do not send us any paper proposals on behalf of a colleague.

Panel Proposals
We are looking for panel proposals that are comprised of a chair and three research papers. The chair should not be presenting one of the research papers, but can be a co-author.

Each paper-giver on the panel should submit a Paper Proposal form - this isidentical to the form above.

There is provision on the form for you to identify the other members on the panel, and for a synopsis of the panel to be included.

Are you also planning to attend the APSA conference in Chicago which ends on September 2nd? If so, there is provision on the paper proposal form to indicate this - we will endeavour to schedule the panel towards the end of our conference.

Panel chairs are not required to fill in any forms, but should ideally, provide a synopsis of the panel, which should be included on one of the paper proposals that form part of the panel.

Please, only one paper proposal per form - for panels, each paper-giver should submit their own form.

Finally, please do not send us any paper proposals on behalf of a colleague.

Joint Papers. For joint papers, the Paper Proposal should be completed by the person who is planning to present the paper at the conference. Your co-author(s) will be recognised on the conference programme, but for the purposes of processing the paper proposals, we only need one contact person.

Timeline:

The deadline for submission of Paper Proposals is Monday 15 January 2007.
All proposals will be assessed by a selection committee. Individual Paper Proposals which are accepted will be allocated to a Panel.
Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by Friday 30 March 2007.
Paper-givers and Panel Chairs are asked to confirm their intention to attend by registering by Thursday 17 May 2007. This allows the research programme to be finalised and published to the conference website.
Non paper-givers will be able to register to attend from March 2007.
Paper-givers are asked to circulate their papers before Monday 16 July 2007 (ideally) to those on their panel. Please refer to the conference website for contact email addresses.

Website: http://www.uaces.org/Portsmouth.htm

Constructions of conflict: transmitting memories of the past in European historiography, literature and media

Swansea, 10-12 September 2007

Deadline: January 19, 2007

Keynote speakers will include: Dr John Foot (University College London) and Prof. Mary Fulbrook (University College London).

The recent war in Iraq has produced a heightened awareness of how memories of conflict, such as the rescue of Jessica Lynch, are mediated and represented in the public domain. This inter disciplinary conference seeks to investigate the ways in which memories of social, political and military conflicts have been transmitted within 20th and 21st century European culture. Which roles are played by those who mediate the memory of conflict (first- hand witnesses, historians, jour nalists, writers, filmmakers, bloggers)? What kinds of interactions and tensions are visible between public and private discourses of memory? In what ways are memories of conflict (or their absence) shaped by the political, economic and social parameters of the present? To which ends are such narratives of the past deployed?

Papers are sought from the areas of history, literature, cultural studies, translation studies, film/media studies, soci ology, politics, geography, law, psychology and philosophy on the transmission of the memory of conflict in a European context. These could include World Wars I and II, the Spanish Civil War, the Cold War, protest movements (1968, Greenham Common, G8 at Genoa), the terrorist attacks in Madrid and London, as well as colonial engagements such as the Algerian War of Indepen dence. Papers exploring European perspec tives on global conflicts are also welcome.

Aspects that papers at this conference might address:

History versus memory; archival versus oral history
The 'ownership' of memories of conflict
Bearing witness: first-hand memories of conflict
Witness testimony: issues of authenticity, reliability and veracity
Memory, history and revisionism
Memorials, museums and landscapes of memory
'Memory contests' between differing representations of conflicts
Public debates on/public perceptions of memories of conflict
The use of 'memory objects' (photographs, letters) in representations of conflict
The shifting roles of different mediators of the past (historians, journalists, writers, internet bloggers etc.)
The role of historians/journalists in war-crimes trials
The role of discourses of memory in shaping perceptions of perpetrators and victims
The ethics of history and memory
The mediation of the memory of conflict in educational contexts
The incorporation of historical material in literature and film
The use of literary/filmic techniques in historical accounts
The memory of conflict in the crime novel or other literary genres
How mediators of the past deal with the memory of trauma or repressed memories of conflict

Abstracts for individual papers or full sessions (300 words) should be sent to the organisers, Dr. Jonathan Dunnage, Dr. Jane Dunnett, Dr. Kathryn Jones and Dr. Katharina Hall (meicam@swansea.ac.uk) by January 19th 2007. Papers will be given in English, and we intend to publish selected contributions.

"Third Plenary Conference of the Tensions of Europe Network"

Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 7-10 June 2007

Deadline: January 22, 2007

Invitation to the Launch of "Inventing Europe: Technology and the Making of Europe, 1850 to the Present" (European Science Foundation EUROCORES Programme) and call for papers for the Third Plenary Conference of the Tensions of Europe Network

We encourage scholars from all disciplines who study the areas below to submit abstracts for the research sessions and roundtables organised by the Tensions of Europe network. These areas are drawn from the Inventing Europe themes (see http://www.esf.org/inventingeurope/) and the Tensions of Europe Intellectual Agenda (see http://www.histech.nl/tensions/).

The conference seeks contributions that will treat technological change as an entry point into the contested practice of Europeanization. Five general areas to be explored are:

Building Europe through Infrastructures, or, how Europe has been shaped by the material links of transnational infrastructure;
Constructing European Ways of Knowing, or, how Europe became articulated through efforts to unite knowledge and practices on a European scale;
Consuming Europe, or, how actors reworked consumer goods and artefacts for local, regional, national, European, and global use;
Europe in the Global World, or, how Europe has been created through colonial, ex-colonial, trans-Atlantic, and other global exchanges;
Synthetic methodological or historiographical explorations of the role of technology in transnational European history.

Deadline for proposals is January 5, 2007. Session abstracts (maximum 600 words) should be submitted by the organizers together with the abstracts for the individual presentations (maximum 500 words each). To propose a roundtable, please submit a list of invited participants and an abstract (maximum 600 words). Notification of acceptances by 1 March; complete texts for pre-circulation are due by 1 May.

Donna C. Mehos (Program Committee Coordinator, Technical University Eindhoven): toe@tue.nl

Visit the website at http://www.histech.nl/tensions/

Intellektuelle in Europa im Zeitalter der Blockkonfrontation (1945-1989): Ksiaz (Polen), 10.-12.04.2007; Deadline: 30. Januar 2007; Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung (Potsdam); Europäisches Zentrum (Ksiaz); Hannah-Arendt-Institut für Totalitarismusforschung(Dresden); Masaryk-Universität (Brno); Die europäische Nachkriegszeit war durch den Kampf der Ideologien um die politische Vorherrschaft geprägt, der nicht nur entlang der Blockgrenzen, sondern auch inmitten der west- und osteuropäischen Gesellschaften als ein "Kalter Bürgerkrieg" ausgetragen wurde. Die gewalttätige Durchsetzung der kommunistischen Herrschaft trug ebenso wie der sowjetische Hegemonialanspruch dazu bei, dass die Idee eines gemeinsamen Europas in den ost- und ostmitteleuropäischen Gesellschaften über viele Jahre hinweg kaum eine breite Öffentlichkeit erreichte.; Jenseits der ideologischen Dogmatik lassen sich aber auch in den kommunistischen Diktaturen Ostmitteleuropas Diskurse über eine europäische Identität ausmachen, die vielerlei gesellschaftlichen Sphären erfassten und dabei Parteifunktionäre und Journalisten ebenso einschlossen wie Künstler, Dissidenten und Emigranten. Europa galt in diesen Diskursen als Bezugspunkt, um über eigene nationale Identitäten zu reflektieren. Dabei geriet das europäische Thema häufig in Konflikt zur gesellschaftlichen Situation im eigenen Land und bildete damit auch ein Gegenbild, vor dem sich nationale Identitäten verhandeln ließen. Wenn es nicht gänzlich ein für das eigene Land unerreichbares Ideal blieb, so konnte Europa auf diese Weise Hoffnungen hervorrufen aber gleichzeitig auch bestehende Minderwertigkeitskomplexe verstärken. Stets überspannten dabei die gemeinsame europäische Vergangenheit und eine visionäre Zukunft die Mühen der Gegenwart, aus der die Diskursteilnehmer kaum entrinnen konnten.; Auch viele westeuropäische Intellektuelle nahmen die Bipolarität der europäischen Nachkriegsordnung nicht als selbstverständlich hin, sondern richteten ihren Blick auf die gemeinsamen Wurzeln und die Einheit Europas vor der Katastrophe des 20. Jahrhunderts. Die zahlreichen ost- und ostmitteleuropäischen Emigranten, die sich mit dem europäischen Thema auseinandersetzen, waren für die Lebendigkeit und Dauer dieses Diskurses ebenso entscheidend wie die Faszination, die der Eurokommunismus auf viele westeuropäische Intellektuelle ausübte.; Die Konferenz knüpft an das besondere Gefühl der Zerrissenheit an, das für das Leben vieler Intellektueller im Zeitalter der europäischen Teilung prägend sein sollte. Der Versuch, die Vision der europäischen Intellektuellen von einem gemeinsamen Europa zwischen 1945 und 1989 zu rekonstruieren, zielt vor allem auf die Analyse von Selbstzeugnissen und verschriftlichten Quellen einzelner Protagonisten in West- und Osteuropa ab, die auf ihre jeweiligen Kontexte und Sinnhorizonte untersucht werden sollen.; Die Idee für eine Doktoranden-Tagung entstand aus der Zusammenarbeit des Zentrums für Zeithistorische Forschung (ZZF) mit dem Europäischen Zentrum in Ksiaz, die auf eine dauerhafte Grundlage gestellt werden soll, um den Austausch zwischen den deutschen und polnischen zeithistorischen Forschungsinstitutionen nachhaltig zu fördern.; Die Forschungen zur Rolle der europäischen Intellektuellen und ihrer Europa-Wahrnehmungen in der Geschichte des geteilten Kontinents stellt einen wichtigen Aspekt des Projekts "Europa im Ostblock" dar. Die Projektgruppe (Dr. José M. Faraldo, Paulina Gulinska-Jurgiel, Christian Domnitz) verbindet mit der Doktoranden-Tagung zum einen die Hoffnung, Nachwuchswissenschaftler, die sich mit den Biographien und Diskursen europäisch denkender Intellektueller der Nachkriegszeit befassen, für eine Teilnahme zu gewinnen.; Für die Organisation und Betreuung der Tagung sorgen neben dem ZZF das Europäische Zentrum in Ksiaz, das Hannah-Arendt-Institut für Totalitarismusforschung in Dresden (Dr. Katarzyna Stoklosa) und die Masaryk-Universität in Brno (Prof. Dr. Vladimir Gonec). Den Teilnehmern werden die Anreisekosten durch die Organisatoren zurückerstattet, Verpflegung und die Unterkunft werden gestellt.; Die Konferenz richtet sich an Doktoranden aus Europa. Vorträge können in deutscher oder polnischer Sprache gehalten werden. Die Kandidat/Innen werden gebeten, einen kurzen Exposé(bis 2 Seiten) sowie einen kurzen tabellarischen Lebenslauf (bis 2 Seiten) mit ihren Publikationen (falls vorhanden) bis zum 30. Januar 2007 auf Deutsch oder Polnisch an Paulina Gulinska-Jurgiel per Mail, Post oder Fax zu schicken.; Kontakt:
Paulina Gulinska-Jurgiel
Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung
Am Neuen Markt 1, DE-14467 Potsdam
+49/331/6208034
+49/331/28991-40
gulinska@zzf-pdm.de
http://www.zzf-pdm.de/

"Life in Motion; Shifting Spaces, Transcending Times, Crossing Borders (8th Postgraduate Conference)
Brno (Czech Republic), 28-30th June 2007
Deadline: 31 January 2007: Seventeen years after the onset of revolutionary changes in 1989, Central and Eastern European societies are still confronted with their histories. Memories and recollections of the past are contested and the past is painstakingly constituted through the interplay of collective construction, political bargains, reversals, rationalizing of refusals to come to terms with it as well as attempts to recognize the past and cope with it. Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have witnessed unprecedented spatial and population shifts and splits which marked the 20th century globally. Many minorities which were often local majorities or equal in number were left in the aftermath of wars as mere memories that quickly faded due to the rapid intrusion of communism. The process of building societies which are not just ethno-culturally heterogeneous but also open to all diverse groups has been contingent on coming to terms with the past. This process became the arena for opening ways to facing current challenges such as migration, borders dissolution and violation of local social and economic balances.; Since 1989 CEE societies have undergone unparalleled social change, however, the expected reforms in the spheres of law, public policy, culture, media, economy and social policies have been substantially delayed and compromised. The simultaneous emergence of free-market economies and pluralist politics led to situations in which the state quickly withdrew or collapsed, and distinctions between state, collective, and private domains became unclear. It has been in the interest of those actors that emerged in this initial phase of change to prolong a specifically post-socialist culture between socialism and the free market. This may have decisively contributed to the Eurosceptic backlash in the ranks of particular mainstream political forces and in specific cultural segments and sections of societies in some CEE countries.; What is in this light the meaning of "the big European switch" of 2004 and its upcoming enlargement follow-up? How 'Central and Eastern European' have the CEE countries stayed and Western Europe become? What are the reconstituted boundaries?; Held by School of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic, 28th-30th June 2007 and organized in cooperation with the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, the conference presents a major opportunity for postgraduate students and young academics to discuss the events in Central and Eastern Europe also including but not limited to Russia, Eurasia, the Balkans, and the Baltic States.; We invite submissions and participants from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives. Proposals should be sent, as email attachments, to tomasekm@fss.muni.cz at the latest January 31, 2007.; Further details and particular themes: http://www.h-net.msu.edu/announce/show.cgi?ID=152432.

"Britain and Europe in the 20th Century"

CCBH Annual Conference, Institute of Historical Research, University of London

London, 11-13 July 2007

Deadline: wednesday, 31 January 2007

Papers are invited for the CCBH's 2007 Summer Conference, which will examine the various ways in which the United Kingdom has interacted with Europe, and vice versa, in the political, diplomatic, defence,economic, social and cultural spheres, through the whole of the 20th century.

We encourage paper-givers to consider broad themes, and continuities or patterns between pre- and post-1945 Europe. We are interested in papers which address both the UK's relationships with EEC/EU countries and those outside, particularly in Eastern Europe. Comparative perspectives are welcome.

Possible subjects include:

Diplomatic relations
Inter-governmental relations (e.g. EEC negotiations and EU inter-governmental relations)
European elections and relations between political parties
Defence and security relations/co-operation (e.g. the Entente Cordiale, NATO, CSCE)
Colonialism and its aftermath; Colonial competition and co-operation
Economic relations and intra-European trade
Scientific/technological co-operation (e.g. European Space Agency, Airbus)
Agriculture
Film, music and popular culture
The Press
Youth and popular movements
Educational and language learning
The history of history (e.g. the memorialisation of war)
Popular perceptions and opinion-shapers
Migration
Religion
Tourism and travel

Offers of papers should be sent with a short abstract by 31 January 2006 to Virginia Preston, CCBH, Institute of Historical Research, University of London, Senate House, London, WCIE 7HU (virginia.preston@sas.ac.uk).

«Pratiques politiques communistes en Europe occidentale et dans les démocraties populaires»

21-22 mai 2007, Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Paris

Date limite : mercredi 31 janvier 2007

Cette table ronde s'inscrit dans une série de manifestations scientifiques organisées depuis vingt ans par le Groupe franco-allemand d'histoire sociale comparée (Institut d'histoire de l'université de Berlin, faculté d'histoire de l'université de Bielefeld, Centre de recherches historiques (EHESS/CNRS) et la Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme (Paris)). Le but de ces rencontres est d'encourager des rencontres entre de jeunes chercheurs (doctorants et post-doctorants) français et allemands sur un thème donné afin de favoriser les échanges historiographiques.

Le thème de 2007 : «Pratiques politiques communistes en Europe occidentale et dans les démocraties populaires» a été retenu pour son actualité historiographique dans les deux pays. S'inspirant du renouvellement récent des questionnements dans ce domaine, le projet privilégie les questionnements suivants :

Dans une perspective d'histoire comparée des communismes, la table ronde réunira des chercheurs travaillant sur les partis communistes au pouvoir (démocraties populaires) ou dans l'opposition au système politique (Europe occidentale). Ce choix n'a pas d'abord pour fonction de mettre en valeur l'uniformité, des structures politiques communistes ni de travailler sur les réseaux internationaux qui promeuvent cette uniformité. Ces éléments constituent un cadre général connu pour nos travaux, mais dans une perspective d'histoire sociale du politique nous entendons privilégier une étude des pratiques en mettant en évidence les diverses formes d'interaction (en particulier de pouvoir) entre l'individu communiste et le monde. Les partis communistes, saisis comme un lieu de fabrication du sujet communiste, constitueront un premier observatoire de ces pratiques.

Mais nous travaillerons également sur les relations que les communistes entretiennent avec des acteurs sociaux et politiques extérieurs au parti. La constitution d'un réseau de sociabilité et de militance à la marge du parti, comme les rapports entretenus sur le terrain avec les «ennemis» seront analysés. On s'interrogera sur l'organisation concrète des mobilisations politiques.

Enfin on se penchera sur les formes de l'exercice du pouvoir au niveau local ou national. Sur tous ces points, on tentera de mettre en évidence des convergences et divergences entre les pratiques des partis au pouvoir et ceux qui sont dans l'opposition au système politique dominant tout en exerçant, éventuellement, des mandats locaux.

Les propositions de communication (entre 25 et 50 lignes) devront être envoyées par courrier électronique à Thomas Lindenberger et Sandrine Kott d'ici la fin du mois de janvier 2007.

Contacts :

Privatdozent Dr. Thomas Lindenberger, Zentrum für zeithistorische Forschung, Potsdam (lindenberger@zzf-pdm.de)
Prof. Dr. Sandrine Kott, Université de Genève, (sandrine.kott@lettres.unige.ch)

Germany-Poland: Border Studies (2007 Conference of the German Studies Association)

San Diego, California, October 4-7, 2007

Deadline: 5 February 2007

The fall of the Wall, the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, the Unification of the two Germanies and the unification of Europe, all in short order brought dynamic changes to Europe's borders. The end of the Cold War and the expansion of the European Union had special significance for the Polish-German border. Over the last decade this border has been the site of intense geo-political and cultural transformations-intensifying relationships, expanding contact, and raising old anxieties. These transformations remind us that if we describe communities as imagined and borders as constructed, nevertheless those imaginings and constructions have real material and often dire consequences for the people who inhabit those spaces.

The German-Polish border invites reflection as a productive space for border studies. To be sure border studies has explored the material and ideational boundaries constructed by (geopolitical) borders but as a direction of investigation it began primarily with a focus on US-Mexican borders. While border studies as a direction has expanded to consider questions of cultural representation, economic integration, state institutions, civil society, ethnic conflict, and migration, it nevertheless retains its focus on the US and the presumption of stability. The European context and the Polish-German border inparticular offer important points of reflection for border studies.

We thus seek papers that examine the Polish-German borderland from all aspects with the goal of expanding the discussion of border studies.

Topics may be contemporary or historical. Papers are solicited from all disciplines. Topics may include:

explorations of representation of the border in the arts
the experience of border crossing and migration
international and transnational relations
the Europeanization of Polish-German relations
the border town: e.g. Slubfurt
civil society on the border
religion and ethnicity on the border
memory and historical relations
alterity and the cultural other
transcultural contact
ethnicity and conflict
Young Poland, Young Germany

Please send an abstract (max. 250 words) and a brief CV Prof. Randall Halle: rhalle@pitt.edu by 5 February 2005.

The "New" "Liberal" Europe: Speculations, Fears, Visions

July 08-13 2007, Skopje (Macedonia)

Deadline: February 09, 2007

Organiser: Society of Applied European Thought (SEAT)

Topics: This conference seeks engage in critical meditations reflecting on the speculations, fears and visions of the early 1990's as to the emerging character of Europe, and the impact of change within different parts of Europe and beyond. It seeks to prompt debate on contemporary change, developments and issues that might lead us to different speculations, fears and conclusions and new visions for Europe in the 21st Century. In doing so it marks the fifteenth anniversary of the first SAET conference by reflecting on features of its theme - "Liberalism and the New Europe."

As in previous years, this conference aims to bring together academics and commentators of different disciplines, viewpoints and backgrounds (political scientists, philosophers, social and cultural theorists, historians, political economists, educationalists, lawyers and others working across the humanities and social sciences) in critical discussion, whether through philosophical, theoretical or empirical means. We particularly encourage past participants to rejoin debate with us on the fifteenth anniversary of what has become a free-thinking global network. Among the principal topics and themes of the conference that might emerge (without exclusion):

Models of civil society/state and supranational relations
Migration and asylum: Revisiting Fortress Europe
The clash of civilisations: Christian and Muslim worlds
Re-thinking identity, nationalism otherness
Political ideologies of inclusion/exclusion
Community, sameness and difference
Universalism and particularism
Recognition and redistribution
Liberalism, the market and democracy
Liberalism and its discontents
European Union and national interests/identities
New thinking on Europe
Europeans and Europeanness
Inside and Outside Europe. Intersections
Europe in a changing world. international relations and anti-capitalism.

Language: English

Fee: 450 pounds

Contact:

Dr Niall W.R. Scott, Lecturer in Ethics
Centre for Professional Ethics
University of Central Lancashire
Harrington Building
Preston, PR1 2HE,
UK
Tel.: +44 (1772) 89 2547
Fax : +44 (1772) 89 2942
E-mail: nwrscott@uclan.ac.uk

Website: http://www.eastchance.com/anunt.asp?q=356,sfe,int

«Dieu loin de Bruxelles. L'européanisation informelle du religieux»: Toulouse, 5-7 septembre 2007; Date limite des réponses : vendredi 16 février 2007; Dans la perspective du congrès de l'Association Française de Science Politique les 5-7 septembre 2007 à Toulouse, un appel à contribution ciblé est lancé pour l'atelier «Dieu loin de Bruxelles. L'européanisation informelle du religieux», dont les textes feront l'objet d'une publication ultérieure dans un dossier de la revue Politique européenne.; Compte tenu du nombre et de la nature des contributions déjà réunies, il est recherché avant tout des analyses associant réflexion empirique et théorique sur la crise des caricatures du prophète Mahomet et sur ce que cet épisode peut nous apprendre des dynamiques communicationnelles de l'intégration européenne et des modalités d'articulation du politique et du religieux. Toutes les manifestations d'intérêt et les questions sont néanmoins les bienvenues afin de développer les contacts entre les personnes intéressées par ces questions, en prélude éventuel à de futures coopérations.; Les propositions (2500 signes espaces compris maximum, en français ou en anglais), accompagnées de quelques lignes de présentation des auteurs et de leurs travaux, sont à adresser avant le 16 février 2007 aux organisateurs (François Foret : fforet@ulb.ac.be et Xabier Itçaina : x.itcaina@sciencespobordeaux.fr).; Problématique générale; Les débats récents ont focalisé l'attention sur les enjeux institutionnels du religieux dans le contexte de l'intégration européenne, comme la participation des Églises à la gouvernance de l'UE, la référence à l'héritage chrétien de l'Europe dans le préambule du traité constitutionnel ou les prétentions renouvelées de forces confessionnelles à peser sur les choix politiques dans certaines arènes nationales. Le croire se développe pourtant aujourd'hui en Europe essentiellement sous des formes individualisées et dérégulées qui échappent largement au contrôle et à la médiation des structures politiques et spirituelles organisées. L'objectif est ici d'étudier ces phénomènes religieux non institutionnels dans leur interaction avec les processus d'européanisation qui traversent les sociétés des Etats membres.; Il s'agit de sortir du déterminisme des relations Églises-Etats, tout en continuant à postuler que le système politique et juridique hérité de l'histoire longue continue à exercer des effets forts et en tout cas à objectiver de manière décisive des tendances qui peuvent naître en dehors de lui. En écho aux analyses en termes d'«européanisation par le bas» sur d'autres objets, l'attention sera portée sur les modes d'adaptation de la société civile sectorielle que constitue le religieux au nouveau contexte issu de la construction européenne, sur la façon dont elle l'intègre comme sur les moyens par lesquels elle peut rétroagir sur lui, en l'approfondissant ou en y résistant. Cela conduit à poser la question de la territorialisation et de la temporalité du religieux par rapport aux périmètres, aux centres et aux agendas politiques définies par l'Union européenne. Cela incite à réfléchir au rôle joué par le religieux dans la constitution d'une Europe communicationnelle définie comme communauté de confiance et d'identification, espace d'échange, de construction et de sédimentation du sens.; L'européanisation informelle du religieux se comprend comme l'ensemble des processus qui font du religieux un objet agissant sur l'Europe et agi par elle. On prendra en compte les effets de/sur les institutions et les politiques communautaires, mais surtout les phénomènes transnationaux et interétatiques. L'UE peut constituer alternativement un cadre incitatif ou déterminant d'un changement en matière religieuse ou au contraire l'objet d'action d'un entrepreneur de morale.; Différents terrains empiriques seront envisagés. Les médias présentent un intérêt particulier car ils jouent un rôle croissant du fait du rapport désormais distant entre le croyant et sa communauté de conviction, du fait aussi d'une parenté ambiguë avec la religion. Des événements récents comme la crise des caricatures de Mahomet ou l'élection d'un nouveau pape peuvent constituer des cas d'étude très révélateurs dans une perspective comparative. La dimension religieuse comme vecteur d'accès ou de confrontation à l'Europe dans l'éducation, les migrations, les débats intellectuels, les doctrines de sécurité, l'économie, les formes d'engagement politique et social offre également des pistes à explorer.

Religion and Politics in the Construction of the European Union

16 June 2007, London School of Economics

Deadline: 23 February 2007

This one-day conference explores the ways in which religions have contributed to the construction of the European Union, from the establishment of the European Economic Community in 1957 to today. It has been argued that EU enlargement - to countries in Central and Eastern Europe in 2004, the inclusion of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, and possibly Turkey later - is likely through a dynamic of desecularisation dramatically to transform the EU into a multi-religious space. Religions have not only shaped identities but are also influential factors in political discourse. This conference will analyse the activities of religious actors in the context of supranational European institutions and the ways in which they have responded to the idea of Europe at local and international levels.

Papers are invited to address one of the following themes:

The Europeanization of religions within Europe
The social transformations of faith communities in an enlarged Europe
The dialogue about common and conflicting values between Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Humanists in Europe
Religious lobbies in the European Union
Religious parties and the European Union
Political leaders and political religions
Models of church-state relations in the European Union
Religion in the EU documents: the European Constitution and national judicial systems
Religious fundamentalism
Religious organisations and European welfare
Religions between national and European identities

Suggestions for panels and additional themes are also welcome. The conference aims to be an interdisciplinary discussion between established scholars and advanced doctoral students.

Please send your abstracts (500 words maximum) and brief c.v. to Lucian Leustean (l.n.leustean@lse.ac.uk) by 23 February 2007.

Papers should be of 15 minutes duration. In order to stimulate discussion, the papers will be circulated in advance to participants no later than 1 June 2007. There is no registration fee for attending the conference.

Please note that the LSE cannot cover travel and accommodation costs. For any queries contact the organisers: John Madeley (j.madeley@lse.ac.uk) and Lucian Leustean (l.n.leustean@lse.ac.uk).

The Dynamics of Collective Memory in the new Europe

Durham, mid-september 2007

Deadline for applications: 28 February 2007

Ruth Wittlinger, Dorothee Hermanni, Bill Niven

On 25 March 2007, the European Union will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome. The inaptness of the logo marking the occasion, "Together since 1957" (after all, this is only true for the six founding members!) highlights what can be seen as one of the key obstacles to the emergence of a European identity: the lack of a common hi/story. Whereas collective memories of war and destruction, although from different perspectives, provided post-war western Europe with an important impetus to push forward the European project, collective memories in the États-Unis of 27 are arguably characterised more by diversity and fragmentation.

We would like to invite contributions which examine the dynamics and landscapes of memory in the new Europe, addressing issues such as:

the role of collective memory in bilateral, trilateral and multilateral relationships in the new Europe (east and west);
the development of national memory strands and their impact on attitudes towards European integration and European policy;
the formation and influence of transnational collective memories, e.g. Holocaust memory and memory of eastern and central Europe's communist past;
the interrelationship between and interaction of contrasting or conflicting memory strands within the nations of the new Europe, or within Europe as a whole (e.g. memories of victimhood, perpetration and collaboration);
the impact of migration within the boundaries of the new Europe, and from outside Europe to inside Europe on the formation and evolution of collective memory;
the question of a possible "Europeanisation" of memory, and the relationship of any such memory to concepts of "global memory".

We are planning to organise a conference on this theme in autumn 2007 (date to be confirmed), and to follow this with publication of an edited collection. We are currently also exploring the possibility of applying for a research grant to establish an international and multidisciplinary network of scholars working on memory issues in Europe. If you are interested in participating, please send a 250-word abstract and a short CV (including a list of relevant publications) by 28 February at the very latest to Ruth Wittlinger (Durham University; ruth.wittlinger@durham.ac.uk), Dorothee Hermanni (University of Karlsruhe; doro.hm@web.de) or Bill Niven (Nottingham Trent University; william.niven@ntu.ac.uk).

Transatlantic Studies Association Annual Conference: University College Cork, Ireland, 9-12 July 2007; Deadline for applications: 1 March 2007; We welcome proposals by individuals, full panels of three speakers or a series of related panels focusing on a particular theme or topic. Please direct any initial questions to David Ryan (david.ryan@ucc.ie) or the relevant panel co-ordinator. We would welcome early submission of proposals and panels.; We would also like to invite proposals for well-structured inter-disciplinary Roundtables on particular events, themes, regions / countries amongst others ideas.; Panels:; 1. History, Diplomacy, Security Studies and International Relations: David Ryan (david.ryan@ucc.ie) and Alan Dobson (a.p.dobson@dundee.ac.uk).; 2. Literature/Culture: Chuck Gannon (cgannon@sbu.edu) and Liam Kennedy (liam.kennedy@ucd.ie).; 3. Economics: Joe McKinney (joe_mckinney@baylor.edu), Fiona Venn (vennf@essex.ac.uk) and Jeffrey Engel (jengel@bushschool.tamu.edu).; 4. Planning Regeneration and the Environment: Anthony Jackson (a.a.jackson@dundee.ac.uk).; 5. Race, Migration, with a themed panel on Slavery: Alan Rice (arice@uclan.ac.uk).; 6. Latin American Transatlantic Relations (David Ryan (david.ryan@ucc.ie).; Proposals in a 300 words abstract and brief CV should be submitted by March 1th, 2007, to panel leaders or to David Ryan (david.ryan@ucc.ie).; Websites: University College Cork, Ireland: http://www.ucc.ie/
Cork / Kerry Tourism: http://www.corkkerry.ie/
Cork City Tourism: http://www.corkcity.ie/tourism/overview.shtml

2007 Atlantic Studies Workshop: The Four Corners of the Atlantic, 1500-2000

University of Michigan and Michigan State University, May 4-5, 2007

Deadline for applications: 1 March 2007

The Atlantic Studies Workshop seeks papers from graduate students from multiple disciplines. Accepted papers will be presented at an interdisciplinary graduate student conference co-hosted by the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. Disciplines may include but are not limited to: African and African-American Studies, American Culture, Anthropology, Art and Art History, History, Law, Literature, Music, Sociology, and Womens Studies.

The workshop aims to generate discussion on how recent research relates to major trends in scholarship and larger debates on the Atlantic. We therefore particularly seek submissions that expand or contest geographic and temporal delineations of the Atlantic as a scholarly field. The geographic scope of papers may include: Africa, Europe, North America, Latin America, and/or the Caribbean.

Papers may address, for example:

Migration/Immigration
Slavery
Trade/Production/Consumption
Freedom
Citizenship
Nationality/Nationalism
Imperial Boundaries
Cultural Production
Self-Fashioning/Representation
Translation
Kinship/Family
Creolization
Race, Class, and Gender
Religion

The deadline for applications is March 1, 2007. Papers will be pre-circulated to all participants. Applicants are therefore requested to submit a paper of approximately 15-25 pages for review by the application deadline. Applicants should also submit a C.V. Final versions of each presenters paper are due by April 10, 2007.

Contact:

Lindsey Gish
Workshop Coordinator
301 Morrill Hall
Department of History - Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824

E-mail: atlantic@msu.edu

Visit the website at http://www.msu.edu/~atlantic/.

Beyond the Nation? Critical Reflections on Nations and Nationalism in Uncertain Times

September 12-14, 2007, Belfast (Northern Ireland, UK)

Deadline for applications: 1 March 2007

Organiser: Queen's University of Belfast

Topics: The conference "Beyond the Nation? Critical Reflections on Nations and Nationalism in Uncertain Times" will explore the nation and nationalism as realities and ideals in the early 21st century. Its goal is to bring together leading international researchers and thinkers from the fields of nationalism studies, ethnic conflict studies, comparative politics, European studies, international relations/theory, political history, political theory/philosophy, social history/theory, and law to critically interrogate the role and viability of nationalism in our time.

The conference will be comprised of three strands, each strand taking the form of a workshop devoted to a particular sub-theme(s) or discipline(s). The workshops are open to all with a research interest in any aspect of nationalism studies, including postgraduate students and researchers. Papers are invited for the following workshops and themes:

Conference Workshop 1: New Modalities of National Self-Determination and Sovereignty;
Conference Workshop 2: Theorizing Nationalism and the Nation;
Conference Workshop 3: European Governance Beyond the Nation-State.

Language: English

Fee: 120 euros, postgraduate research students: 75 euros

Contact: Anja Vigouroux, School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy, Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, United Kingdom

E-mail: a.vigouroux@qub.ac.uk, e.nimni@qub.ac.uk (Conference Workshop 1), k.breen@qub.ac.uk (Conference Workshop 2), r.harmsen@qub.ac.uk (Conference Workshop 3)

Web: http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofPoliticsInternationalStudiesandPhilosophy/ NewsandEvents/BeyondTheNationConference2007/

The "Establishment" Responds -The Institutional and Social Impact of Protest Movements During and After the Cold War

Heidelberg, November 22-24, 2007

Deadline for applications: 15 March 2007

3rd Event of the Marie Curie Conferences and Training Courses, Series of Events (SCF)

Conveners: Martin Klimke (HCA, University of Heidelberg, Germany), Joachim Scharloth (University of Zurich, Switzerland), Kathrin Fahlenbrach (University Halle, Germany)

Location: Heidelberg Center for American Studies (HCA), University of Heidelberg, Germany

Whereas protest movements themselves are gradually entering the realms of scholarly analysis in Europe and U.S., the larger repercussions they caused with respect to the various institutions of society have largely been neglected. When thinking of 1953 in East Germany, 1956 in Hungary, 1968 in all of Europe, the terrorism of the 1970s, as well as 1989 in Eastern Europe, it was, however, the perception of the "establishment" which frequently posed as the embodiment of things to overcome and the major target of criticism.

It is therefore rather surprising that the manifold institutional and social reactions to these protest phenomena, both in Eastern and Western Europe as well as in the U.S., have not yet been sufficiently and comparatively explored. An examination of the various ways in which political parties, the business world, the military, trade unions, churches or other segments of society experienced, confronted or even actively contributed to protest movements is, however, essential for assessing the historical significance of these movements and their role in long-term societal changes.

As a consequence, a number of additional questions remain to be answered from a variety of political and socio-cultural perspectives, e.g.:

How did different branches of government locally, nationally or internationally analyze and react to the challenge they faced with protest movements? How did they attempt to (de)-escalate the situation?
To what extent did social movements influence the practices of art performance and art reception (e.g. ensemble modern, performance art)?
What was their influence on the public use of language (e.g. political correctness) and the media systems?
In which way did they use the established media to articulate their protest and how did the media assimilate their protest? What influence did the media coverage have on the mobilization, contents and forms of protests?
How far did their expressive behavior influence the lifestyles of other social groups (e.g. informalization as a consequence of the '68-movement)?
How were their symbolic forms adopted, transformed and commercialized by the music-, fashion- and design- and advertisement industry?
To what extent did their concepts of an alternative lifestyle influence architecture and the planning of urban spaces?
Furthermore, were protest movements considered representative of concerns of other social groups or even seen as triggers of larger historical developments?

The overall relationship between protest movements and their interaction in a larger social and cultural context, the influence of other historical trajectories, the various segments of society, political and legal institutions, as well as the mutual conceptions underlying these communications on a national and international level will therefore have to be examined more thoroughly than has hitherto been the case. The geopolitical situation in Europe during as well as after the bloc confrontations of the Cold War will form the framework of our analysis during this international and interdisciplinary conference.

Possible areas and topics include:

government reactions to protest phenomena (cooperation among various branches of government, reactions of local/regional officials)
protest and foreign policy/diplomacy
international responses to protest (e.g. by the European Union, NATO, the United Nations, etc.)
political parties/organizations, lobby groups, NGOs
youth/student associations
media reactions and relationships to protest movements
churches and religious communities
art, literature and music
sexual politics
languages of dissent and protest
constructions of class and race
the transformation of the public sphere
pedagogy, childcare and the educational sector
university politics and the history of science
drug policies and legislation
the economic sphere/business world
trade unions and labor organizations
the military and the intelligence community
representations of the "Establishment"/targets of criticism (e.g. individuals, organizations, or countries)

Applications from postgraduate students, early stage researchers (PhD-students), postdocs and young scholars from all disciplinary and national backgrounds are strongly encouraged and form the main target group for this event.

All travel and accommodation costs within reasonable boundaries will be covered by the European Union.

Although the conference language will mainly be English, we also invite proposals in French, Spanish, Dutch, German and Polish, if a short summary in English is provided.

Please use online application at: http://www.protest-research.eu/

Further questions or suggestions: mail@protest-research.eu

Europäische Migrationen in historischer Perspektive

Institut für Europäische Geschichte, Mainz, 20.08.2007-22.08.2007 (Doktorandentagung des Instituts für Europäische Geschichte Mainz)

Deadline: 15.03.2007

In der Geschichte Europas haben Wanderungsprozesse von jeher eine bedeutende Rolle gespielt und mit ihren vielen Facetten Anlass zu intensiver wissenschaftlicher Auseinandersetzung gegeben. Als ein wichtiger Faktor im europäischen Kommunikationsprozess stellen »Migrationen über kulturelle Grenzen hinweg«auch das diesjährige Schwerpunktthema des Instituts für Europäische Geschichte dar. Neben anderen Veranstaltungen zu diesem Thema führt das Institut vom 20. bis 22. August 2007 eine Doktorandentagung durch, die im Zusammenhang mit dem neu eingerichteten Forschungsbereich»Kommunikation und Transformation in Religion und Gesellschaft«der Frage nachgeht, auf welche Weise Migrationen innerhalb Europas von der Frühen Neuzeit bis in das 20. Jahrhundert einetransformative Wirkung entfaltet und Veränderungen in Gesellschaft, Politik, Kultur und Religion ausgelöst haben. Der Blick soll sowohl auf die Voraussetzungen für Migrationen als auch auf die Entwicklungen und Transformationsprozesse gerichtet werden, die direkt oder in einer längeren Perspektive durch innereuropäische Migrationen hervorgebracht bzw. vorangetrieben worden sind.

Die Tagung soll Doktorandinnen und Doktoranden, die zu solchen Fragestellungen arbeiten, die Möglichkeit geben, ihre Dissertationsprojekte oder Teilaspekte dieser Projekte in einem ca. 20minütigen Vortrag vorzustellen und in einem größeren Kontext mit Experten der historischen Migrationsforschung und den Tagungsteilnehmern zu diskutieren. Angesprochen sind Doktorandinnen und Doktoranden aller historisch arbeitenden Disziplinen, deren Projekte sich einem der folgenden Themenkomplexe zuordnen lassen:

Voraussetzungen für Migrationen in der Veränderung im historischen Verlauf;
durch Migrationen hervorgerufene Entwicklungen und Transformationsprozesse in den Gesellschaften der jeweiligen Herkunfts- oder Einwanderungsländer (sozioökonomische/ soziokulturelle/religiöse Wandlungs- und Umformungsprozesse);
durch Migrationen ausgelöste politische Diskussions- und Entscheidungsprozesse;
Transformationsprozesse innerhalb der migrierenden Gruppen.

Tagungssprachen sind Deutsch und Englisch. Die Kosten für Reise und Unterbringung der Teilnehmer übernimmt das Institut für Europäische Geschichte. Interessierte Doktorandinnen und Doktoranden werden gebeten, bis zum 15. März 2007 ein Abstract ihres Themas im Umfang von 1-2 Druckseiten sowie einen akademischen Lebenslauf einzureichen. Die Auswahl und Einladung der Teilnehmer wird bis Mitte April 2007 erfolgen.

Kontakt: armborst@ieg-mainz.de. Web: http://www.ieg-mainz.de/.

Cinquième séminaire international des doctorants en intégration économique et sociale: Date limite : 19 mars 2007; Bordeaux, 7-8 juin 2007; La Chaire Jean Monnet en Intégration régionale comparée de l'Université Montesquieu - Bordeaux IV organise son Ve Séminaire International des Doctorants en Intégration Économique et Sociale. Il est destiné aux doctorants travaillant sur l'analyse de l'intégration économique et sociale (questions sanitaires incluses).; Le séminaire comportera trois temps. Le premier (une demi-journée) sera consacré à des interventions d'enseignants - chercheurs confirmés sur les évolutions récentes de l'économie de l'intégration. Le second temps (deux demi-journées) concernera l'exposé, par de jeunes chercheurs, d'une partie de leur travail doctoral. Le troisième temps sera utilisé par d'autres jeunes chercheurs à la présentation d'articles destinés à une revue à comité de lecture (exigence du CNU). Chaque intervention fera l'objet d'un rapport et d'une discussion.; Les propositions de contribution d'environ 200 mots sont à adresser avant le 19 mars 2007.; Le programme du Séminaire sera envoyé aux différents contributeurs dans le courant du mois de mai 2007.; Les auteurs seront informés le 31 mars 2007 au plus tard de la décision réservée à leur proposition après avis du Comité scientifique. Les textes définitifs des contributions (10-15 pages) devront parvenir au Secrétariat de la Chaire Jean Monnet en Intégration régionale comparée au plus tard le 31 mai 2007.; Contacts :
Secrétariat de la Chaire Jean Monnet en Intégration régionale comparée Université Montesquieu-Bordeaux IV
Avenue Léon Duguit 33608 PESSAC
E-mail : chaire@u-bordeaux4.fr

BMBF-Verbundprojekt Imagined Europeans. Die wissenschaftliche Konstruktion des Homo Europaeus: Deadline: 24. März 2007; 07.-08. September 2007, Berlin, München; DOUBLE CALL FOR PAPERS; Das BMBF-Verbundprojekt "Imagined Europeans. Die wissenschaftliche Konstruktion des Homo Europaeus" (www.imagined-europeans.org) veranstaltet im Herbst 2007 zwei Workshops, einen in Berlin und einen in München. Diese Ankündigung enthält einen gemeinsamen Einleitungstext und anschließend je einen Call for Papers für jede der beiden Veranstaltungen.; Die zweitägigen Workshops richten sich an ein interdisziplinäres Publikum. Die Konferenzsprache ist jeweils Deutsch. Für die Vorträge stehen jeweils 20 min. Vortrags- und 25 min. Diskussionszeit zur Verfügung. Abstracts (Umfang max. 300 Wörter) zu den genannten Themen und Fragen sowie einen kurzen CV bitten wir, bis zum 24. März 2007 an die gemeinsame Adresse imagined.europeans@gmx.de zu mailen.; Workshop 1: Der Europäer - ein Konstrukt. Wissensbestände und Diskurse (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 7.-8. September 2007).; Organisation: Prof. Dr. Kiran Klaus Patel / Dr. des. Veronika Lipphardt / Lorraine Bluche, M.A.; Kontakt für Abstracts: imagined.europeans@gmx.de
Kontakt für Nachfragen: v.lipphardt@staff.hu-berlin.de; Workshop 2: Der Europäer - eine Erfindung an der Schnittstelle von Technik und Konsum (Münchner Zentrum für Wissenschafts- und Technikgeschichte, 4.-5. Oktober 2007).; Organisation: Prof. Dr. Helmuth Trischler / Prof. Dr. Karin Zachmann / Dr. Kilian J. L. Steiner / Markus Speidel M. A. / Nikola Schmidt M. A.; Kontakt für Abstracts: imagined.europeans@gmx.de
Kontakt für Nachfragen: k.steiner@deutsches-museum.de; "Imagined Europeans. Die wissenschaftliche Konstruktion des Homo Europaeus"; Europa ist eine Erfindung des Europäers. Doch wer erfand den Europäer? Seit wann bevölkert der Homo Europaeus - als Durchschnittsmensch, als Idealtypus, als Repräsentant - die Vorstellungswelten vor allem derer, die sich im erfundenen Europa beheimatet wähnen? Durch welche Kulturtechniken schneidert man dem Erfundenen seine physische und psychische Beschaffenheit, sein Aussehen, seinen Charakter auf den Leib? Aus welchen Wissensbeständen speisen sich Diskurse über den Europäer?; Während "imagined communities" auf nationaler Ebene und die Geschichte ihrer Konstruktionen bisher im Zentrum des wissenschaftlichen Interesses gestanden haben, wurde den Konstruktionsmechanismen der "imagined Europeans" wenig Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt. Zwar wurde und wird viel zu Europa und europäischer Identität geforscht. Arbeiten zu Konstruktionen vom Europäer als Lebewesen, dem ganz bestimmte Eigenschaften zugeschrieben werden, gibt es bislang jedoch kaum. Vorstellungen vom Europäer schwingen nicht nur in intellektuellen Diskursen und globalen Ordnungsvorstellungen mit, sondern lassen sich in alltäglichen, technischen, wirtschaftlichen, gesellschaftlichen wie auch wissenschaftlichen Zusammenhängen aufzeigen.; Der Workshop an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin soll sich verstärkt der diskursiven Ebene zuwenden und damit explizit über den eigentlichen Fokus des Verbundprojekts auf soziale, kulturelle und materiale Praktiken hinausgehen.; Der Workshop am Münchner Zentrum für Wissenschafts- und Technikgeschichte wird die impliziten Konstruktionen des Europäers durch Konsum und Technik in den Mittelpunkt rücken.; Für die beiden Calls sowie ausführlichere Informationen folgen Sie bitte diesem Link:
http://www.imagined-europeans.org/aktivitaeten.shtml; See also http://www.imagined-europeans.org/en/index.html

National Political Cultures and the Wider World. The Transnational Dimension of Political Ideas and Party Politics in Europe and the United States since 1918: University of Reading, 4-6 September 2007; Deadline for applications: 31 March 2007; Historians have recently become increasingly aware of the extent to which political parties and organisations shared political ideas and experience in an age of rapid industrial and technological change. Although much work has been done on national political cultures and political parties, only in the last decade has much attention been paid to the connections between the national and international dimensions of the political process and of political ideas. From the relationship between different socialist parties after World War One to the impact of national politics on the processes of European integration to the impact of welfare state building in Europe on American liberal politics after World War Two, attention to transnational aspects of political change in the twentieth century is yielding new insights into the workings of the state in the modern world. This conference will address issues related to the transnational dynamics of political culture, political parties, non-governmental organisations, and political ideas in the industrialised world since World War One in a comparative perspective, with particular attention to Europe and North America.; We welcome paper proposals on any aspect of transnational political relationships of the kind described above.; Please send proposals of no more than 300 words, together with your name, professional affiliation, and brief biographical summary to the conference organisers by email attachment.; Confirmed keynote speakers include Professor Neville Kirk (MMU); Professor Kenneth Morgan (Brunel), Dr Anne Deighton (Oxford), Dr Axel Schäfer (Keele).; Please direct all enquiries and paper proposals to: Dr Jonathan Bell (j.w.bell@reading.ac.uk), Dr Linda Risso (l.risso@reading.ac.uk) and Dr Matthew Worley (m.worley@reading.ac.uk).

Workshop on: Transitive citizenship: citizenship between states and the European Union (European Social Science History Conference 2008): 27 February -1 March 2008, Lisbon, Portugal; Deadline for applications: 1 April 2007; The European integration is questioning notions of states and citizenship. Traditionally, citizenship is believed to be a crucial element to forge a modern state. As a result the regulation of citizenship belongs tot the realm of the modern state. Legally, citizenship defines who member of a state is and who is not and, consequently, determines nationality. Yet it is not only a legal, but also a political and cultural notion. These notions are intertwined within the ambit of the modern state. Nevertheless, the cases of Catalunia , Belgium , and Scotland show that legal citizenship is not necessarily accepted culturally or politically. This means that it can have different meanings.; Since the Maastricht Treaty the notion of European citizenship has also played an important role in European Union politics. The European Commission pursues an active policy to construct a European citizenship. One of the objectives is to establish: an European identity, based on recognised common values, history and culture. It seems that citizenship is used to build a new European nationality. In order to clarify some aspects of this phenomenon there is a need to see if and eventually how legal, political, and cultural citizenship are interwoven on a European level. This phenomenon raises questions to the extent and meaning of the citizenship in both a national and an European context. Is it possible to have simultaneously a national and a European citizenship? Are identity and citizenship the same? Is the European citizenship changing states as an administrative and bureaucratic institutions? Is the European citizenship changing ideas as well as practices of the national citizenship and the nation state?; We proposed some questions above, but we welcome other questions to shed light on the European citizenship. We invite (proposals for) papers to address the aspects of European integration focussed on the developments of the meaning of citizenship as an outcome of the interaction between the European Union and the member states.; European Social Science History Conference 2008: the ESSHC 2008 will take place in Lisbon, Portugal, from 27 February -1 March. The ESSHC aims at bringing together scholars interested in explaining historical phenomena using the methods of the social sciences. It welcomes papers and sessions on any topic and any historical period.The IISH organizes the ESSHC once every two years. The main objective of the conference is to introduce historians who use the insights and techniques from the social sciences to social scientists that focus on the past in their research and vice versa. The conference is advised by the Advisory Board. More information on the EESH on: http://www.iisg.nl/esshc/index.php.; For questions on papers or session proposals, please contact: Anne van Wageningen (University of Amsterdam; Research group Modern European History) : A.C.vanWageningen@uva.nl

Coping after the war: transition to peace and challenges facing societies and individuals in Europe after World War II

August 13 14, 2007, niversity of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

Deadline for applications: 2 April 2007

After World War II, many European societies were in ruins, exhausted economically and often defeated mentally. Existing political systems fell, new ones were constructed and national borders were redrawn. Not even the winners of war could expect to return to pre-war normality the war had inevitably and permanently altered societies and cultures. The transition to peace can be described as a new crisis facing society as a whole, as well as its individual members. In addition to the problems of politics, economics and reconstruction at a national level, the crisis of peace transition profoundly affected the lives of individuals and different social groups. The memory of war and its reinterpretations have carried the legacy of war to the present-day: it has been claimed that the European post-war era ended only in 1990s.

The War That Follows Peace is a joint research project of the University of Jyväskylä and Åbo Akademi University, Finland, funded by the Finnish Academy. We invite researchers and postgraduate students of History, Ethnology and other subjects of the Humanities or Social Sciences to present papers at the seminar "Coping after war, transition to Peace and Challenges Facing Societies and Individuals in Europe after World War II". Papers which address state-level post-war management or grass-root experiences are welcomed. Papers may deal with the post-war experiences of any European region, nation or ethnic group.

The seminar will be held at the University of Jyväskylä, August, 13 and 14, 2007. The workshops and seminar themes have been provisionally divided as follows:

A. Social and Economic Issues

The war created economic and social issues that required immediate attention after the war, but which often took years or even decades to resolve. Urgent issues included the situation and status of veterans, widows, orphans, evacuees and other displaced people and groups. The often chaotic and unstable final stages of war and its aftermath resulted in restlessness within society. This restlessness manifested itself in crime and other norm breaking behaviours, which were often defined as social problems. The management of post-war social issues has been important in the creation of twentieth-century social security/welfare systems. Papers could address the following themes, for example:

Re-integration of veterans and prisoners of war;
Social provision and social services for victims of war;
Social problems such as crime, alcoholism, prostitution;
Social work in post-war society;
Displacement and resettlement of refugees and ethnic minorities.

B. Issues of Gender, Family and Sexuality

It has been observed that existing gender orders within societies are challenged by war, and one aim of the post-war society in Europe has been to restore the pre-war gender order. As well as questions of the distribution of work, this restoration has also been concerned with the wounded masculinity especially in cases of defeat and invalidism. The sexual morals of men and women were supposedly loosened during the war, and the post-war era thus also witnessed the restoration of heteronormativity and the control of sexuality. Family life has been considered to be a major source of stability and continuity in post-war society. Themes for this workshop could include:

Post-war gender order and the gendered distribution of work;
The wounded masculinity and restoration of the militant manliness among former soldiers;
Role of the family in post-war society;
Loosened sexual morals and reconstruction of normative sexuality.

C. Issues of Myth, Memory and Trauma

World War II is central to both the collective remembrances of societies and individual, autobiographical memories. National myths were constructed as a result of the war and the memory of the war is constantly given new meanings. Memories of massive human losses, and the experience and memory of the holocaust have been embedded within post-war culture. A specific question has been raised about the traumatic memories of war: could the experience of loss, violence and defeat create a traumatic past for individuals and even entire societies? Papers in this workshop could discuss, for instance, the following themes:

National myths of World War II;
Private recollections and public remembrance;
Traumatic memory of war and genocide;
Changing interpretations of war in history-writing.

D. Issues of Readjustment and Post-War Identities

Not only war, but also post-war actions of the state and society affected peoples readjustment to civilian life. Returning to normality posed several challenges to peoples identities, physical and mental condition, and future prospects. Different coping strategies and experiences were reflected in society and culture, for example, in form of new political identities. Papers in this workshop could discuss, for instance, the following themes:

Altered expectations and future prospects in post-war society;
New identities created by the war;
Mental problems during readjustment;
Return to normality vs. continued rootlessness.

Proposals for papers should be submitted by April 2, 2007. Proposals should be one page and attached should be a short (maximum one page) description of the writers Ph.D. or any other ongoing research project relevant to the seminars themes.

Final workshop papers (maximum five pages) should be submitted by July 13, 2007. Enquiries, paper proposals and final papers should be preferably e-mailed as a Word or RTF file to: Ville Kivimäki ((ville.kivimaki@abo.fi), Åbo Academy University) and Kerttu Tarjamo (Tarjamo@campus.jyu.fi, University of Jyväskylä).

Alternatively, proposals and papers can be sent to:

Prof. Petri Karonen
Department of History and Ethnology
P. O. Box 35 (H)
FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä
Finland

Technologies and their Environments: The Circulation of Materials, People, and Knowledge in 20th-Century Europe

08-13 July 2007, Ockenheim bei Bingen

Deadline for applications: 10 April 2007

Organized by the Graduate School "Topology of Technology" and the International Collaborative Network "Tensions of Europe

This interdisciplinary PhD summer school explores the embedding of modern technologies in their environments through concepts such as "circulation," "metabolism," and "ubiquity." Focusing on 20th-century Europe, it investigates how technology has become so closely intertwined with its surroundings that the old distinction between culture and nature no longer seems to make sense. Rivers like the Rhine have been turned into traffic arteries, and Scandinavian forests have been transformed into plantations.

To supply Europe with fresh tomatoes and masses of tourists with fresh water, Andalusian wells are nowadays drilled up to 1 km deep and surface water is being piped in from ever more distant areas. Quickened by the globalization of the world's economy and the internationalization of engineering knowledge, technologies now span the world and threaten to reduce the earth to little more than a source of raw materials. Fresh air and water-what in Europe used to be called "common goods"-are not only becoming increasingly rare, but also increasingly commercialized.

The summer school explicitly problematizes and historizes these developments. It asks how the situation just described has evolved and by what means these negative developments may be arrested or deflected. Its focus lies on 20th-century Europe, but comparisons with other parts of the globe will also be undertaken and the successive globalization of environmental problems will be discussed.

The one-week course takes familiar discourses as its point of departure. For example, critical philosophers, historians, and sociologists have for some time now analyzed our dependence on technology by speaking of a "second nature," and concerned scientists and engineers have tried to reduce the "environmental impact" of production processes and products. In technology studies concepts such as "infrastructure," "system," and "network" have been applied to analyze the close relationship between technology and society, and in environmental studies the impact of our lifestyle has been investigated by means of a concept like "ecological footprint."

The organizers of the summer school acknowledge the importance of these approaches, but wish to go one step further. By exploring the potentials of the so-called spatial turn in the social sciences and the humanities, they hope to contribute both theoretically and methodologically to the development of a "topology of technology." This implies that we encourage applications from PhD students who deal with spatial aspects of technology. Students who are interested in the potential of a topological approach for understanding the technological integration of Europe are especially welcome.

The organizers invite PhD candidates from various fields to spend one week together to discuss the historical origins and future challenges of a system that has become increasingly problematic to sustain. Only by combining insights and perspectives from several disciplines will it be possible to increase our awareness of the increasing omni-presence of technological systems and products in various environments. The program is deliberately interdisciplinary, and the teachers come from history, sociology, and engineering.

Requirements and Credits

All participating PhD candidates are expected:

to read the provided set of texts (ca. 300 pages) in preparation for the course;
to take an active part in discussions;
to give a 20-minute oral presentation in English on their dissertation theme;
In addition, those students who wish to receive a diploma need to submit a 15-pages (6,000 words) paper in English on one aspect of their dissertation or on a topic discussed in the course before 15 Sept., 2007. Students who fulfill all these requirements will receive a diploma for 6 ECTS credits (work load: 180 hours) from the organizers.

Organizers: the summer school is organized by the graduate school "Topology of Technology," a newly established program at Darmstadt University of Technology, funded by the German Research Council (DFG) (www.ifs.tu-darmstadt.de/gradkoll-tdt), and by the international collaborative network and research program "Tensions of Europe," coordinated by the Foundation for the History of Technology at Eindhoven University of Technology (http://www.histech.nl/tensions/). The goal of the interdisciplinary graduate school is to improve our knowledge of the spatial aspects of technical change and usage. In the Tensions of Europe research network the ambition is to get a better understanding of the emergence of Europe by using concepts such as circulation and appropriation of technologies and knowledge.

Costs: the participation fee amounts to 195 EUR, incl. (subsidized) accommodation for five nights in a double-room and full board, but excl. travel costs. All additional local costs will be carried by "Topology of Technology" and "Tensions of Europe." PhD candidates who are not able to raise the necessary amount for travel and lodging may apply for funds.

Formalities: PhD candidates interested in the topic are invited to apply. An application, including a curriculum vitae and a one-page abstract of the PhD project, should be submitted no later than Tuesday, 10 April 2007, to topologie@ifs.tu-darmstadt.de. Applications for travel grants or fee waivers have to be accompanied by a declaration of the candidate's economic situation and institutional affiliation.

The summer school is planned for 34 participants. In case more students apply, the organizers reserve for themselves the right to make a suitable selection. Please direct any questions you might have to Mikael Hård (hard@ifs.tu-darmstadt.de, tel. +49-61 51 16 30 97) or Dieter Schott (schott@pg.tu-darmstadt.de, tel. +49-61 51 16 20 44).

Time and Place: The summer school will be held 8-13 July, 2007, at the Jakobsberg monastery, beautifully situated, overlooking the Rhine valley, ca. 40 km west of Frankfurt (http://www.klosterjakobsberg.de/).

Teachers: The course will be taught by teachers from three countries and representing three disciplines:

Sabine Barles, Paris, France
Cornelis Disco, Twente, Netherlands
Mikael Hård, Darmstadt, Germany
Dieter Schott, Darmstadt, Germany
Wilhelm Urban, Darmstadt, Germany
Heike Weber, Darmstadt, Germany

All teachers will be present throughout the whole week and will, in addition to giving a plenary lecture, be available for group discussions and for participation in the presentation of the individual PhD projects.

Program Structure. The topics of the five days are:

Monday, 9 July: Circulation and Metabolism as Analytic Concepts
Tuesday, 10 July: Resource Management in Europe and Overseas
Wednesday, 11 July: The Industrialization of Nature
Thursday, 12 July: Streams of Waste in the Consumer Society
Friday, 13 July: The Spatial Turn in Technology Studies: Summary and Outlook

The program consists of:

plenary lectures (45 min.) given by the teachers, and additional time (30 min.) for questions and discussion
group discussions (45 min.) on the basis of the lectures and pre-circulated reading material (a total of 6 groups, each joined by one of the teachers, minutes to be kept by one participant)
presentations (20 min.) by PhD candidates of individual projects (in 2 parallel sessions), followed by discussion (20 min.)
an excursion on the Rhine
shared meals and social events

Europe 1957 : histoires et images des origines: 22 juin 2007, MSHS de Poitiers, 99 Avenue du recteur Pineau, 86000 Poitiers; Date limite de réponse : 15 April 2007; La journée d'études «Europe 57 : histoires et images des origines» s'inscrit dans le cadre plus général du projet «Images pour une identité européenne -- 1957-2007» conduit au sein du laboratoire MIMMOC (EA 3812) de l'université de Poitiers.; Cette journée d'études sera consacrée à l'ouverture du champ chronologique de notre étude sur l'imaginaire européen. Elle s'attachera plus précisément à la genèse de la notion d'Europe, s'efforçant de définir les origines historiques et surtout culturelles du projet européen au moment de sa concrétisation en mars 1957. Quand et comment est née l'idée d'Europe? À quelles images (symboliques, mythologiques, littéraires...) répond ou obéit le projet européen en 1957? Quelles considérations et quels impératifs motivent alors le rapprochement de plusieurs nations européennes? Comment se décline, à l'époque, l'imaginaire européen dans les différents pays fondateurs : France, Allemagne (RFA), Italie, Belgique, Luxembourg, Pays-Bas? Autant de questions qui permettront de nourrir le débat sur le fondement tant imaginaire qu'historique du projet européen en 1957.; Afin de mieux cerner ces multiples origines du projet européen, nous sollicitons une approche pluridisciplinaire et croisée du processus qui mena au Traité de Rome du 25 mars 1957. Des contributions d'historiens, d'historiens des idées, de philosophes, de spécialistes de la littérature et de la civilisation issus des différentes aires linguistiques et culturelles concernées seront les bienvenues.; La journée d'études organisée par l'équipe de recherche du MIMMOC s'adresse à ses membres ainsi qu'aux étudiants du master de recherche Civilisation de la Faculté des Lettres et des Langues de Poitiers et à tout public intéressé par la question.; Les propositions de communication (résumé de 300 mots environ) sont à envoyer d'ici le 15 avril par voie électronique à l'adresse indiquée ci-dessous. Une publication des communications retenues est prévue dans le cadre de la revue en ligne «Les cahiers du MIMMOC» (http://edel.univ-poitiers.fr/cahiersdumimmoc/).; Contact : Hélène Yeche (hyech@univ-poitiers.fr ou helene.yeche@free.fr.

"Culture, practices and the memory of the Cold War" (Annual International Young Researchers Conference): Ohio, United States, October 25-27, 2007; Deadline: 20 April 2007; Almost twenty years have passed after the end of the Cold War. This geopolitical cleavage defining the second half of the 20th century was not only a period of fierce competition between two military superpowers, but it also engendered specific ways of thinking, feeling and acting for millions of people on both sides of the Iron Curtain. On the one hand, the military rivalry had promoted the vision that casts the world into competing binaries of good and evil. On the other hand, it generated popular resistance and subversion of the official propaganda, creating anti-war movements, counter-cultural trends in music, theater and art, thereby creating a space for alternative thinking.; The conference will consider these cultural reflections of the Cold War era as well as the remnants of the Cold War culture and thinking today.; We encourage papers to consider such topics as popular resistance and maintaining personal autonomy under repressive political regimes, responses to political rituals and propaganda, everyday life under the Cold War, the reinvention of history and building memories of the Cold War, the reflections of the Cold War thinking and practices in todays world.; We encourage proposals from young researchers who have already completed their dissertation research or have defended their dissertation within the last three years. This will be an intensive 2-1/2 day working conference that will involve a discussion of each of the selected papers by other participants including the authors, the keynote speaker, organizers, and a team of discussants made up of Miami faculty. The final version of selected papers will be considered for a publication in an edited volume. The Havighurst Center will provide accommodation in Oxford, ground transportation from the airport, and partial travel funding (up to $250 for domestic travel and up to $500 for international travel).; To be considered for the conference, submit an abstract of approximately 250 words and a short CV to havighurstCenter@muohio.edu by April 20, 2007. Please type 2007 Young Researchers Conference as the subject of the email. We plan to get back to you by mid-May.; Questions can be directed to:
The Havighurst Center for Russian & Post-Soviet Studies
Miami University
Harrison Hall, Room 116
Oxford, OH 45056
(513) 529-3303
havighurstCenter@muohio.edu; Organizers: Gulnaz Sharafutdinova, Lynn Stevens

"Challenges for CEE States in an Enlarging EU and a Globalizing World": The 3rd CEU Graduate Student Conference in Social Sciences: May 25-27, 2007, Budapest, Hungary; Deadline: 25 April 2007; Organiser: The Department of Political Science, The department of Public policy, The Department of International Relations, Central European University Budapest.; Topics: Aimed to provide an interdisciplinary academic debate and to contribute to developing knowledge networks among peers in the field, the conference tackles. a number of regional and global issues within workshops and panels. Although the topic of the Conference focuses on the Central/East-European (CEE) region, valuable contributions on different topics and areas are welcome. Case studies, comparative and statistical approaches are welcomed. General topics are: Political parties, electoral systems and voting behaviour; Civil society, politics and states; Post-Communist discourses; Democratic challenges; Regimes in post-Communist states; VOTC and CEE; Prospects of reform and development in post-Communist states; Changes in nature and practice of power in the CEE region; New security issues in the light of the EU extension; The Europeanization of CEE; EU and the USA through Eastern Eyes; International Relations Theories; New Political Economy of Transition/Development; Migration and minorities in CEE; Combating non-conventional challenges; terrorism and trafficking.; Language: English; Fee: There is no participation fee, accommodation and boarding are provided by organizers, partial travel grants are available.; Deadline: April 25, 2007. The application consists of a completed application form (includes the abstract too. Abstracts should be between 300 - 500 words) und a short CV.; Contact: Central European University, Nador Ut. 11, Budapest, Hungary; E-mail: gradconf2007@yahoo.com; Information: http://www.gradconf.ceu.hu/

Marshall Plan and European Industry: 30 November 2007, Univeristy of Bologna, Forli campus; Deadline: 30 April 2007; The Marshall Plan allowed Western European countries to purchase more than $12 bn. worth of goods including food, raw materials (such as cotton, coal and oil) and machinery. These vital imports provided Western European industries with vital assistance to restart production in the immediate post-war period as well as allowed them to modernize production methods through the introduction of American technology.; This conference examines the importance of ERP (European Recovery Program) imports to the development of Italian and European industry. In many big and medium Italian firms, American materials and machinery enabled the modernization of production facilities and substantial productivity increases. These quality and quantitative improvements improved the price competitiveness of Italian (engineering) firms in domestic and foreign markets.; The aim of this conference is to bring together international scholars researching the impact of the Marshall Plan on European industry and examine it in a comparative framework.; The conference will take place in Forlì on 30 November (and possibly also 1 December) 2007.; Abstracts (max. 500 words) should be submitted together with a short CV listing recent publications by 30 April 2007 to either Francesca Fauri or Till Geiger.; Scientific committee: Francesca Fauri, Till Geiger and Vera Zamagni.
Francesca Fauri
University of Bologna
Facoltà di Scienze Politiche di Forlì
Via G. della Torre 5
Forlì 47100
Tel.: (+39) 0547-610891
ffauri@spfo.unibo.it; Till Geiger
School of Arts, Histories and Cultures
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL
Tel.: (+44) 161 275 3096
till.geiger@manchester.ac.uk

Cultural Encounters and Historical Practice

Carlsberg Akademi, Copenhagen, November 7-9, 2007

Deadline: 1 May 2007

ith the third and final conference in the Nordic network for Global Cultural History we wish to engage scholars studying cultural encounters in the context of European colonial expansion after 1500 by broaching questions of theory and methodology.

The study of cultural encounters has been conducted in a variety of ways, with multiple theoretical and methodological approaches stretching from ethnohistory and microhistory to new historicism and postcolonial deconstruction, to mention but a few. In this conference we hope to explore how the study of cultural encounters is practiced by individual scholars and how individual histories of specific encounters can be related to the development of global economic, political, and cultural structures.

During the conference we will discuss the limits and possibilities of different methodological and theoretical approaches to historical cultural encounters. We therefore seek contributions from scholars who reflect on their own practice: on the methods and theories they employ, the sources they explore, the contexts they relate to (pre-colonial, colonial, imperial, postcolonial and so on), and/or the narratives they have constructed. Some of the many questions that we want to approach are: What is, or when is, a cultural encounter? What is the place of cultural encounters in global history? How does it influence our practice to adopt concepts like the Atlantic world, globalization, colonialism, or empire? In what ways is it useful to compare different cultural encounters like mission, trade, colonial or intimate encounters in order to establish the specificities of and similarities between cultural encounters? What is the balance between internal dynamics of specific encounters and the larger structures by which they are shaped and to which they add? What are the connections between specific encounters and the mapping of the larger chronology of colonialism and capitalism? And how does the history of people who did not produce written documents differ from those who did and how do we ensure that our analyses of the encounter deal with both sides?

Sessions may include:

The concept of cultural encounter
Cultural encounters and structural change
Violent clashes and cultural confrontations
Pre-colonial, colonial, postcolonial cultural encounters
Economic structures and cultural encounters
Legal, intimate, and mission encounters in comparative perspective
Writing encounters with multiple perspectives - the problem of asymmetric sources
Strategies for writing the history of peoples without written documents
Europeans abroad - non-Europeans in Europe
Counting and quantification as a way of studying cultural encounters
Material culture and cultural encounters
Imperial ideologies as shaping or being shaped by concrete encounters

Please submit proposals for individual presentations or panels to globalkulturhistorie@hum.au.dk by May 1, 2007. We especially encourage proposals for panels.

Nordic Network for Global Cultural History University of Aarhus
Department for History and Area Studies
Ndr. Ringgade
DK 8000 Aarhus
C. Phone: (+45) 89421111
Email: globalkulturhistorie@hum.au.dk

Visit the website at http://www.globalkulturhistorie.au.dk/

Regimewechsel und Gesellschaftswandel in Osteuropa

23.-25. November 2007, Berlin

Deadline: 1. May 2007

15. Tagung Junger Osteuropaexperten (JOE), 23. - 25. November 2007, Berlin Osteuropa hat sich zutiefst gewandelt. Innerhalb relativ kurzer Zeit fanden zahlreiche Regimewechsel statt und die postkommunistischen Gesellschaften haben sich in nahezu all ihren Dimensionen verändert. Doch vollziehen sich grundlegende Veränderungen bei sozialen Institutionen offenbar langsamer als bei politischen Eliten, zeitigen sich in einigen wirtschaftlichen Bereichen raschere Ergebnisse als in anderen; gleichzeitig werden längerfristige demographische Trends ausgelöst. Bei unserer kommenden Nachwuchstagung möchten wir Prozesse und Perspektiven dieser multiplen Regime- und Gesellschaftswandelungen näher beleuchten. Inwiefern unterliegen diese Wandlungsprozesse in Osteuropa globalen und inwiefern spezifischen lokalen Trends? Was wissen wir über Wechselwirkungen zwischen Regime- und Gesellschaftsdimensionen? Mit welchen theoretischen und methodischen Zugängen und empirischen Befunden können Osteuropaexperten dazu beitragen, Prozesse des Regime- und Gesellschaftswandels zu verstehen und zu gestalten?

Beiträge zur Region Osteuropa, die sich in einer oder mehreren Dimensionen des folgenden Forschungsspektrums bewegen, sind herzlich willkommen:

Strukturen: politisch - sozial - wirtschaftlich - kulturell - geographisch
Akteure: staatlich - nichtstaatlich, lokal - national - supranational
Institutionen: formale - informale
Prozesse: Systemtransformation - Demokratisierung - Autoritarisierung
Theorien: Konzepte - Debatten - Begriffe
Methoden: Fallstudien - vergleichende Studien - Verlaufsstudien - Modellbildung

Eingeladen sind NachwuchswissenschaftlerInnen aller Disziplinen (Studierende kurz vor/nach dem Abschluss, Doktoranden, jüngere Promovierte), ihre relevanten Arbeiten in einem Kurz-beitrag vorzustellen. Themenvorschläge (ca. 250 Wörter und eine kurze Anmerkung zu dahinter stehenden Forschungsarbeiten und institutioneller Anbindung) bitte bis zum 1. Mai 2007 an Diana Schmidt (diana.schmidt@uni-bremen.de) and Gunter Deuber (gunter.deuber@rzb.at).

Aus den eingehenden Beiträgen werden thematische Panels für die Tagung zusammengestellt. Wir werden unsere Auswahlentscheidungen Anfang Juni mitteilen. Alle Kurzreferate werden vor der Tagung als Arbeitspapier der Forschungsstelle Osteuropa publiziert (Einsendeschluss 31. August). Die Tagung wird von der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Osteuropakunde (DGO) und der For-schungsstelle Osteuropa, Bremen, mit Unterstützung der Otto Wolff-Stiftung organisiert und findet in der Europäischen Akademie in Berlin statt. Kosten für Unterkunft und Verpflegung werden von den Veranstaltern getragen.

Heike Dörrenbächer (DGO), Matthias Neumann, Heiko Pleines, Diana Schmidt, Hans-Henning Schröder (Forschungsstelle Osteuropa), Gunter Deuber (Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich) Hinweise auf bisherige Tagungen finden Sie unter http:www.forschungsstelle-osteuropa.de/.

2007 Churchill Archives Student Conference: Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, University of Cambridge, 30 November 2007; Deadline: 5 May 2007; he Churchill Archives Centre is pleased to announce its first "Churchill Archives Student Conference" to take place at the Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, University of Cambridge on 30 November 2007 - Sir Winston's birthday.; It is hoped that the conference will become a regular event with its focus on aspects of British foreign policy and international relations in the "Churchill Era and beyond" (the period most associated with the collections of the Archives Centre). This era can be broadly defined as the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. However, the proposal is to use a strategic view of British foreign relations as a framework to examine key themes in their wider international context.; In order to ensure a successful and high profile start to the conference series, the following title is suggested for 2007: "Balancing Europe, Empire and America: Was Churchill right?". In 1948, Churchill described the United Kingdom as sitting at the intersection of three circles: the British Commonwealth and Empire, "the English-speaking world" (including of course the USA), and "United Europe". At a time when Britain"s power was in radical decline, he used this imagery in order to suggest that in the future "it may be found that once again we hold the key to opening a safe and happy future to humanity". Papers may deal with any period of the career of Churchill, his contemporaries, or his political legacy, and should address the issues raised by the idea of the "three circles". Was the concept a genuine insight into the "trilemma" of British foreign policy, or a mere rhetorical construct designed to distract attention from the realities of imperial collapse? How did other politicians contest or adapt it for their own purposes? And what lessons, if any, can be learnt by examining the perspectives of the Churchill era?; The submission of papers responding to these guidelines is open to graduate students from any university. To be considered, the applications should include a paper proposal no longer than 350 words, a brief academic CV, and a cover letter providing the following details: current institution; name of PhD supervisor; year of graduate research; general topic of the PhD. All these materials should be submitted in English to the conference coordinator, Matteo Lodevole (chuarcsc@hermes.cam.ac.uk), by 7 May 2007.; Notification of acceptance will be made by early June. Only 12 posts are available and the competition is expected to be extremely fierce. Successful applicants will have to email their papers (5,000 to 10,000 words) by 5 October 2007. The papers will be then circulated to all participants and may be made available on a conference webpage.; The Churchill Archives Centre will not be able to fully fund the travel and accommodation expenses of all participants, but accepted applicants may apply for a partial bursary towards covering their costs.; The conference sessions will be chaired by prominent experts in the field. Each panel will also have a discussant with the task of providing critical feedback and engaging the floor in a stimulating debate with the panellists. Both chairs and discussants will be faculty members of the University of Cambridge and other universities.

Diktaturüberwindung in Europa

21.11.2007-23.11.2007, Akademie der Wissenschaften, Heidelberg

Deadline: 15.05.2007

Graduiertenkolleg zur Zeitgeschichte "Diktaturüberwindung und Zivilgesellschaft in Europa" an der Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg in Kooperation mit der Akademie der Wissenschaften, Heidelberg

Zwischen dem 21. und dem 23. November 2007 wird in Heidelberg eine Tagung für Nachwuchswissenschaftlerinnen und -wissenschaftler zum Thema "Diktaturüberwindung in Europa: Neue nationale und transnationale Perspektiven" stattfinden. Veranstalter ist das Graduiertenkolleg zur Zeitgeschichte der Universität Heidelberg "Diktaturüberwindung und Zivilgesellschaft in Europa" in Kooperation mit der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften.

Die Tagung hat die Aufarbeitung der diktatorischen Vergangenheit Europas zum Inhalt. Diese wird nicht länger nur national verhandelt: Zunehmend findet der Kampf um die Geschichte des Nationalsozialismus, des Faschismus und des Kommunismus auf einer europäischen Ebene statt. So wurde in jüngster Zeit innerhalb europäischer Institutionen versucht, einen verbindlichen Blick auf die europäischen Diktaturen und ihre Konsequenzen festzulegen. Als wichtige Stationen dieses Versuchs sind die Resolutionen des Europarats zur Verurteilung der Verbrechen totalitärer kommunistischer Regime und zur Verurteilung des Franquismus zu nennen (beide 2006). Diese Ebene möchte die geplante Tagung zur Diktaturüberwindung in Europa in den Blick nehmen, um sie mit nationalen Perspektiven zu verknüpfen.

Die hier angesprochenen Resolutionen zeigen aber auch, dass der Versuch der Normierung keineswegs immer erfolgreich verläuft, vielmehr werden blinde Flecken, Spannungsfelder und Demarkationslinien im Bezug auf den "richtigen" Umgang mit der Vergangenheit freigelegt, die noch kaum wissenschaftlich untersucht worden sind. So fordern gerade einige osteuropäische Staaten eine Anerkennung ihrer Erfahrungen mit dem Kommunismus ein, die teilweise auf problematische Weise gegen die Aufarbeitung von Nationalsozialismus und Holocaust in Westeuropa gesetzt werden.

Eine wichtige Voraussetzung für die Prozesse der Transnationalisierung und Europäisierung war die letzte Welle des Niedergangs von Diktaturen in Europa, der Zusammenbruch des osteuropäischen Kommunismus 1989. Diese hat auch neue Auseinandersetzungen im Bezug auf die bis dato gültige Forschung zu diktatorischen Regimen hervorgebracht. Paradigmen wie die kurz nach 1989 so populäre Ansicht, dass nun von einem "Ende der Geschichte" gesprochen werden könne, oder die Annahme, dass sich alle ehemals kommunistischen Systeme in die gleiche, demokratische Richtung entwickeln würden, haben sich als verengt und einseitig erwiesen. Gleichzeitig scheint es zu einer Rückkehr der umstrittenen Totalitarismustheorie gekommen zu sein, die gerade in Zentral -und Osteuropa, aber auch in Frankreich, wieder als grundlegendes Forschungsinstrument genutzt wird.

Die Konferenz möchte sowohl die öffentlichen wie die wissenschaftlichen Debatten zur Diktaturüberwindung kritisch untersuchen. Neue nationale, transnationale und europäische Perspektiven auf die Überwindung von Diktaturen sollen von Nachwuchswissenschaftler/innen innerhalb von drei Tagen diskutiert werden. Sie werden dabei von ausgewiesenen Wissenschaftern/innen unterstützt. Eine Podiumsdiskussion bildet den Abschluss der Konferenz. Sie wird sich mit der Frage nach der "Forschung zur Diktaturüberwindung als politische Intervention: Renaissance der Totalitarismustheorie in Europa?" beschäftigen. Der Schwerpunkt der Podiumsdiskussion wird dabei auf den verschiedenen ost- und westeuropäischen Annäherungen an dieses Thema liegen.

Bewerben können sich Graduierte und Doktorand/innen aller Disziplinen, die sich in ihren Forschungsarbeiten mit ähnlichen oder verwandten Themen auseinandersetzen. Folgende Themenbereiche/Panels sind vorgesehen:

Nationale Diktaturüberwindung als geteilte europäische Erfahrung
- Nationale Aufarbeitungsinstrumentarien im europäischen Vergleich
- "Nachholende Diktaturüberwindung"? Länderbeispiele aus Ost -und Westeuropa
Transnationalisierung von Diktaturüberwindung
- Transnationale Entschuldigungsgesten, Restitution, Wiedergutmachung
- Erfahrungstransfer
- Transnationale Erinnerungsorte und Gedenkfeiern
Europäisierung der Diktaturüberwindung: Neue theoretische und praktische Perspektiven
1. "Praxis"
  - Institutionalisierung von Aufarbeitung auf europäischer Ebene
  - Einfluss der EU auf Aufarbeitungsprozesse in den Mitgliedsstaaten
  - Formung europäischer Identität mittels Integration oder Ausgrenzung von Erinnerungen
  - Ost-West-Konflikte, politische Konfliktlinien in der Gegeneinandersetzung und "Aufrechnung" von Unrecht
2. "Theorie"
  - Neue europäische Perspektiven der Theorie zur Diktaturüberwindung
  - Rückkehr der Totalitarismustheorie in Europa?

Die Beiträge können auf Deutsch oder Englisch verfasst und vorgetragen werden. Eine zumindest passive Beherrschung der jeweils anderen Sprache wird vorausgesetzt.

Die Auswahl der Teilnehmer/innen erfolgt auf Grundlage eines ca. 1-seitiges Abstracts (max. 450 Wörter), das die Fragestellung und grundlegenden Thesen des Forschungspapers prägnant umreißen sollte, sowie eines kurzen Lebenslaufs. Aus dem Lebenslauf sollte die aktuelle Anbindung (Hochschule) und der bereits erlangte Abschluss (MA, BA) hervorgehen. Bewerbungsschluss ist der 15.05.2007. Die Bewerbung erfolgt in elektronischer Form per Email an: grako.zeitgeschichte@uni-hd.de.

Die für einen Vortrag ausgewählten Wissenschaftler/innen werden bis spätestens Ende Juni benachrichtigt. Sie sollen bis zum 30.09.2007 ein Tagungspaper verfassen und einsenden, auf dessen Grundlage eine Präsentation von 20 Minuten Dauer vorbereitet werden kann.

Die Konferenz findet in den Räumen der Akademie der Wissenschaften statt (http://www.haw.baden-wuerttemberg.de/). Die Veranstalter übernehmen für die Teilnehmer/innen die Organisation und die Kosten der Unterbringung. Fahrtkosten werden nach kostengünstigen Tarifen (Bahnfahrt 2. Klasse oder vergleichbarer Flug) zurückerstattet.

Katja Wezel, Birgit Hofmann/ Graduiertenkolleg

Web: http://www.grako-zeitgeschichte.uni-hd.de

European and Transatlantic Strategies in the Late Cold War Period (c. 1965-1985) to overcome the East-West Division of Europe

International Cold War Conference at the University of Copenhagen, 30 Nov.-1 Dec. 2007

Deadline: 15 May, 2007

PhD students and post-doctoral researchers are eligible to apply for participation in the Copenhagen Cold War Conference 2007. Interdisciplinary research is promoted, and all researchers interested in exploring the historical perspective, regardless of discipline, are thus encouraged to apply.

The working language of the conference is English. Interested researchers should submit a conference paper proposal in English within one of the following five planned main themes of the conference:

The development of and reactions to the West German Ostpolitik in the late 1960s;
The negotiating process in Western Europe as well as the bilateral contacts between East and West European countries leading to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe;
The initial phases of the European Policy Cooperation in the 1970s, seen in the light of the East-West détente process;
The implementation and impact in East and West Europe of the Helsinki agreements during the 1970s and early 1980s;
The impact on both sides of the East-West divide in Europe of the so-called 'Second Cold War' on the détente process during the early 1980s, including the roles of opposition and dissident movements in Eastern Europe and the role of independent anti-nuclear weapons movements in Western Europe (and the United States).

The conference paper proposals should consist of the following three parts:

An abstract of the prospective conference paper (max. 500 words);
A brief abstract of the thesis or the main research project in progress (max. 200 words);
A personal presentation (CV) (max. 200 words).

Only proposals that include all three parts will be considered. Proposals should be submitted by email (in one single Word or PDF file) by the deadline of May 15, 2007, to the conference secretary, Mr. Jens Runge (jensrunge@hum.ku.dk.

For further updated information about the conference please visit the conference site at the following address: http://www.ku.dk/satsning/Europa/arrangementer/cold_war/

"Crossing German borders: New approaches to German transnational relations in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries"

A postgraduate conference, funded partially by the German History Society, at St. Johns College, the University of Cambridge, on 10-11 September 2007

Deadline: 18 May 2007

The study of transnational history, having become ever more popular both in Germany and elsewhere over the past decade, has led to many unresolved questions. Why did Germans leave Germany to travel and/ or settle in other parts of the world? How did Germans view those they perceived to be non-German and how were they viewed by immigrants at home and by indigenous people when abroad? How was German identity constructed and negotiated and what did Germanness mean for travellers, settlers and explorers? How were political, economic, administrative and cultural networks between Germany and other parts of the world maintained? How does German imperialism/colonialism compare with other imperialisms/colonialisms? This conference will seek to address these and many other questions by drawing on the most recent work done by graduate students working on German history throughout the late modern era and in a large variety of geographical contexts.

Papers are welcome on a variety of topics focused on, but not limited to:

Germany and globalization(s) Cultural transfer / transculturation
Entangled histories and German history Transnational networks (maybe specific)
Diaspora communities/migration
German imperialism and colonialism (discourses, imagination, comparative approaches, ...)
Resistance and indigenous responses to the multifaceted German interest
Science, exploration, and travel
Legacies of German imperialism during the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich and in post-war Germany
Race and ethnicity in diverse geographies / contact zones
Categories of German identity in a transnational framework

Historians of Germany have often been criticized for putting too much emphasis on domestic issues and ignoring Germanys position in a global framework. In recent years, however, more and more scholars have begun to pay attention to how Germans interacted with non-Germans inside and outside of Germany. It is with the aim of bringing together the latest academic work and approaches, deliberating the shifting grounds of this subject of historical analysis, and providing a forum for discussion on this recently-evolved, yet increasingly popular issue that this conference has been organized. It will provide a forum for graduate students from a variety of areas of history to discuss many of the theoretical issues involved in the concept of transnational history and underpin it with empirical evidence gathered from their research.

Comparative analyses, both temporal and spatial, are encouraged.

The conference will feature approximately 15-20 papers by graduate students, predominantly from, but not limited to the United Kingdom and Germany. Papers will be grouped in panels according to the themes they engage with. Each paper will last twenty minutes and will be followed by ten minutes of discussion. Keynote speeches by prominent scholars and roundtable discussions are intended to serve facilitating the exchange of opinions.

Anyone interested in participating should send an abstract of approximately 300 words to crossing-german-borders@hist.cam.ac.uk by 18 May 2007. It is hoped that those submitting abstracts will be informed by 1 June whether their paper has been accepted for inclusion in the conference programme.

Best efforts are being made to obtain the maximum amount of funding, however it may be the case that a conference attendance fee may apply to cover partially the costs of room hire, dinner, lunches, tea and coffee breaks, etc. In any case, the attendance fee should not be more than £39.00 (excluding accommodation), and hopefully it will be much less.

The names of sponsoring bodies will be posted on this page as the pending funding is finalized. It is hoped that potential attendees will be informed regarding attendance fees at the beginning of summer, as well as on the possibilities and the prices of accommodation at St. Johns College and elsewhere. Similarly, the names of keynote speakers will be communicated on our website.

The Organizing Committee:

Alois Maderspacher
David Motadel
Tom Neuhaus
Mehmet Yercil

For further information: http://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/seminars_events/conferences/index.html

Europäische Wirtschaftseliten -- European Business Elites

01.-02. November 2007, Potsdam

Deadline: 31. Mai 2007

Deutsch

Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam in Kooperation mit dem Lehrstuhl für Europäische Zeitgeschichte der Universität Salzburg.

Europäische Wirtschaftseliten zwischen "neuem Geist des Kapitalismus" und "Erosion des Staatssozialismus"

In Europa sind die Wirtschaftseliten derzeit einer teils heftigen öffentlichen Kritik ausgesetzt: Manager oft traditionsreicher Großunternehmen, die in einem Atemzug hohe Gewinnmargen, gleichzeitig aber Massenentlassungen und Standortverlagerungen bekannt geben, sehen sich vermehrt mit dem Vorwurf mangelnder gesellschaftlicher Verantwortung konfrontiert. Ihr immer stärker auf die Aktionäre und internationalen Kapitalmärkte ausgerichtetes Streben nach Shareholder-Value begründen sie zumeist mit dem globalen Wettbewerb, der seit den frühen 1970er Jahren deutlich spürbar ist und sich nach dem Niedergang des Kommunismus, mit all den daraus resultierenden Transformationsproblemen, weiter verschärft hat.

Werfen die verantwortlichen Manager, dem Druck zur Adaption an das angelsächsische Modell des Finanzkapitalismus folgend, eine stärker auf den sozialen Ausgleich bedachte, spezifisch kontinentaleuropäische Wirtschaftskultur leichtfertig über Bord? Wachsende Zumutungen auf den Arbeitsmärkten, stagnierende, teils sogar sinkende Reallöhne und neue Armut mitten in den europäischen Wohlfahrtsgesellschaften werden jedenfalls zunehmend als ungerecht empfunden und angeprangert. Nicht nur in den Bevölkerungen, selbst unter Politikern, die sich nicht länger mit der Rolle als Dienstleister für Deregulierung und Steuersenkung im Interesse der Wirtschaft begnügen wollen, erheben sich kritische Stimmen. Versagen die europäischen Wirtschaftseliten vor den mit der Globalisierung und der gleichzeitigen Transformation der staatssozialistischen Planwirtschaften verbundenen gesellschaftlichen Herausforderungen?

Der Workshop "Europäische Wirtschaftseliten" versucht, die tiefer liegenden historischen Dimensionen des Problems zu erschließen und zugleich den Blick für systemübergreifende Zusammenhänge zu schärfen. Ausgelöst durch die dritte industrielle Revolution, so lautet die Ausgangsüberlegung, sahen sich die demokratischen, keynesianisch-korporatistisch verfassten Wohlfahrtsstaaten Westeuropas wie die nicht-demokratischen, staatssozialistischen Planwirtschaften steuropas mit den Herausforderungen eines beschleunigten wirtschaftlich-technischen, demografischen und sozialen Wandels konfrontiert. Dieser Wandel brachte seit den 1970er Jahren vielfältige Struktur- und Anpassungskrisen mit sich, für die system- und auch länderspezifische Lösungen gefunden werden mussten: Neben internationalen Währungsturbulenzen, Energie- und Rohstoffkrisen zählen dazu -- noch immer aktuell -- die Modernisierung der klassischen Industriegesellschaften und die Vermeidung der Überforderung des Sozialstaats. Der beschleunigte Wandel hatte offensichtlich aber auch erhebliche Folgewirkungen auf die wirtschaftlichen Handlungsspielräume, die Anforderungsprofile, die sozialen Differenzierungen und Integrationsprozesse sowie die Diskurse, Werthaltungen, Legitimationen, Selbst- und Fremdbilder der Wirtschaftseliten.

Trotz manches bis heute ungelösten Strukturproblems gelang es in Westeuropa in den 1980er Jahren anscheinend, gestützt auf teils massive zivilgesellschaftliche Proteste und Kritik, einen "neuen Geist des Kapitalismus" (Luc Boltanski/Ève Chiapello) zu entfalten. Das weltmarktorientierte Wirtschaftssystem erhielt eine zusätzliche Legitimationsbasis, die vor allem Flexibilität und Mobilität belohnt. In den Ländern Osteuropas traten dagegen zur gleichen Zeit die mangelnde Reformierbarkeit der Planwirtschaften ohne flankierende gesellschaftspolitische Lockerungen und die daraus erwachsende Erosion des Staatssozialismus immer klarer hervor. Doch ist die gegenwärtige Legitimationsbasis des Kapitalismus tatsächlich dauerhaft tragfähig? Und entstand nicht auch im Staatssozialismus, etwa in der polnischen und ungarischen Volkswirtschaft, schon in den 1980er Jahren ein neuer unternehmerischer Geist?

Ziel des Workshops ist es, den Austausch zwischen den beiden noch recht stark von einander abgegrenzten Forschungsfeldern zu den west- und osteuropäischen Wirtschaftseliten, verstanden als jeweils genauer zu bestimmende Positionseliten, im letzten Drittel des 20. Jahrhunderts zu fördern und insbesondere differenzierte, national vergleichende und transnationale Perspektiven zu eröffnen. Angeknüpft werden kann dabei an die vielfältigen Erträge der soziologischen und zeithistorischen Wirtschaftselitenforschung, die bisher hauptsächlich die Entwicklungen in den ersten zwei Dritteln des 20. Jahrhunderts in Westeuropa im Blick gehabt hat. Weitere Anknüpfungspunkte bietet die Transformationsforschung, die sich zwar intensiv mit den gesellschaftlichen Umbrüchen in Ostmitteleuropa in den 1980er und frühen 1990er Jahren befasst, die weiter zurückreichenden historichen Pfadabhängigkeiten bisher aber meist nur gestreift hat.

Themenfelder, die -- stets mit Blick für die übergreifenden sozialökonomischen Wandlungsprozesse einerseits, die unterschiedlichen system- und länderspezifischen Lösungsversuche andererseits -- diskutiert werden sollen, lassen sich mit den folgenden Stichworten und Fragen umreißen: Zusammensetzung, Integration und Zirkulation.

Führte der beschleunigte sozialökonomische Wandel zu markanten Veränderungen in der Zusammensetzung -- dynamischer ausgedrückt: bei der "Produktion" und "Selektion" -- von Wirtschaftseliten?
Welche neuen sozialen Differenzierungen lassen sich beobachten?
Hatte der in West- wie Osteuropa unternommene Versuch, den wachsenden außenwirtschaftlichen Anpassungsdruck durch intensives, auf Technisierung und Verwissenschaftlichung gestütztes Wachstum zu bewältigen, die Ausdifferenzierung neuer wirtschaftlicher Funktionseliten zur Folge?
Inwiefern wandelten sich die Anforderungsprofile für die Wirtschaftseliten?
Verloren bestimmte Gruppen, etwa die Vertreter der durch den Strukturwandel besonders geschwächten Branchen oder die Vertreter des klassischen Familienkapitalismus, an Gewicht und Einfluss?
Erlebten andere Gruppen, etwa die Agrareliten in West- und Osteuropa, gleichzeitig besondere Protektion?
Traten neue Berufsgruppen auf, beispielsweise Beratungs- und Dienstleistungsanbieter?
Welches waren die wichtigsten horizontalen und vertikalen Integrationsmechanismen der Wirtschaftseliten?
Spielten Netzwerke dabei eine entscheidende Rolle?
Gab es ein fragmentiertes oder ein einheitliches Elitebewusstsein?
In welchem Verhältnis standen konservierende Elitenreproduktion und dynamisierende Elitenzirkulation zueinander?
Waren hierfür institutionelle Brüche und Generationenwechsel mit verantwortlich?
Welcher Grad der sozialen Offenheit bzw. Geschlossenheit ist festzustellen?
Bildeten sich Gegeneliten heraus?
Diskurse, Werthaltungen, Legitimationen, Selbst- und Fremdbilder Wie veränderten sich vor dem Hintergrund des beschleunigten sozioökonomischen Wandels die Krisen- und Risikodiskurse der Wirtschaftseliten?
Welchen Stellenwert nahmen Wettbewerbs-, Beschäftigungs- und Umweltprobleme ein?
Welche Forderungen gegenüber dem Staat wurden erhoben?
Wie ging man mit öffentlicher Kritik, etwa aus den neuen sozialen Bewegungen oder den Wissenschaften, am eigenen Managementstil um?
Wie entwickelte sich das Verständnis der Wirtschaftseliten von gesellschaftlicher Verantwortung?
Gab es eine wachsende Diskrepanz zwischen dem tatsächlichen sozialen Engagement einerseits und verbalen Bekenntnissen zu sozial- und umweltverträglichen Wachstumsstrategien im Interesse der eigenen Imagepflege andererseits?
Welches waren die wichtigsten Legitimationsquellen der Wirtschaftseliten (z.B. Macht, Ideologie, Leistung und/oder Erfolg)?
Wie veränderte sich im Zuge der Struktur- und Anpassungskrisen das Verständnis von Leistung und Erfolg?
Von wem und mit Hilfe welcher Kriterien wurden diese jeweils gemessen?
Ging es dabei um die möglichst realistische Bewertung der Ausübung bestimmter Funktionen oder um die diskursive Konstruktion von Wirtschaftseliten, also um die Erzeugung bestimmter Selbst- und Fremdbilder?
Welche eigenen Rollenmuster und fremden Zuschreibungen von Eigenschaften und Verantwortlichkeiten mit Hilfe von messbaren Kriterien wie fachliche Kompetenz und Leistung, aber auch anhand von Merkmalen wie Persönlichkeit, Prestige und Prominenz lassen sich feststellen?
Wie entwickelte sich die wechselseitige Wahrnehmung von west- und osteuropäischen Wirtschaftseliten? Transnationale Wirtschaftseliten?
Hat der in den 1950er Jahren einsetzende historische Prozess der europäischen Integration transnationale europäische Eliten mit einem ganz spezifischen Selbstverständnis und Lebensstil hervorgebracht?
Inwiefern kamen hierbei wirtschaftliche und unternehmerische Verflechtungen innerhalb Europas (und von Europa in andere Weltregionen) neu zum Tragen, die durch die beiden Weltkriege lediglich unterbrochen worden waren?
Welche unterschiedliche Rolle spielten die politischen Institutionen der EWG/EU einerseits, des RGW andererseits? Oder blieben die auf der europäischen und globalen Bühne agierenden Wirtschaftseliten an ihre unterschiedlichen nationalen Hintergründe, Rekrutierungsmuster und Karrierewege gebunden?
Resultiert aus einer solchen uneinheitlichen Prägung eine eher schwache Kooperation und Kommunikation der Wirtschaftseliten, so dass darin also eine der Ursachen für ihr vermeintliches Versagen vor den gegenwärtigen gesellschaftlichen Herausforderungen zu sehen ist?

ir laden Interessierte ein, bis zum 31.5.2007 Vorschläge für Beiträge von ca. 20 Minuten einzureichen bei sattler@zzf-pdm.de oder Christoph.Boyer@sbg.ac.at. Das Exposé sollte 1-2 Seiten umfassen, ergänzt um einen kurzen CV.

Besonders willkommen sind Beiträge, die sich mit den Wirtschaftseliten der Bundesrepublik, Österreichs, Frankreichs, Großbritanniens, Italiens, der DDR, Polens, der Tschechoslowakei und Ungarns befassen. Offenheit besteht aber auch für andere europäische Länder. Angesprochen sind insbesondere empirisch arbeitende Sozial- und Wirtschaftshistoriker, Soziologen, Politik- und Kulturwissenschaftler.

Offizielle Sprachen des Workshops sind Deutsch und Englisch. Die Kosten für Reise und Unterkunft der ausgewählten Teilnehmer werden von den Veranstaltern getragen. Eine Veröffentlichung der Beiträge ist geplant.

English

Centre for the Study of Contemporary History Potsdam in co-operation with the Chair for European Contemporary History, University of Salzburg

European Business Elites between the Emergence of a "New Spirit of Capitalism" and the "Erosion of State Socialism"

Business elites in Europe are currently objected to partially vehement public criticism. Managers of large enterprises, often rich in tradition, who announce almost simultaneously high profits on one hand and mass layoffs and relocations on the other, see themselves up against a reproach for a lack of social responsibility. To justify their ever increasing orientation towards the demands of share holders and international capital markets, in their efforts to improve share holder value, they argue most frequently with global competition, which has been noticeable since the early seventies, and has intensified even more after the decline of Communism with all the resulting problems of transformation.

Do the managers in power, feeling forced to follow the pressure of adaptation to the Anglo-Saxon model of financial capitalism, recklessly throw overboard a specific business culture in continental Europe, a business culture that has been careful to strengthen social balances and adjustments within the society? In any case, the growing unreasonable social pressure in the labour markets, stagnating and partially even decreasing real wages and a new poverty right in the middle of the European welfare states are increasingly perceived to be unjust, and are therefore denounced. Not only in the population, but among politicians who do not wish to be confined any longer to the role of a service provider for deregulations and deeper tax cuts in the interest of the industry, critical voices are rising. Do the European business elites fail to overcome the challenges of globalisation and the simultaneous transformation of the planned economies of state socialism?

The workshop "European Business Elites" will explore the historical dimensions of the problem, as well as sharpen the focus on the interrelations that are common to the two political systems. Our starting point of reflection: the democratic, Keynesian-corporately organized welfare states of Western Europe as well as the non democratic, centrally planned state socialisms of Eastern Europe had to face the same challenges of an accelerated economic, technological, demographic and social change -- due to the third industrial revolution. Since the seventies, this change has involved manifold structural and adaptation crises, for which system- and also country-specific solutions had to be found. These crises include, besides international turbulences of currency exchange rates and shortages of energy and raw material supply, two prevailing issues: the modernization of classic industrial societies and the prevention of an excessive demand on the welfare state.

The accelerated change had obviously considerable effects on the economic options of business elites, their profiles of qualifications, social differentiation and the integration processes, as well as on their discourses, value systems, legitimations, self-images and perceptions by others. Despite some structural problems unsolved until today, it was obviously possible in Western Europe during the eighties, based on partially massive protests and criticism in the civil society, to develop a "new spirit of capitalism" (Luc Boltanski/Ève Chiapello). The economic system, which took its bearings on the world market, received an additional base of legitimation, particularly awarding high flexibility and mobility. In contrast to this, simultaneously in the countries of Eastern Europe the lacking reform ability of the planned economies without the corresponding socio-political liberalizations and the resulting "erosion of state socialism" emerged more and more clearly. However, is the contemporary legitimation of capitalism really long-lasting and sustainable? On the other hand, wasn't there a new entrepreneurial spirit coming into being in state socialism already during the eighties, for example in the Polish or Hungarian national economy?

The workshop intends to enhance the exchange between the two rather strictly separated fields of research concerning Western European and Eastern European business elites, perceived as a specific set of positional elites, during the last third of the twentieth century. It intends in particular to open up sophisticated comparative and transnational vistas. For this purpose, it is possible to connect the manifold results of the sociological and historical research on business elites, which was mainly focused on the first two thirds of the twentieth century in Western Europe up to now.

Other starting points are offered by transformation research, which dealt intensively with the social changes in East and Central Europe during the eighties and early nineties, but touched only briefly the historical path dependencies that go far back. The following keywords and questions outline the thematic fields to be discussed -- always with an eye on the socio-economic processes of change that overlap the systems on one hand and different system- and country-specific attempts for solutions on the other: Composition, Integration, and Circulation

Did the accelerated socio-economic change lead to distinctive modifications within the composition (dynamically expressed: with a view to "production" and "selection") of business elites?
Which new social differentiations can be observed?
Did the attempts to cope with the difficulties emerging from the foreign trade through intensive growth, based on technical and scientific improvements undertaken in Western Europe as well as in Eastern Europe, lead to the differentiation of new functional economic elites?
To what extent the qualification profiles of business elites changed?
Did particular groups of elites lose ground, for example the representatives of branches especially weakened by the structural change, or the representatives of traditional family capitalism?
Did other groups, for instance the agrarian elites in Western and Eastern Europe, experience particular protection at the same time?
Did new professions appear, for example specific suppliers of consulting and service?
Which were the most important horizontal and vertical mechanisms of integration into the business elites?
Did networks play a decisive role in this context?
Was the consciousness of the elite fragmented or unitary?
What was the ratio of conservative reproduction of elites to the dynamism of circulation of elites?
Was this ratio influenced by institutional breaks and generational changes?
Which degree of social openness, respectively closeness, can be identified?
Did counter elites emerge?
Discourses, value systems, legitimations, self-images and perceptions by others How have the discourses of business elites on crises and risks changed against the background of the accelerated socio-economic change?
What significance had problems like competition, employment, and environment?
Which demands towards the state were raised?
How did the business elites deal with public criticism of their own management styles, coming from the new social movements or from the sciences?
How has the business elites' understanding of social responsibility developed?
Was there a growing gap between effective social engagement on one hand and verbal confessions for socially acceptable and environmentally ompliant growth strategies in the interest of public image building on the other?
Which were the most important sources of legitimation for business elites (e.g. power, ideology,achievement and/or success)?
How has the understanding of achievement and success changed in the course of the structural and adaptation crises?
By whom was achievement and success measured; which criteria were being used?
Did the measurement try to give a precise assessment of the exercising of certain functions, or should it be better described as a discursive construct of business elites, thus as a creation of certain self-images and perceptions by others?
Which patterns for social changes in East and Central Europe during the eighties and early nineties, but touched only briefly the historical path dependencies that go far back. The following keywords and questions outline the thematic fields to be discussed -- always with an eye on the socio-economic processes of change that overlap the systems on one hand and different system- and country-specific attempts for solutions on the other: Composition, Integration, and Circulation Did the accelerated socio-economic change lead to distinctive modifications within the composition (dynamically expressed: with a view to "production" and "selection") of business elites?
Which new social differentiations can be observed?
Did the attempts to cope with the difficulties emerging from the foreign trade through intensive growth, based on technical and scientific improvements undertaken in Western Europe as well as in Eastern Europe, lead to the differentiation of new functional economic elites?
To what extent the qualification profiles of business elites changed?
Did particular groups of elites lose ground, for example the representatives of branches especially weakened by the structural change, or the representatives of traditional family capitalism?
Did other groups, for instance the agrarian elites in Western and Eastern Europe, experience particular protection at the same time?
Did new professions appear, for example specific suppliers of consulting and service?
Which were the most important horizontal and vertical mechanisms of integration into the business elites?
Did networks play a decisive role in this context?
Was the consciousness of the elite fragmented or unitary?
What was the ratio of conservative reproduction of elites to the dynamism of circulation of elites?
Was this ratio influenced by institutional breaks and generational changes?
Which degree of social openness, respectively closeness, can be identified?
Did counter elites emerge?
Discourses, value systems, legitimations, self-images and perceptions by others How have the discourses of business elites on crises and risks changed against the background of the accelerated socio-economic change?
What significance had problems like competition, employment, and environment?
Which demands towards the state were raised?
How did the business elites deal with public criticism of their own management styles, coming from the new social movements or from the sciences?
How has the business elites' understanding of social responsibility developed?
Was there a growing gap between effective social engagement on one hand and verbal confessions for socially acceptable and environmentally ompliant growth strategies in the interest of public image building on the other?
Which were the most important sources of legitimation for business elites (e.g. power, ideology,achievement and/or success)?
How has the understanding of achievement and success changed in the course of the structural and adaptation crises?
By whom was achievement and success measured; which criteria were being used?
Did the measurement try to give a precise assessment of the exercising of certain functions, or should it be better described as a discursive construct of business elites, thus as a creation of certain self-images and perceptions by others?
Which patterns for playing the own social role and which external ascriptions of attributes and responsibilities with the help of measurable criteria like professional competence and achievements, but also by means of features like personality, prestige, and prominence can be identified?
How has the mutual perception of Western and Eastern European business elites changed? Transnational business elites?
Did the process of European integration, that began to intensify during the fifties, generate transnational European elites with a specific self-concept and lifestyle?
To what extend was this development due to traditional economic and business interrelations within Europe (and between Europe and other regions of the world), that merely had been interrupted by the two world wars?
In this context, what different importance had the political institutions of EEC/EU on one hand, and the COMECON on the other?
Or did the business elites, meanwhile acting in the European as well as in the international arena, stay bound to their individual national backgrounds, recruitment patterns and career paths?
Does such an inconsistent environmental conditioning result in a weak cooperation and communication of the business elites acting in the European and international arena?
Is this one reason for their assumed failure in the area of contemporary social challenges?

We invite interested persons to send proposals for presentations of about 20-25 minutes to sattler@zzf-pdm.de or Christoph.Boyer@sbg.ac.at. The abstract should consist of 1-2 pages, supplemented by a short CV.

Especially proposals are welcome that deal with the business elites of the Federal Republic of Germany, Austria, France, Great Britain, Italy, the German Democratic Republic, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. However, we welcome contributions about other countries as well. We specifically want to address social and economic historians, sociologists, political and cultural scientists. Official languages of the workshop are German and English.

Expenses for travel and accommodation for those being selected for participation will be provided by the organisers. A publication of the contributions is planed.

Dr. Friederike Sattler
Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam
Am Neuen Markt 1,
D - 14467 Potsdam
E-Mail: sattler@zzf-pdm.de
Telefon: +49 331 28991-15
Fax: +49 331 28991-60

Prof. Dr. Christoph Boyer
Universität Salzburg, Lehrstuhl für Europäische Zeitgeschichte
Rudolfskai 42,
A-5020 Salzburg
E-Mail: Christoph.Boyer@sbg.ac.at
Telefon: +43 662 8044-4741 oder -4740
Fax: +43 662 8044-413

U.S.-Soviet Relations in the Era of Détente, 1969-1976

Washington, D.C., October 22-23, 2007

Deadline: 1 June, 2007

The U.S. Department of State will hold a scholarly conference on October 22-23, 2007, on U.S. Relations with the Soviet Union in the Era of Détente, 1969-1976. The conference will be hosted by the Office of the Historian in the Bureau of Public Affairs, and will take place in the new George C. Marshall Conference Center at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. The conference will feature keynote presentations on U.S.-Russian relations by Department of State principals and comments from former diplomats and senior scholars from both the United States and Russia. The conference will also include scholarly sessions that complement the forthcoming release of Soviet-American Relations: The Détente Years, 1969-1972, a joint documentary publication undertaken by the Office of the Historian of the U.S. Department of State and the Historical-Records Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Program Committee invites proposals for original papers dealing with the geopolitical and strategic implications of détente from 1969 to 1976. We particularly encourage submissions that draw on recently opened archival collections. Possible themes include, but are not limited to:

The development of the concept of "linkage" and its implementation
The U.S.-Soviet dialogue relating to the war in Vietnam
U.S.-Soviet relations and international security, including the Agreement on the Prevention of Nuclear War and the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT)
U.S.-Soviet relations and the Middle East, including the 1973 October War
Détente and Europe, including Germany and Berlin, Mutual Balanced Force Reductions (MBFR), and the Conference on Security and Cooperation In Europe (CSCE) and the Helsinki Accords
The development of triangular diplomacy among the United States, the Soviet Union, and the People's Republic of China
U.S.-Soviet relations and the Third World, including southern Africa
Economic, cultural, ecological, and scientific issues in U.S.-Soviet bilateral relations
Détente and U.S. domestic politics, including the critics of détente

The Program Committee may form panels loosely by historical period (1969-1973; 1974-1976) or by theme, and potential contributors may wish To focus their topics accordingly. Paper proposals (abstract and c.v.) Should be sent, via e-mail or fax, before June 1, 2007 to:

Dr. Amy Garrett, Program Committee Chair, Office of the Historian E-mail: garrettac@state.gov Fax: 202-663-1289

Website: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/70893.htm

The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP): Perspectives from the Mediterranean EU countries

25-27 October 2007, Rethimnon (Crete)

Deadline: 22 June 2007

Organizers: Institute of International Economic Relations, Athens; Foundation for Mediterranean Studies, Athens; Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence, Department of Sociology University of Crete.

The main Conference objective is to analyze all the factors that guide the Mediterranean EU states policies towards the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP). Ten years on since it was first launched, the EMP appears to be at a crossroads. Many conferences and other academic meetings have dealt with the record of the EMP. However, to date there has not been any serious and systematic academic discussion of the way Mediterranean EU states and societies perceive the EMP. What where the EMP's objectives and have these been achieved? What about its future? Are there a common Mediterranean EU perspective and objectives on the EMP, and if not, what are the reasons for such different approaches? By Mediterranean EU states and societies, the Conference deals not only with those states' governments but also with all actors involved (political parties, civil society, NGOs, parliaments, regional actors, etc.).

A Call for Papers is now open for papers proposals along the following questions:

To what extent are Mediterranean EU countries responsible for the lack of a common EMP identity after ten years in existence?
Is there a common identity for Mediterranean EU countries within the EMP?
What are the views of the Mediterranean EU countries on the Palestinian Issue?
What role for Mediterranean EU states on arms control and WMDs (weapons of mass-destruction) non-proliferation issues in the Mediterranean?
What coordination there is among Mediterranean EU states in their policies vis-à-vis illegal immigration issues?
What implications will the creation of a Euro-Mediterranean Free-Trade Area have on Mediterranean EU countries?
To what extent do Mediterranean EU countries promote a Cultural Dialogue among the two shores of the Mediterranean Sea?
Which is the future of the Mediterranean Forum?

Main Conference Topics:

he Conference will concentrate on topics that deal with the problematique of the contemporary role of Mediterranean EU countries from various (inter-)disciplinary approaches and perspectives such as in those from international relations, political science, economics, sociology, etc. What follows represents an indicative, though not exclusive, list of possible topics:

Development and evaluation of the Barcelona Process.
Theoretical approaches to interregional cooperation between the EU and third Mediterranean countries or sub-regions.
National Policies toward the EMP: the cases of France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Malta, Greece and Cyprus.
The Mediterranean EU countries and the Middle East conflict.
Coordination among Mediterranean EU states on EMP issues.
Trade relations between Mediterranean EU states and other Mediterranean states.
Advantages and limits of a FTA (free trade area) in the Euro-Med for Mediterranean EU countries.
FDI (foreign direct investment) from Mediterranean EU countries in other Mediterranean countries.
Business networks and the role of business activity
Mediterranean EU countries' Development Policies towards other Mediterranean countries.
Human Security and Mediterranean EU states' policies.
Problems and prospects for immigration to Mediterranean countries
Cultural Dialogue in the Mediterranean and the role of Mediterranean EU countries.
Civil societies in third Mediterranean countries: the role of Mediterranean EU countries.
Islamic movements in third Mediterranean states: the views from Mediterranean EU countries.
Environmental protection in the EMP: the role of Mediterranean EU countries.
The energy policy of Mediterranean EU states within the European Union's Energy policy.
The problem of immigration and the migration policy of the Mediterranean EU countries
Prospects of regional and sub-regional cooperation in the Mediterranean area.

The organizers intend to publish a number of selected Conference's papers in a special edited volume, while other papers will be published in the Quarterly scientific journal of the Institute of International Economic Relations Agora Without Frontiers and the website after scholarly peer reviewed.

Call for papers:

A call for papers in now open for anyone interested in the above. A synopsis/abstract of about 300-400 words should be sent by 22 June 2007. It should include: the paper argument, its theoretical approach, its findings and its methodology. All synopsis/abstracts must also include: the author(s)' last and first names, affiliation and position, address, telephone and fax, as well as necessarily their email address. Selected applicants will be informed by 7 July 2007 so that they can complete their papers accordingly. The written papers must be sent by 10 October 2007 (in English). All papers must be original contributions (not already published or submitted to other conferences or journals/books).

For further information: http://www.idec.gr/iier/

Sommerkurs: Europa im Zeichen von Sicherheit und Risiko: Berliner Kolleg für Vergleichende Geschichte Europas, Berlin; 19.08.2007-24.08.2007, Koserstr. 20, 14195 Berlin; Deadline: 29.06.2007; Das BKVGE (Freie Universität Berlin / Humboldt-Universität) lädt ein zum Sommerkurs, Europa im Zeichen von Sicherheit und Risiko, Berlin, 19.-24. August 2007.; "Sicherheit" und "Risiko" sind Themen, die gegenwärtig in aller Munde sind. Das Spektrum reicht dabei von den "klassischen" außenpolitischen Themen über solche der inneren Sicherheit bis zur Absicherung der Energieversorgung und von Hochtechnologien. Der Sommerkurs des Berliner Kollegs für Vergleichende Geschichte Europas wird sich angesichts dieser Aktualität mit dem Thema "Sicherheit und Risiko" in historischer Perspektive am Beispiel Europas befassen.; Folgende Leitfragen stehen dabei im Mittelpunkt: Wie und wodurch unterschieden sich die europäischen Gesellschaften in Bezug auf ihr Sicherheitsbedürfnis und auf ihre Fähigkeit, mit Risiken umzugehen? Welche Formen des gemeinschaftlichen bzw. gesellschaftlichen Umgangs wurden dafür gefunden? Und: Wie stellt sich das historische bzw. das optimale Verhältnis von Sicherheitsbedürfnis und Risikobereitschaft in den verschiedenen Lebensbereichen dar? Gab (und gibt) es einen Zusammenhang zwischen Risikobereitschaft und Innovationsfähigkeit?; Mit diesen Leitfragen gehen weitere einher, so zum Beispiel: Wann und unter welchen Bedingungen wandelte sich das Bedürfnis nach und das Verständnis von Sicherheit? Welche normativen Vorstellungen, speziell solche von der Ordnung eines Gemeinwesens, waren betroffen, wenn gesellschaftliche Gruppen sich nicht (mehr) sicher fühlten? Welche Zielkonflikte konnten sich in dem Bemühen, Risiken zu meistern, ergeben, etwa zwischen Sicherheit und Freiheit? Wie sahen Konjunkturen von Bedrohungsszenarien aus? Gibt es welche, die zu einem bestimmten Zeitpunkt verschwinden, während andere scheinbar "beliebig" wieder aktivierbar sind? Es sollen dabei ebenso vergleichende Antworten gesucht wie Aspekte von Transfer und Verflechtung diskutiert werden, etwa: Welche Vorstellungen von Risiko und welche Bedrohungsszenarien teilten die europäischen Gesellschaften, sei es in der Furcht voreinander, sei es in der Angst vor ähnlichen Entwicklungen? Wie stark lernten sie voneinander, wenn es um die Behebung bestimmter Problemkonstellationen ging?; Im Sommerkurs werden u.a. vortragen: Herfried Münkler (Berlin), Michael Power (London), Holm Sundhaussen (Berlin), Jost Dülffer (Köln), Thomas Lindenberger (Potsdam), Carola Dietze (Washington), François Ewald (Neuilly-sur-Seine), Béla Tomka (Szeged), Ute Frevert (Yale), Gerrit Riemer (Essen), Jean-Luc Pinol (Lyon), Kerstin Jobst (München).; Das vorläufige Programm finden Sie unter: http://www.fu-berlin.de/bkvge/ (Tagungen).; Teilnehmer/innen: 20 fortgeschrittene Studierende, Doktorand/innen und Promovierte der Geschichtswissenschaften und angrenzender Disziplinen aus West- und Osteuropa.; Für den Kurs ist eine Teilnahmegebühr von 70,- Euro zu entrichten. Das BKVGE trägt die Kosten für Reise, Unterkunft und Verpflegung.; Gute Kenntnisse der deutschen Sprache werden vorausgesetzt. Den Teilnehmern wird die Möglichkeit gegeben, ihre eigenen Forschungsprojekte im Rahmen des Sommerkurses vorzustellen.; Bewerbungen sind mit Angaben zur Person, Ausbildung, Sprachkenntnissen, wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten und einer Projektskizze (1 Seite) bis zum 29.6.2007 zu richten an:
FU Berlin,
Berliner Kolleg für Vergleichende Geschichte Europas,
Koserstr. 20, 14195 Berlin / Deutschland
Tel.: 030 / 838 54771, Fax: 030 / 838 52840; Der Sommerkurs wird gefördert durch: ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius, Marga und Kurt Möllgaard-Stiftung im Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft, E.ON Ruhrgas AG und E.ON Ruhrgas-Stipendienfonds.

Imagining Europe in the 18th century

20-22 September 2007, Forschungszentrum Europäische Aufklärung, Potsdam

Deadline: 30 June 2007

The eighteenth century is often considered as a key period in the emergence of a broader European consciousness and the synchronous decline of older imagined communities such as Occident and Christianity.

At the end of the eighteenth century, however, the age of "old Europe" based on dynasties, elite culture and balance of power politics was profoundly shaken, if not destroyed, by the French Revolution and the ensuing international instability. A heated discursive battle over the redefinition of Europe ensued.

Whereas older models of collective representations were thus crumbling and the nation had not yet attained its later quasi-hegemonic status as a marker of identity, Europe presented herself in a multifaceted variety of dresses, offering an attractive space of projection to contemporary witnesses appalled by the pace and scope of social, economic and political change.

The importance of the concept of Europe for the eighteenth century and what Koselleck had come to term "Sattelzeit" (1770-1830) remains, however, a much neglected aspect in scholarship. It is thus the aim of the present workshop to investigate eighteenth century ideas and images of Europe in all their pregnancy and complexity. Contributions on Europe's political, cultural, anthropological, geographical, economical und sociological dimensions are warmly welcomed.

Possible topics include:

Europe as international system and related peace-projects
Europe as a civilisational entity in philosophies of history
Europe's self-definition against internal and external Others
Europe as cultural, religious, literary, linguistic space
Europe in works of art and anthropomorphic representations
Europe in eighteenth century maps, encyclopaedias and dictionaries
Europe as a geographical entity and its frontiers
Europe's place and role in the world (cultural transfer, colonialism and its criticism)
Europe's economical and commercial structures

The aim of the workshop is to foster the collaboration between doctoral candidates and young scholars working on Europe in the eighteenth century. The setting up of an international network with the aim of future collaboration is intended.

Expected are oral presentations of 30 minutes with ensuing discussions.

The publication of the contributions in one of the series edited by the Forschungszentrums Europäische Aufklärung is envisaged.

Please send abstracts (max. 1000 words) together with a short CV and a description of research interests no later than June 30 2007 to:

Forschungszentrum Europäische Aufklärung
z. Hd. Prof. Dr. B. Wehinger
Am Neuen Markt 9d
D-14467 Potsdam

Or by e-mail to eggel6@hei.unige.ch or wehinger@rz.uni-potsdam.de.

For more information please consult our website under http://www.fea-potsdam.de/tag_europa18.htm or contact Dominic Eggel at eggel6@hei.unige.ch.

«L'image des étrangers en France et en Allemagne : XIXe et XXe siècles»: 29-30 novembre 2007, Strasbourg; Date limite : 30 juin 2007; «L'image des étrangers en France et en Allemagne : XIXe et XXe siècles» organisé par la Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration (CNHI). Colloque organisé les 29 et 30 novembre à Strasbourg, dans le cadre de la préparation pour l'exposition temporaire «Étranger -- Fremder en France et en Allemagne (XIXe et XXe siècles)» (en coopération avec le Deutsches Historisches Museum à Berlin).; Les chercheurs et doctorants qui sont désireux de participer à ce colloque sont priés d'envoyer leur proposition (1500 signes/250 mots) et un résumé de leur CV (titre, activité actuelle, publications significatives en lien avec le thème de colloque) avant le 30 juin 2007 par mail à la CNHI. Les résultats de la sélection seront diffusés avant le 30 juillet.; Informations : http://www.histoire-immigration.fr/index.php?lg=fr&nav=203&flash=0

Dialogo sull'Europa. Research on European Integration: 26-27 October 2007, Università degli Studi di Siena (Italy) - Facoltà di Scienze Politiche; Deadline: 8 July 2007; The Centro di Ricerca sull'Integrazione Europea (CRIE) of the University of Siena is organising the fourth international Dialogo sull'Europa seminar. The seminar aims to consolidate and broaden the network of young European integration scholars, which was established in 2004 with the purpose of promoting ongoing scientific debate on their research. The network focuses on themes of European integration and it is based on the organisation of an annual seminar dedicated to the research being carried out in the various disciplinary fields, such as history, politics,sociology, geography, economics, European Union Law.; All the meetings took place at the University of Siena's Faculty of Political Sciences since 2004. The second and the third edition (2005 and 2006) saw the network strengthened thanks to growing numbers of participants and improved organisation of the proceedings. Considering the originality of the work submitted and its contribution to enriching European Studies, the proceedings of the previous seminars have been collected together in three books (the last one is forthcoming).; We intend to continue the experience by organising the forth seminar on 26-27 October 2007 at the University of Siena's Faculty of Political Sciences. Professor Ariane Landuyt (Jean Monnet chair and director of the CRIE) and Professor Daniele Pasquinucci (member of the CRIE scientific committee) are responsible for the scientific management of the seminar, with the scientific guidance of the Centre's executive committee (Achille Lemmi, Valerio Grementieri, Secondo Tarditi, Paul Corner, Pietro Sirena, Marco Ventura).; Applications:; The seminar is open to doctoral research students, post-docs, research fellows, grant holders and young researchers who study various aspects of European integration.; Therefore, proposed presentations must be based on a specific aspect of the doctoral thesis or research project being undertaken. Young researchers nterested in participating in Dialogo sull'Europa are requested to send a brief curriculum vitae (1,500 characters, including spaces) and an abstract of their presentation (2,000 characters, including spaces) in Italian, English or French.; Curricula and abstracts should be sent by 8th July 2007 at the very latest to the following address: mastercrie@unisi.it.; The Seminar scientific committee will evaluate applications with the aim of choosing a selection of proposals. All applicants will receive e-mail notification by 23th July 2007.; Participation and Organisation:; Participants will have 20 minutes in which to give their presentation, which can be in Italian, English, or French.; CRIE provides a welcome buffet for all participants on the 26th October.; Following notification of acceptance on the seminar, the CRIE will contact all the participants in order to provide information and logistic assistance with accommodation in Siena.; Travel expenses must be met by the speakers themselves.; As usual, the proceedings of the seminar are expected to be published.; For further information, please contact:
Centro di Ricerca sull'Integrazione Europea
Organising Secretariat: Dott. Laura Grazi, Dott. Laura Scichilone, Dott. Federica Di Sarcina
Via P. A. Mattioli, 10
53100 Siena
tel. +39 0577235288; fax +39 0577235292
e-mail: mastercrie@unisi.it

National identification from below. Europe from the late 18th century to the end of the First World War

Ghent (Belgium), 7-8 March 2008

Deadline: 15 July 2007

The last three decades, the discourse, myths, symbols and rites of the most diverse nations and national(ist) movements, have been amply studied. Much of this research, however, is informed by a limited conception of the constructivist paradigm, interpreting national identity as a middle and upper class concern brought to the masses through a whole range of nationalising media (schools, army, press, monarchy, church, etc.) overemphasizing the idea of elite construction ex nihilo (as if dominant groups can randomly choose which myth they want to 'feed' to the masses). This conference wants to study not only the production of national discourse, but also its appropriation by 'ordinary people' and the masses' creativity in forging new national symbols from below. The temporal framework of the conference is the late 18th century to the end of the First World War, the geographic limit is Europe. The intended audience includes historians, political scientists, sociologists, anthropologists, ethnographers, ... Publication of the proceedings is planned.

More specifically, this conference is concerned with the following themes:

Describing national identification processes of ordinary people. Were non-elite national feelings politicised into a concrete programme or did they remain rather vague? Were they linked to social, economic, cultural and/or political demands? To what extent did they adopt elite definitions of the nation (the question of appropriation and Alf Lüdtke's concept of Eigen-Sinn)? Was it a case of identity construction against the upper classes, inverting elite notions (e.g. self-mockery, ironic versions of the national anthem)?
Explaining which variables account for diachronic or spatial divergences in national identification within the lower classes and for synchronic differences between lower, middle and upper class strata. In this context the comparative framework of Miroslav Hroch and especially his phase C (the massification of the national movement) may be revalued.
Taking stock of the transnational context. There are very few studies about transfers and transnational influences in popular nationalism. How did popular national symbols, rituals and practices circulate from one country to another? How were they absorbed and transformed by the specific political/social contexts in which they were transferred? What influence did the colonial experiences of the different societies have on popular nationalism?

All of these themes can be dealt with in two types of papers:

Individual case studies; e.g. based on well-preserved sources of a particular worker, pauper, peasant, ..., based on letters by a group of ordinary people from a particular town, province, ...
Survey papers within or across European countries (other than Great Britain, Germany, France, the Low Countries, Spain and Imperial Austria).

Programme committee: Heinz-Gerhard Haupt (European University Institute), Martyn Lyons (University of New South Wales), Gérard Noiriel (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en sciences sociales), Anthony D. Smith (London School of Economics), honorary member Niek Van Sas (University of Amsterdam), Jakob Vogel (Centre Marc Bloch. Deutsch-französisches Zentrum für Sozialwissenschaften).

Organising committee: this conference is organised by the Department of Modern and Contemporary history at Ghent University and the Department of history at Antwerp University, in collaboration with the ADVN - Archival and documentation center of Flemish nationalism. Marnix Beyen (Antwerp University), Luc Boeva (ADVN), Thomas Buerman (Ghent University), Bruno De Wever (Ghent University). Maarten Van Ginderachter (Ghent University), conference convenor.

Submissions: please submit a title, a 500 words abstract and a short CV to frombelow@ugent.be before 15 July 2007. For more information on the CFP visit our website: http://www.frombelow.ugent.be/

Key-note speakers: John Breuilly (London School of Economics), Heinz-Gerhard Haupt (European University Institute), Martyn Lyons (University of New South Wales), Ilaria Porciani (University of Bologna). Plenary speakers: Jean-François Chanet (Université Lille III), Laurence Cole (University of Norwich), Margot Finn (Warwick University), Andrew Thompson (University of Leeds), Miguel Cabo Villaverde (Universidad de Santiago de Compostela), Oliver Zimmer (University of Oxford).

Germany in a Changing Europe

19-20 September 2007, Durham

Deadline: 20 July 2007

German Politics Specialist Group of the British Political Studies Association (PSA), Durham, UK

When the European Union celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome under the motto 'Together Since 1957' this year, Germany was holding the EU Presidency. The discussions leading up to this event and the 'Berlin Declaration' demonstrated that there are considerable divisions in the Union of 27 over key questions regarding the future of the Union. After extensive enlargement as well as deepening since 1990, some argue that the EU is facing its deepest crisis yet. In spite of the generational change caused by the chancellorships of Gerhard Schröder and Angela Merkel Germany has remained one of the EU's most ardent supporters. This workshop will seek to explore key issues regarding Germany's role in a changing Europe - past and present. We invite papers that discuss:

the history of Germany's European policy
elite and/or grass-root perceptions of Germany's role in Europe and their implications for Germany's national and/or European identity
German positions and perceptions regarding future enlargements and nstitutional reform
the sustainability of Germany's traditionally balanced position between the US and France
the notion of a 'European Social Model' and its relationship with the German 'Sozialstaat'
problems currently facing the completion of the Single Market and their implications for Germany
the achievements and/or failures of the German EU Presidency in 2007
the current crisis of the EU, possible solutions and Germany's potential new role in Europe
Euroscepticism in Germany now and then
bilateral relations between Germany and other EU member states, particularly with France and the UK
the future enlargement of the EU, including institutional and procedural reform

Please send an abstract of approx. 200 words. Postgraduate students are most welcome - there is a possibility of financial support towards travelling expenses.

Contact: Ruth Wittlinger, University of Durham (ruth.wittlinger@durham.ac.uk).

Emploi et immigration en Europe: Université de Cergy-Pontoise, 13-15 mars 2008; Date limite : 15 septembre 2007; Depuis la fin des «Trente Glorieuses» et la montée incessante du chômage, l'immigration est perçue de façon de plus en plus négative dans la plupart des pays européens. En raison notamment de la relation supposée étroite entre immigration et marché du travail, l'arrivée de travailleurs migrants est souvent rendue responsable de l'augmentation du chômage dans les pays d'accueil. Qu'il s'agisse des immigrés venant d'Asie et des Caraïbes pour la Grande-Bretagne et les Pays Bas, d'Afrique pour la France et de Turquie pour l'Allemagne, pour ne citer que les provenances majoritaires des immigrés des pays concernés, la même crainte de la concurrence étrangère habite le débat public. S'y ajoute plus récemment, depuis l'ouverture de l'UE aux pays d'Europe orientale, la peur d'un afflux massif d'une main d'oeuvre est-européenne bien formée et très bon marché, prête à se substituer aux salariés autochtones. Tous se souviennent du syndrome du «plombier polonais» en France et du «boucher polonais» en Allemagne. Même la Grande-Bretagne, pourtant à l'abri derrière son faible taux de chômage, se refuse désormais d'ouvrir ses portes aux travailleurs roumains et bulgares, après avoir accueilli plus de 300 000 Polonais, dix fois plus que prévu. Si, dans le cadre d'une bonne conjoncture, les immigrés sont les bienvenus pour combler les besoins en main-d'oeuvre, ils sont perçus comme une menace en période de chômage et de récession.; À cette crainte du chômage s'ajoute la perception des salariés immigrés comme un facteur de précarité. S'ils étaient autrefois recrutés en complément à une main-d'oeuvre autochtone qui refusait les bas salaires et les conditions de travail pénibles dans certains secteurs comme la métallurgie ou les services de nettoiement, ils ont, en raison du durcissement de la législation sur l'accès à l'emploi des étrangers, ouvert la voie à l'accroissement du nombre de statuts précaires, ce qui a conduit à une certaine banalisation de ces statuts, tel que l'intérim p.ex., même dans le salariat autochtone. En raison du chômage et du précariat que l'opinion publique associe à l'arrivée de travailleurs étrangers, la plupart des pays européens ont réduit ou vont réduire l'accès de nouveaux migrants au marché du travail. En dépit de cette position officielle, la situation n'est pas simple, comme l'ont illustré la question des «sans papiers» en France et les mesures de régulation massive en Espagne.; Ce colloque se propose d'analyser la place actuelle des étrangers dans le système productif national des pays européens sous l'angle statistique, économique, politique et historique. On tentera de répondre à des questions telles que : qu'en est-il réellement du lien entre immigration et emploi? Les salariés immigrés contribuent-ils à l'accroissement du chômage ou augmentent-ils le gâteau pour tous au lieu de manger la part des autres? Quelle est le rôle de l'Etat dans la régulation des flux d'immigration? Quelles différences dans les politiques d'immigration des pays européens? Quelle évolution des politiques d'immigration au cours du temps? Comment expliquer la composition différente de la population immigrée dans les pays européens? Quels sont les emplois tenus par les immigrés? Entrent-ils réellement en concurrence avec les travailleurs autochtones? Peut-on faire une différence entre les immigrés de première et de deuxième génération dans ce domaine? La main-d'oeuvre immigrée n'ayant pas les mêmes caractéristiques que la main-d'oeuvre locale en termes de formation et de statut, quelles peuvent être les conséquences sur la structure de la population active?; De nombreuses autres questions peuvent être rattachées à cette problématique. N'hésitez pas à nous les soumettre.; Merci de faire parvenir votre proposition de communication, accompagnée d'un résumé d'une demi-page à une page, pour le 15 septembre 2007, à :
Brigitte Lestrade
Professeur de civilisation allemande
33 Boulevard du Port
95011 Cergy-Pontoise cedex
Tél .: (0033) 01 34 25 72 67
Télécopie : (0033) O1 34 25 60 35
Courriel : Brigitte.Lestrade@u-cergy.fr; Organisation : Centre de Recherche Civilisations et Identités Culturelles Comparées des Sociétés Européennes et Occidentales (CICC, Equipe d'accueil 2529). Axe : Étude comparée des enjeux et mécanismes de régulation socio-économique et de gouvernance politique et sociale dans les sociétés développées.

Overcoming the Iron Curtain: Visions of the End of the Cold War in Europe, 1945-89: Paris, 12-14 june 2008; Deadline: 15 September 2007; Conveners: Frédéric Bozo (University of Paris III-Sorbonne Nouvelle) and Marie-Pierre Rey (University of Paris 1-Panthéon Sorbonne).; Organized in cooperation with: Bundeskanzler Willy Brandt Stiftung, CIMA, LSE Cold War Studies Centre, and The Johns Hopkins University, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Bologna Center.; Scientific Committee: Frédéric Bozo, Marie-Pierre Rey, Marco Cesa, Piers Ludlow, Leopoldo Nuti, Bernd Rother.; Presentation:; The end of the Cold War and, in particular, the events of 1989-1991 -- from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the disintegration of the USSR -- have been at the forefront of historical research for the past fifteen years, and they are likely to continue to be the main focus of the historiography of the Cold War in the future. Among the reasons which explain the infatuation aroused by this period, the unpredictability of the events in question ranks high. There is indeed a consensus among historians that the unfolding of these events had hardly been foreseen by contemporaries, including key political actors who were mostly taken by surprise by the rapidity as well as the pacific character of the "revolutions" of 1989 and their sequel.; And yet the end of the Cold War has been a constant and recurrent theme throughout the Cold War itself. Ever since its inception, statesmen, diplomats, politicians, academics, and others reflected about ways of ending the East-West conflict and its consequences. To be sure, as the Cold War settled in, the East-West status quo increasingly came to be seen by most contemporaries as long lasting. Yet the situation was, arguably, never considered as irreversible in the long term: even at times when the established order appeared to have become all but perennial, the need to overcome it and the way to do so were more or less openly discussed. It is surprising, therefore, that recent historiography has not systematically sought to explore and investigate the visions of the end of the Cold War before the end of the Cold War, as we intend to do.; The objective of the conference is therefore to bring to the fore the reflections, programmes and strategies which, throughout the period, have aimed at calling into question the bipolar system and at replacing it by alternative logics, approaches or concepts. These visions may be associated with individuals, whatever their role or function (say, a Kennan, a de Gaulle, a Brandt, a Reagan or a Gorbachev); of organized groups (e.g. political parties like the French RPF in the late 1940's, or the German SPD and Eurocommunists in the 1970's); or of civil society (as witnessed for example by the posture of Soviet or East European dissidents in the 1980's). Alternatively, they may have been connected with certain processes (the European integration process, the CSCE) or certain events (e.g. the Euromissile crisis and the peace movement). Depending on the period and context, they may have constituted actual, thoroughly conceived programmes, more blurred, utopian aspirations aiming at the reconciliation between the two halves of divided Europe, or even simply the belief that the cold war had already, in effect, come to an end (for instance after Stalin's death or at the height of détente).; We believe such an effort can be of interest for several reasons. Although the most outstanding visions of the end of the Cold War -- especially those of prominent actors -- have caught the attention of historians, we hope the conference will bring to the fore previously neglected aspects, approaches or representatives of the problem and thus enhance our general knowledge of the overall phenomenon. Moreover, while specific visions of the end of the Cold War have been treated on their own merits and in their particular contexts, the effort will make it possible to apprehend them as a whole, thus allowing for a more systematic questioning of the very notion of "anticipating" the end of the Cold War throughout the period (e.g. by allowing typologies). Finally, the effort is likely to reveal a lot about the nature, the structure and the multiple perceptions of the Cold War itself. Because they were elaborated in particular contexts and, in fact, in opposition to these situations, the various visions of the end of the Cold War can be treated as yardsticks which make it possible to better appreciate these same contexts or situations and, therefore, to better analyse the dynamics of the conflict and the dialectics between status quo and change throughout the period -- thus further contributing to the understanding of its end.; Topics to be addressed:; We invite papers dealing with all aspects of the foregoing problematic over the whole period, and, in particular, focusing on visions of the end of the Cold War expressed by prominent individuals (statesmen, politicians, diplomats etc.), by governments, or organizations, including political parties or emanating from the civil society (e.g. dissidents, intellectuals or religious groups).; We would also welcome contributions covering visions of the end of the Cold War conveyed by specific processes (e.g. the EEC or the CSCE) or expressed at particular junctures, whether moments of crisis or times of détente.; Finally, we would encourage more "methodological" submissions contributing to the elucidation of the subject in a more general way, whether in historic terms (e.g. reflections on the impact of visions of the end of the Cold War on its actual ending) or in theoretical terms (e.g. reflections on how IR theory had--or had not--imagined the end of the Cold War).Procedure:; The organizers would, of course, be happy to consider additional proposals which potential contributors believe would fit in the overall intellectual framework of the conference.; The deadline for proposals is September 15th, 2007.; Proposals should include a title, a one page outline and a one page CV of the author with a list of major books and articles. Following the acceptance of the proposals (before the end of October), authors will receive editorial guidelines (e.g. format of the papers). In order for the papers to be available to conference participants beforehand, authors will be asked to submit their draft papers by June 1st, 2008.; The conference organizers intend to publish a selection of the papers as an edited volume. In order for the publication to proceed swiftly, the deadline for the submission of final drafts of the selected papers will be September 15th, 2008.; Proposals should be emailed or sent by regular mail to:
Prof. Marie-Pierre Rey (Marie-Pierre.Rey@univ-paris1.fr)
Pr Marie-Pierre REY
Université de Paris 1-Panthéon Sorbonne,
Centre de recherches en histoire des Slaves
1 rue Victor Cousin
75005 Paris
France; Participants will receive reimbursement for their transportation on the basis of economy fare as well as accommodation during their stay in Paris for up to three nights.

Economic History Society Annual Conference

University of Nottingham (28-30 March 2008)

Deadline: 17 September 2007

The 2008 annual conference of the Economic History Society will be hosted by the University of Nottingham from 28 to 30 March.

The conference programme committee welcomes proposals in all aspects of economic and social history covering a wide range of periods and countries, and particularly welcomes papers of an interdisciplinary nature. Preference may be given to scholars who did not present a paper at the previous year's conference. Those currently studying for a PhD should submit a proposal to the New Researcher session; please contact Maureen Galbraith (ehsocsec@arts.gla.ac.uk) for further information.

The committee invites proposals for individual papers, as well as for entire sessions (3 speakers, 1.5 hours duration). The latter should include proposals and synopses for each paper in the session, although the committee reserves the right to determine which papers will be presented in the session if it is accepted. If a session is not accepted, the committee may incorporate one or more of the proposed papers into other panels.

For each proposed paper, please send (preferably by e-mail) a brief c.v. and a short abstract (including name, postal and e-mail addresses) of 400-500 words to:

Maureen Galbraith
Economic History Society
Dept of Economic & Social History
University of Glasgow
Lilybank House, Bute Gardens
Glasgow G12 8RT
Scotland, UK
E-mail: ehsocsec@arts.gla.ac.uk

For full consideration, proposals must be received by 17 September 2007. Notices of acceptance will be sent to individual paper givers by 16 November 2007.

Should your paper be accepted, you will be asked to provide the following:

A brief non-technical summary of your paper for the 'Media Briefings' section of the Society's website (by 4 January 2008).
An abstract of the paper for inclusion in the conference booklet (by 4 January 2008).
An electronic copy of your full paper, or a web address where the paper is available for consultation (by 3 March 2008).

It is the normal expectation that speakers who submit a proposal for a paper to the Conference Committee should be able to obtain independent financial support for their travel and conference attendance. However, a very limited support fund exists to assist overseas speakers who are unable to obtain funding from their own institution or from another source. Details of this fund and an application form can be obtained from the Society's administrative secretary, Maureen Galbraith (ehsocsec@arts.gla.ac.uk). It is important that a completed application form is included with the paper proposal and the brief c.v. which are submitted to the conference committee for the September deadline. Only in exceptional circumstances will later applications for support be considered.

«Où en est le moteur franco-allemand?»: Collège d'Europe, Bruges, Belgique, 28 février 2008; date limite : 21 septembre 2007; Le Département d'études politiques et administratives du Collège d'Europe de Bruges organise une conférence intitulée «Le futur du moteur franco-allemand au sein de l'Union européenne». La France et l'Allemagne ont constitué le moteur historique de l'intégration politique en Europe. Mais à la décennie Mitterrand-Kohl ont succédé des années beaucoup Moins fructueuses, notamment en raison de priorités politiques différentes et d'une certaine lassitude vis-à-vis de l'intégration.; En outre, depuis les deux derniers élargissements, il est encore plus difficile pour deux Pays seulement d'influencer autant la politique européenne que la France et l'Allemagne ont pu le faire dans le passé. Néanmoins, ces deux pays continuent de jouer un rôle politique majeur, et peuvent toujours avoir un impact sur l'agenda européen lorsqu'ils parviennent à se mettre d'accord (sur la réforme du Pacte de stabilité et de croissance, par exemple). Enfin, les changements de gouvernement en France et en Allemagne constituent sans doute une fenêtre d'opportunité exceptionnelle pour le réexamen de cette relation, à l'aune d'une Union européenne à 27.; Cette conférence cherche donc à approfondir notre connaissance de la relation franco-allemande telle qu'elle peut s'exprimer au travers de différentes politiques européennes, et à améliorer notre analyse théorique de ce qu'un leadership politique peut être au sein d'une Union européenne élargie.; Nous sommes ouverts à toutes les contributions de chercheurs et professionnels dont le champ d'étude couvre à la fois les perspectives institutionnelles et les implications en matière de politiques.; Propositions : les contributions peuvent être écrites en anglais ou en français. Veuillez SVP envoyer un résumé (1 page maximum) au Professeur Michele Chang, via e-mail (mchang@coleurop.be), avant le 21 septembre. Les auteurs sélectionnés recevront une réponse avant la fin du mois d'octobre.; Coûts : les organisateurs prennent en charge le couvert et le logement des participants, de même que les frais de voyage à concurrence d'un montant qui reste encore à déterminer. L'événement sera ouvert au public. Les questions sont à poser à mchang@coleurop.be.

"Expanding Connections for Business History": Business History Conference Annual Meeting

Sacramento, California (US), 10-12 April 2008

Deadline: 24 September 2007

The 2008 annual meeting of the Business History Conference (BHC) will take place April 10-12 in Sacramento, California, hosted by the California State University at Sacramento. The deadline for submission of proposals is September 24, 2007.

Expanding Connections for Business History "Expanding Connections" is both the theme and the goal of the 2008 Business History Conference annual meeting. Business-related activities pervade human affairs, yet scholars within business history and those in other disciplines often conceive the field narrowly. This conference will highlight scholarship that expands the field's connections across disciplines and perspectives. In addition to our traditional paper sessions, we invite proposals for a poster session that will be held in conjunction with a reception.

We seek papers that demonstrate the relevance of business history to other fields of history and other areas of scholarship, including literature, business ethics, management studies, sociology, economics, and anthropology. We are also interested in submissions that demonstrate how the field of business history is enriched by using analytic strategies and insights from other fields of history and other scholarly disciplines.

We also encourage projects that expand the reach of business history, including:

comparisons across boundaries of nation, region, culture, time period, class, race, ethnicity, and gender,
research placing firm and industry histories into their economic, political, social, technological, or cultural contexts,
explorations of the connections between business owners, managers, and workers, businesses and the state, as well as connections between businesses and their customers,
examinations that place the activities of individuals or groups into the larger business systems within which they operate.

Research directed at these goals will expand business history's intellectual connections and reach, extending its relevance to both scholarly and public audiences. We encourage panels that are multidisciplinary and that include one or more participants who have not previously presented at BHC. In keeping with longstanding BHC policy, the committee will also entertain submissions not directly related to the conference theme.

Potential presenters may submit proposals either for individual papers or for entire panels. Individual paper or poster proposals should include a one-page abstract and a one-page curriculum vitae (CV). The abstract should summarize the argument of the presentation, the sources on which it is based, and its relationship to existing scholarship. Each panel proposal should include a cover letter stating the rationale for the session, the name of the panel's contact person, a one-page abstract and author's CV for each proposed paper (up to three), and a list of preferred chairs and commentators with contact information. Those submitting proposals will find it useful to read the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) recommendations in "How to Get Your Proposal Accepted," which are applicable to the BHC as well.

Proposals also are invited for the Herman E. Krooss Prize for the best dissertation in business history. The Krooss Prize Committee welcomes submissions from recent Ph.D.s (2005-07) in history, economics, business administration, history of science and technology, law, and related fields. To participate in this competition, please indicate so in a cover letter, and include a one-page CV and one-page dissertation abstract. Semi-finalists will be asked to submit copies of their dissertation after initial review of proposals. Finalists will present summaries of their dissertations at the Sacramento meeting.

BHC also awards the K. Austin Kerr Prize for the best first paper by a Ph.D. candidate or recent Ph.D. (2005-07). If you wish to participate in this competition, please indicate so in your proposal. Proposals accepted for the Krooss Prize panel are not eligible for the Kerr Prize.

The deadline for receipt of all proposals is 24 September 2007. Notification of acceptances will be sent by 15 December 2007. Presenters will be expected to submit abstracts of their papers for posting on the BHC website. In addition, presenters are encouraged to post electronic versions of their papers prior to the meeting, and to submit their papers for inclusion in our on-line proceedings publication, Business and Economic History On-Line. The BHC also offers grants to graduate students who are presenting papers to offset some of the costs of attending the conference.

Please send all proposals to Dr. Roger Horowitz, Secretary-Treasurer, Business History Conference, P. O. Box 3630, Wilmington, DE 19807, USA. Phone: (302) 658-2400; fax: (302) 655-3188; email: rh@udel.edu.

The program committee: Margaret Levenstein (chair), University of Michigan; Walter Friedman, Harvard Business School; Robert MacDougall, University of Western Ontario; Mary O'Sullivan, The Wharton School; and Pamela W. Laird (BHC President, 2007-2008), University of Colorado at Denver.

The Newcomen Dissertation Colloquium will be held in conjunction with the 2008 BHC annual meeting. This intensive workshop, sponsored by the BHC through the generous support of the Newcomen Society of the United States, will take place at the conference venue Wednesday evening, April 9, and Thursday, April 10. Participants will work closely with a small, distinguished group of BHC-affiliated scholars, including at least two of its officers. The assembled scholars and students will review dissertation proposals, consider relevant literatures and research strategies, and discuss the business history profession. Limited to ten students, it is intended for doctoral candidates in the early stages of their dissertation projects. Those interested in participating should submit to Roger Horowitz, BHC Secretary-Treasurer (rh@udel.edu), a statement of interest, a preliminary or final dissertation prospectus, and a CV. Please make clear that you are interested in the Dissertation Colloquium. One recommendation from the dissertation supervisor (or prospective supervisor) should also be faxed (302-655-3188) or emailed to Roger Horowitz by December 15, 2007. The review committee will notify all applicants of its decisions by February 1st. A grant from the Newcomen Society of the United States will provide each participant with a $400US honorarium.

The European Union in International Affairs

Egmont Palace, Brussels, 24-26 April 2008

Deadline: 25 September 2007

The Institute for European Studies (IES) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB), the Institut d'Études Européennnes (IEE) at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), the UN University programme for Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS), and the Egmont -- Royal Institute for International Relations invite papers for the GARNET Conference "The European Union in International Affairs", to be held in Brussels on 24-26 April 2008. The conference will be the first of what we hope will be a series of conferences on this theme. The second conference is planned for 2010.

Deadline for abstracts: 25 September 2007. Please submit your abstract by sending your one page abstract to conference@ies.be.

Notification of acceptance: 20 December 2007

Submission of full papers: 1 April 2008

The Conference is organised in the framework, and with the support, of "Global Governance, Regionalisation and Regulation: the Role of the EU" (GARNET, Network of Excellence, 6th EU Framework Programme for Research, 2005-2010). Through the Conference, GARNET aims to continue the development of a world-class multi-disciplinary network of researchers, analysts and practitioners with expertise in key areas of global and regional governance with a particular focus on Europe's role. The Conference in particular constitutes one of the core activities of the GARNET jointly executed research project on "Theoretical issues on the EU, UN multilateralism and global governance". It is, however, expressly open to participation from non- GARNET members.

The Conference will provide a forum for discussion and exchange of ideas among the growing number of scholars that take an interest in understanding the interface of EU and international politics and law. Interest in the role and place of the European Union in international affairs has grown in different sections of the scientific community, including foreign policy analysis, the investigation of international institutions, international political economy, international and European law, European Studies (including comparative analysis of policy and law in EU member states), policy studies, and development studies as well as other fields. The Conference will also attempt to foster exchange between the academic and policy communities, especially through keynote addresses by senior policymakers and a number of "policy link" panels featuring a mixture of academics and practitioners. In total, we expect up to 150 conference participants.

To this end, we invite in particular papers that cover one or more of the four conference themes:

The EU, the UN and Global Governance: Theories, Institutions, Processes, Actors. As a global actor, the EU is embedded in an international framework, including multilateral institutions and organisations. Contributions may address such topics as the role of the EU in treaty-based regimes, in international organisations or in more informal institutions such as the G8, and the ways in which these institutions form and influence the EU as an international actor. They may also explore in more detail the processes and actors that shape the EU's role in global governance, including the implementation of the EU's international obligations. In general, explorations of the institutions, processes, (legal) competences, decisions and actors present in EU-global governance relations are appreciated.
The EU in a Globalizing World: The Security and Economic Dimensions. Exploring the distinct, yet related policy fields of security and economics promises to help improve our understanding of the conditions of the EU's role in a globalised world in different policy areas:
- Security: Security considerations include the formulation of EU strategies to deal with different threats as well as developments in the field of European Security and Defence Policy. Relevant security issues include global terrorist activity, conflict-resolution, non-proliferation, security assistance and support for reform, and peace- building efforts in various parts of the world, including on the EU's new borders. They in particular cover the nexus between security and development and between security and energy supply.
- Economy: The EU has a very significant role to play in global economic activity and policy. While the European Commission has the leading role in the area of international trade, EU member states remain the prime actors in important other international economic contexts (e.g. World Bank, IMF), which results in a complex political and legal mix of shared EU and Member States' competences.
The Interplay between EU Member States, the EU and International Affairs. The vertical dimension in developing an EU outlook on international law and politics raises various questions. For example, what is the impact of the EU's internal multi-level order on the EU as a foreign policy actor and the formulation of "EU" foreign policy? How can the EU's external activities be monitored and controlled? What role do various foreign policy strategies of EU member states play (e.g. isolationist, Atlanticist, protectionist, multilateral/ internationalist)? What are the driving forces of different strategies and approaches (threat perception, preferences, etc.)? How and to what extent do the activities of individual member states shape or contravene a common EU approach in international affairs? To what extent is the EU bound by international law in its international relations?
The EU, Interregionalism and the Challenge to Multilateralism. The EU interacts with other world regions and major players. As such, it promotes cooperation within and between different regions as well as with other countries, including under the new EU Neighbourhood Policy. What is the prospect of inter-regional cooperation fostered by the EU both with relevant formal organisations (e.g. APEC/ASEAN, NAFTA, the AU, UNECE, OSCE, MERCOSUR) and more informal groupings? What are the EU's strategies for dealing with other regions and actors, how efficient and effective are they, and which (legal) instruments are used? To what extent do these strategies challenge broader, global cooperation? What can we learn from these interactions regarding the analyses of EU foreign policy and European integration?

Limited travel grants will be available to cover part of the cost of participation of junior researchers from disadvantaged countries. Details will be available on the conference website, which will also contain further relevant information.

Contact: http://www.ies.be/conference2008

Journées d'études «Identités culturelles en Méditerranée»: Bâtiment de l'Institut Français de Thessalonique; Date limite de réponse : 30 septembre 2007; Journées organisées par l'Université Aristote de Thessalonique (Faculté des Sciences Pédagogiques, Département des Sciences de l'Education Préscolaire, Thessalonique, Grèce), l'Université de Manouba -- Tunisie (Faculté des Lettres, des Arts et des Humanités de Manouba, Laboratoire de Recherche : Régions et ressources patrimoniales de Tunis), dans le cadre de la coopération scientifique et technologique entre la Tunisie et la Grèce.; Les journées d'études Identités culturelles en Méditerranée s'inscrivent dans le cadre des relations traditionnelles établies entre les enseignants-chercheurs des Universités de Thessalonique et de Manouba. La nouvelle rencontre pour les identités culturelles en Méditerranée donnera l'occasion à un échange fructueux aux chercheurs et aux doctorants travaillant sur cette thématique dans les universités et centres de recherches du pourtour méditerranéen. Les journées comptent privilégier l'étude de l'évolution de l'espace des villes du monde méditerranéen au cours des XIXe et XXe siècles. En effet, au cours de ces deux siècles, plusieurs villes situées sur les rives de la Méditerranée avaient connu une extension au niveau de leur espace urbain et ont connu la création de villes neuves qui s'étaient ajoutées à l'espace historique d'où la naissance d'une dualité urbaine. Les mutations économiques des pays de la rive nord de la Méditerranée, à partir du XIXe siècle, avaient eu pour conséquences le développent d'un mouvement de marchandises et de capitaux ainsi que le déplacement, pour des raisons multiples, de populations européennes vers les villes du bassin oriental et de la rive sud de la Méditerranée, d'où le développement de véritables villes «cosmopolites».; Une place sera donnée à l'étude des mouvements de pensée qui avaient vu le jour dans ces villes : les mouvements de réformes et de modernisme, les mouvements sociaux et de libération sociale et nationale, les expériences de conflits et de rapprochements entre les pays méditerranéens.; Partant d'exemples de plusieurs villes du pourtour méditerranéen (Casablanca, Oran, Alger, Tunis, Sfax, Tripoli, Alexandrie, Smyrne, Constantinople, Salonique...), il sera question des caractéristiques urbaines et architecturales de ces villes. L'attention sera portée sur les plans de ces villes, les nouveaux bâtiments, la répartition de l'espace urbain et les relations entre les habitants de ces cités pluri-ethniques. Il sera question des apports des uns et des autres, des manifestations de syncrétisme culturel, linguistique et religieux, des traces de l'éclectisme et enfin des productions mémorielles relatives à ces espaces urbains et ces expériences d'échanges entre les riverains du pourtour méditerranéen.; Langues des Journées d'étude : français, grec, anglais.; Les personnes intéressées sont priées de déposer un résumé (1-2 pages contenant la problématique, méthode et un développement basique de la communication) auprès du Comité d'organisation jusqu'au 30 septembre 2007 à l'adresse électronique amoumtz@nured.auth.gr.; Contacts :
Alexandros Dagkas
Maître de conférences en Histoire sociale
Université Aristote de Thessaloniki
Faculté des Sciences Pédagogiques
GR - 541 24 Thessaloniki, Grèce
tél. / fax. : +30 2310 995080
adagkas@nured.auth.gr
http://users.auth.gr/adagkas/

Construction européenne : histoires et images des origines: Université de Poitiers, Décembre 2007; Date limite : 15 octobre 2007; Vaste communauté historique à géométrie variable, ensemble disparate dont certains historiens se plaisent à souligner l'indétermination des frontières pour nier l'existence de son histoire, l'Europe a longtemps souffert de la tradition historiographique nationaliste qui empêche -- selon l'expression de l'historien Charles-Olivier Carbonell (Histoire européenne de l'Europe, Privat, 1999) -- de «dégager le tronc commun des mémoires européennes». À l'heure où se poursuit l'élargissement de l'Europe de 1957, il semble plus important que jamais de chercher à dégager ce «tronc commun des mémoires européennes» qui constitue peut-être aujourd'hui l'origine de l'identité de l'Europe.; Les communications présentées lors de la précédente journée d'études en juin 2007 («Europe 57 : histoires et images des origines») ont permis de retracer la genèse de la notion d'Europe à travers l'idéal antique de culture et de liberté, l'héritage carolingien comme lieu de l'identité française et allemande, l'idée d'Europe sous le national-socialisme de 1933 à 1945 et dans la presse britannique de 1945 à 1957.; S'efforçant toujours de définir les origines historiques et surtout culturelles de la construction européenne, cette deuxième journée d'études sera consacrée à l'exploration de l'imaginaire européen dans tous les pays qui ont rejoint l'Europe, que ce soit en 1957 ou par la suite : Quand et comment est née l'idée d'Europe? À quelles images (symboliques, mythologiques, littéraires...) répond ou obéit le projet de la construction européenne? Quelles considérations et quels impératifs motivent le rapprochement de plusieurs nations européennes?; Afin de mieux cerner ces multiples origines du projet européen, nous sollicitons une approche pluridisciplinaire et croisée du processus initié par le Traité de Rome du 25 mars 1957 dont on vient de célébrer le cinquantième anniversaire. Des contributions d'historiens, d'historiens des idées, de philosophes, de spécialistes de la littérature et de la civilisation issus des différentes aires linguistiques et culturelles concernées seront les bienvenues. La journée aura lieu :
Vendredi 14 décembre 2007 de 9h à 17h
MSHS de Poitiers
99 Avenue du recteur Pineau
86000 POITIERS cedex; Les propositions de communication (résumé de 300 mots environ) sont à envoyer d'ici le 15 octobre 2007 par voie électronique à l'adresse indiquée ci-dessous. Il est prévu une publication des communications retenues regroupant les deux journées d'études.; Contact : Hélène Yeche (hyech@univ-poitiers.fr.

The Brussels Pact and its Legacy: A Reappraisal of European Defence and Transatlantic Relations Sixty Years since its Signing

Rome, 7-8 March 2008

Deadline: 30 october 2007

An International Conference to be held at the University of Rome III and the American University of Rome on 7 and 8 March 2008. The conference is organized by the Department of International Relations at the American University of Rome and by the Department of History, Geography and Anthropology at the University of Rome III.

The sixtieth anniversary of the Brussels Pact, which was signed by six European countries on 17 March 1948, provides an important occasion for a reappraisal of the European achievements in the fields of security and defence and the current state of transatlantic relations. Despite its evident geographical and material limitations, the Brussels Pact, which in 1954 evolved into the Western European Union and whose operational competencies were transferred to the European Union in November 2000, was the first multilateral initiative in the security and defence fields in Western Europe during the Cold War. It also provided a common framework for the opening of the Atlantic talks between the Western Europeans, the United States and Canada that led in April 1949 to the signing of North Atlantic Treaty.

The conference, which will feature keynote presentations from former diplomats and scholarly sessions, will aim at presenting the state-of-the-art of academic research on relations between the Brussels Pact, the Western European Union and NATO and its significance for European security and defence.

The conference organisers invite proposals for papers that address the following themes:

The historical origins and significance of the Brussels Pact for European defence
The development of the Brussels Pact and the Western European Union
National perspectives on the Brussels Pact and the Western European Union
The evolution of relations between the Western European Union, the European Union and NATO in the context of European defence
National perspectives on the current state of European defence and transatlantic relations

The conference organizers will make a selection of the received proposals and might provide a limited reimbursement to travel expenses for those invited to present a paper. They will also seek publication of the conference proceedings in the form of an edited volume.

Paper proposals (abstract and c.v.) should be sent, via e-mail or fax, before October 30, 2007 to: Prof. James Walston, Department of International Relations, The American University of Rome (j.walston@aur.edu) and Dr. Luca Ratti, Dipartimento di Studi Storici, Università degli Studi di Roma Tre (ratti@uniroma3.it).

Freedom and the Construction of Europe: New perspectives on philosophical, religious and political controversies

Florence, July, September 2008; July, September 2009

Deadline: 30 october 2007

We are inviting applications from scholars at an early stage in their careers, to join a Network and research project for the study of freedom in early-modern and modern Europe. Our basic ambition is to make new and original contributions to historical scholarship. The Network will adopt as widely comparative a perspective as possible, seeking to correct the current imbalance in the historiography towards western Europe and the origins of the liberal state. We hope to do greater justice to the complexity of the political and intellectual traditions out of which modern European conceptions of freedom emerged.

Besides these scholarly ambitions, we want to consider whether the early-modern controversies may provide us with resources for thinking about contemporary political issues in Europe. The European Union currently faces the necessity of reinvigorating a culture based on freedom, democracy and mutual tolerance. These problems cannot be dealt with in an historical vacuum. Their solutions must in part be drawn from an understanding of the conceptual resources provided by European traditions of political thinking and practice. It is this understanding that we hope to deepen and to foster by means of our scholarly work.

The Network will have a core group of 20-25 scholars . It will provide A forum in which scholars at a relatively early stage in their careers can discuss their work with one another, and at the same time with more senior researchers. Two senior and eminent scholars will be invited to each of our workshops. They will present keynote addresses and discuss the work being undertaken by the core members of the group.

The goal of the Network will be to publish two volumes examining key philosophical, religious and political controversies surrounding the idea of freedom in Europe; the volumes will be submitted to Cambridge University Press.

The Network will meet four times at the European University Institute, Florence. The themes of our workshops are as follows:

Religious freedom and civil liberty, 2-6 July 2008
Liberty and liberties in legal and constitutional thought, 24-28 September 2008
Freedom, citizenship and the state, early July 2009
Boundaries of European discourses of freedom, September 2009

Scholars working on these topics at an early stage of their career (including advanced phd-students, post-doc researchers and junior lecturers are warmly invited to send an application to join the Network to FreedomProject@EUI.eu.

Please send us a cv, one letter of reference, and a research/chapter proposal. At present we are particularly looking for scholars working on topics such as German liberty in the Old Empire; Liberty and liberties in Aragon and Castile, the Habsburg monarchy, the Polish Commonwealth; Women and Liberties; The revival of the civitas libera ; freedom and The tradition of political Aristotelianism; European perceptions of Ottoman freedom; Ottoman perceptions of freedom in Europe; Freedom, slavery, and colonial expansion; freedom and nature; natural and commercial liberty.

For more detailed information and a full list of topics please see: http://www.iue.it/Personal/VanGelderen/Abouttheproject.shtml.

This project is funded by the Balzan Foundation.

Modernization as a global project: American, Soviet, and European approaches

German Historical Institute, Washington, March 28-29, 2008

Deadline: 31 October 2007

In recent years, American historians have explored the project of modernization and development from its conceptual origins through its practical applications. German and European scholars are paying increasing attention to the problems of economic and political development in the new Third World - or, from the European perspective, the former colonies. It is, therefore, a useful moment to bring together historians to compare approaches to modernization and development in the global north - the United States, Europe (East and West) and the USSR.

In his award-winning book, The Global Cold War, Odd Arne Westad argues that the conflict between East and West in the Third World was an expression of two competing models of modernization, a democratic one and a socialist one. This thesis can serve as a conceptual basis for a comparison of modernization politics. Were the two models really as different as they presented themselves to be? How did each side perceive the other model? Which problems did each party encounter when trying to implement its modernization concept abroad?

A handful of scholars, primarily in Europe, have begun serious research on the modernization and development programs of the Soviet Union and its East European allies. Yet there remains a great deal to be learned about Soviet bloc activities in the Third World, from education and training opportunities to economic development, to military aid. How did Communist models of development change during their "export" to the Third World? What challenges did proponents of Soviet-style modernization encounter abroad?

And was there only one form of democratic modernization? Did the members of the Western alliance - many of whom had been colonizers in the immediate past - follow a common approach to modernizing the Third World? It might prove fruitful to ask whether the Western alliance's coherence with regard to its modernization approach vis-à-vis the "underdeveloped world" was really as strong as usually portrayed. To do so, one has to analyze the intellectual origins of American and European concepts of modernization, the transatlantic transfer of ideas of modernization and development, the formulation of modernization projects in national and/or regional contexts, and the Western countries' methods, successes and problems in implementing their models in the Third World.

Finally, many of the accounts to date have emphasized western ideas and policies over Third World aims, interests, and responses. How did the target countries of the Third World react to the different modernization schemes offered to them? What did indigenous and imported ideas about "modernity" share? And how did they conflict?

To encourage discussion of these questions and problems, and to bring together scholars working on related topics, the German Historical Institute Washington is organizing a workshop to take place in March 28-29, 2008, at the GHI. The GHI will cover travel and accommodation expenses. The workshop will be held in English.

In order to facilitate scholarly interchange, participants will circulate their papers before the conference, and will give only very brief oral summaries. Final papers (12 to 15 pages) are due March 1, 2008, and will be available to conference participants only.

The following topics could be discussed at this occasion:

Modernization Discourses in the West, the Soviet Bloc, and the Third World
Industrialization versus Agrarian Reform
Demography, Human Ecology, Public Health
Flow of Technology, People, and Ideas
Propaganda and Cultural Diplomacy

Scholars interested in participating in the workshop are asked to send an abstract (200 to 400 words, in English) and a short curriculum vitae to Corinna Unger (unger@ghi-dc.org) before October 31, 2007. Inquiries can be made to both conveners, David Engerman (engerman@brandeis.edu) and Corinna Unger (unger@ghi-dc.org).

2008 Postgraduate Student Conference on "The Churchill Era and Beyond": Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, University of Cambridge, 28 February 2008; Deadline: 1st November 2007; Paper proposals are invited for papers addressing themes related to British political, diplomatic, military or scientific history from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. The overall aim of the conference will be to examine aspects of Britain's relations with the wider world. Paper proposals from graduate students working in history, politics, international relations, the history and philosophy of science, and other related disciplines are all warmly encouraged.; The submission of papers responding to these guidelines is open to graduate students from any university.; To be considered, the applications should include a paper proposal no longer than 350 words, a brief academic CV, and a cover letter providing the following details: current institution; name of PhD supervisor; year of graduate research; general topic of the PhD. All these materials should be submitted in English to the conference administrator, Matteo Lodevole, at the following e-mail address: chuarcsc@hermes.cam.ac.uk, by 1 November.; Notification of acceptance will be made by early December. Only a limited number of posts are available and competition is likely. Successful applicants will have to email their papers (5,000 to 10,000 words) by 15 January. The papers will be then circulated to all participants and may be made available on a conference webpage.; The Churchill Archives Centre will not be able to fully fund the travel and accommodation expenses of all participants, but accepted applicants may apply for a partial bursary towards covering their costs.; The conference sessions will be chaired by prominent experts in the field. It is envisaged that each panel will also have a discussant with the task of providing critical feedback and engaging the floor in a stimulating debate with the panellists. Both chairs and discussants will be faculty members of the University of Cambridge and other universities.; The Churchill Archives Centre is home to the papers of Sir Winston Churchill, Baroness Thatcher and their great contemporaries: the politicians, civil servants, diplomats, military leaders and scientists who have helped to shape Britain, her public policy and her international relations in the twentieth century. Website: http://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/archives/

Empires et Nations

3-5 juillet 2008, Paris, Sciences Po

Date limite : 1er novembre 2007

Une conférence intitulée «Empires et Nations» se déroulera à Sciences po les 3, 4 et 5 juillet 2008, organisée conjointement par l'École doctorale de l'Institut d'Études politiques et l'Association for the Study of Nationalities. Elle bénéficiera de l'apport des centres de recherche situés en France (comme le CERCEC) et hors de France comme l'IFEAC ou l'European University de Saint-Pétersbourg.

Elle obéira au modèle déjà mis en oeuvre en juillet 2001 avec la conférence coorganisée par Science po et l'ASN : «Citoyenneté et nationalité». La conférence «Empires et nations» comportera environ 30 panels de 4 ou 5 participants avec un discutant et des sessions de 2 heures.

Le choix du thème de la conférence de 2008 est lié à l'actualité scientifique mais aussi à une tradition forte à Sciences Po où ont enseigné Anatole Leroy-Beaulieu, auteur de l'Empire des Tsars et les Russes et Hélène Carrère d'Encausse, auteur l'Empire éclaté. Cependant si Sciences po est un lieu de recherche et d'enseignement de science politique sur la Russie l'établissement a une vocation internationale et pluridisciplinaire, ce que la conférence de juillet 2008 reflètera.

Des bourses seront accordées à des contributeurs des pays d'Europe de l'Est, d'Eurasie et d'Asie, spécialement à de jeunes chercheurs. On souhaite faire se rencontrer des chercheurs d'Europe centrale et orientale, de Russie, d'Europe de l'Ouest et d'Amérique du nord, ainsi que des spécialistes de l'Asie, spécialement d'Asie centrale mais aussi du Japon et de la Chine.

La langue de travail sera l'anglais.

«Empires et Nations» au pluriel car cette conférence, tout en favorisant les approches de théorie politique ou de philosophie politique, accueillera aussi des études de cas par des spécialistes de disciplines diverses.

Derrière l'unité des termes on peut faire l'hypothèse d'une diversité de concepts et de réalités hétérogènes : la Chine longtemps baptisée «empire du milieu» est-elle un empire du même type que l'était l'empire romain? Est-il fondé de comparer l'empire romain et la puissance impériale japonaise des années 1930-1940? En quel sens parle-t-on au début du XXIe siècle d'impérialisme? En tout état de cause on aura à traiter de situations complexes : on peut présenter les États-Unis du XXIe siècle comme un État-Nation et en même temps comme une puissance impériale. D'où la nécessité d'approches comparatives et historiques. La fin de la guerre froide, qu'on peut présenter comme la fin de l'empire soviétique, a fait apparaître de nouvelles nations et a permis à des nations anciennes de se réaffirmer. Après la vague d'affirmations nationales qui suivit la Révolution française, les mouvements nationalistes des révolutions de 1848, l'éclatement des empires continentaux après 1914, puis celle des empires coloniaux après la deuxième guerre mondiale, la fin de l'URSS pourrait sembler une étape ultime de l'émergence des nations. Mais si les quinze anciennes Républiques de l'URSS rappellent que ce pays avait une structure «impériale» cela est peut-être encore vrai de la Russie d'aujourd'hui qui serait, selon une formule célèbre, un «empire multiethnique».

En tout état de cause l'histoire mondiale ne saurait être présentée comme si les États-Nations étaient le terme ultime de l'histoire, même si l'on peut souligner la force de cette forme politique avec l'exemple de grandes entités hétérogènes comme la Chine et l'Inde à exister comme des entités nationales. Et il se peut que des empires passés continuent à jouer un rôle dans le monde contemporain : ainsi les anciens empires continentaux -- russe, ottoman, austro-hongrois -- pèsent sur les structures de l'Europe. Mais leur passé colonial est aussi une déterminante des pays de l'Europe contemporaine avec cette spécificité que la France et la Grande Bretagne sont à la fois les deux plus anciens États-Nations de l'Europe et ont été les deux grandes métropoles de grands empires outre-mer qui ont contribué à exporter le modèle de l'État nation en Asie et en Afrique. Des analogies avec l'Espagne et le Portugal peuvent être recherchées.

Cependant on ne peut renvoyer la notion d'empire au passé de l'Europe : l'Union européenne ne peut-elle décrite comme un empire? On y trouve sous un même «toit» politique des entités à la souveraineté limitée et qui sont de langues, de culture, de religions diverses tout en vivant dans une tolérance réciproque relative. l'État-Nation, défini comme une formation où frontières culturelles et politiques tendent à coïncider n'est-il pas érodé par l'existence d'une bureaucratie supranationale dont la capacité de régulation va en augmentant et dont le rôle est perçu comme un atteinte à l'identité nationale par de nombreux acteurs?

Mais il est encore plus plausible de présenter les États-Unis comme un empire, et un empire d'un type différent de l'Union européenne puisqu'il serait «impérialiste» au sens où il tendrait à l'hégémonie mondiale et n'aurait donc pas, strictement, de politique extérieure puisqu'il n'aurait pas à s'occuper essentiellement d'avoir des alliés, une situation qui fut celle de l'Empire romain.

Ce tableau sommaire montre l'intérêt d'une analyse aussi bien théorique qu'empirique du rapport entre empires et nations. Elle impose une approche pluridisciplinaire :

La théorie politique doit aider à élucider des concepts comme ceux d'empire, d'impérialisme, de domination mondiale.
l'ethnographie permet d'analyser la transformation des cultures locales par leur l'insertion dans un espace mondialisé où des modèles culturels tendent à s'imposer universellement.
La sociologie des religions rappelle que le christianisme s'est développé au sein d'un empire, mais que la réforme protestante a contribué à l'affirmation des identités nationales. Peut-on sur ce plan engager des comparaisons avec le monde musulman?
La théorie des relations internationales fait apparaître les logiques d'alliance entre les entités politiques et les fondements de l'«impérialisme» ainsi que l'érosion de la capacité des acteurs politiques à décider souverainement.
l'histoire montre l'évolution des formes politiques des différents types d'État nation et d'Empire ou bien le poids des clivages linguistiques dans la formation des unités politiques.
Les études post-coloniales analysent les effets des grandes entreprises de pouvoir du XIXe siècle européen et conduisent à interroger les tentations hégémoniques des démocraties.
l'économie politique travaille sur la structure des marchés dans une phase qu'on présente comme celle de la mondialisation.
La science politique s'intéresse aux rapports entre centre et périphérie : Paris a été la capitale de la France mais aussi la capitale de l'Empire français. La multiplicité des capitales -- comme dans le cas de l'Espagne ou de la Russie -- est un problème classique qui vaut aussi pour un pays comme la Chine.

La conférence s'appuiera sur la trame présentée ici brièvement, mais son schéma ne sera fixé qu'après un appel à contribution diffusé très largement. C'est après l'examen des propositions venant de la communauté scientifique, par un comité scientifique associant des spécialistes de différentes institutions et nationalités, que seront fixées les thématiques organisant la conférence.

Calendrier :

Mi-novembre 2007 : appel à communication
Mi-janvier 2008 : évaluation par le conseil scientifique des propositions de communication
Printemps 2008 : diffusion de la liste des panels
Avril-mai 2008 : attribution des aides pour les déplacements.
Septembre 2008 : publication des contributions sur un site Web

Responsable scientifique : Prof. Dominique Colas, directeur du programme doctoral Russie et CEI à Sciences Po (dominique.colas@sciences-po.fr)

Une nouvelle approche de la coopération euro-méditerranéenne est-elle nécessaire aujourd'hui?

4-5 juin 2008, Université de Rabat (Maroc)

Date limite : 15 novembre 2007

La Chaire Jean Monnet en Intégration régionale comparée (Université Montesquieu-Bordeaux IV) organise, en partenariat avec la Faculté des Sciences juridiques, économiques et sociales de l'Université Mohamed V Souissi et le Cercle d'étude et de recherche économique (CEREC, Maroc), les mercredi 4 et jeudi 5 juin 2008 à l'Université Mohamed V Souissi de Rabat (Maroc), à l'occasion de ses VIIes Journées internationales d'études, un colloque international pluridisciplinaire sur le thème : «Une nouvelle approche de la coopération euro-méditerranéenne est-elle nécessaire aujourd'hui?»

Dans les années 1970, la coopération euro-méditerranéenne s'est inscrite dans le cadre d'accords reposant sur le principe d'une approche globale caractérisée par la volonté de promouvoir le libre accès des produits industriels méditerranéens au marché communautaire sans réciprocité, d'améliorer l'accès des produits agricoles à ce marché par l'abaissement des droits de douane et de faciliter la mise en oeuvre d'une coopération financière et technique. Les accords avec les pays concernés, notamment ceux du Maghreb, ont permis une franchise douanière pour leurs produits industriels, quelques concessions douanières agricoles (au demeurant insuffisantes en regard des avantages comparatifs détenus en la matière par ces pays) et une aide financière (prêts de la BEI et dons). Un bilan médiocre de ces accords de coopération peut être dressé. La Communauté a alors rénové sa politique méditerranéenne, notamment à la suite de la Conférence de Barcelone de 1995, sans pour autant aboutir à un bilan très positif de cette rénovation. Plus récemment encore, une nouvelle initiative, la politique de voisinage, s'est adressée, entre autres, à quelques pays méditerranéens, signe que la politique méditerranéenne se cherche encore...

Une coopération caractérisée par la faiblesse de ses résultats

L'Union européenne et douze pays du Sud et de l'Est de la Méditerranée (PSEM : Maroc, Algérie, Tunisie, Malte, Chypre, Égypte, Israël, Jordanie, Liban, Syrie, Turquie et Autorité palestinienne) ont ainsi décidé de créer, à l'horizon 2010, une zone de libre-échange. Des accords d'association bilatéraux et asymétriques ont été conclus entre l'Europe et la plupart des pays méditerranéens. Ils se caractérisent par un désarmement protectionniste unilatéral de ces pays, mettant fin aux avantages asymétriques qui leurs avaient été accordés dans les années 1970. Les échanges de produits industriels et de services sont libéralisés, en harmonie avec les règles du commerce international. En revanche, la libéralisation du trafic des produits agricoles reste plus limitée. La Commission a remplacé le système antérieur des protocoles financiers bilatéraux par un instrument budgétaire unique, MEDA, pour la mise en oeuvre de l'ensemble des activités de coopération avec les pays méditerranéens. Le programme MEDA II a couvert la période 2000-2006 avec un budget de 5,3 milliards d'euros. De son côté, la Banque européenne d'investissement avait prévu d'allouer 6,4 milliards d'euros pour le programme Euromed. Elle s'était par ailleurs engagée à dégager 1 milliard d'euros supplémentaire pour les projets transnationaux. Au total, ces fonds étaient notamment destinés à soutenir la transition économique des pays méditerranéens (ouverture à la concurrence et promotion du secteur privé) et la coopération transfrontalière (développement des échanges au niveau régional).

Plus de dix ans après la Conférence de Barcelone, une nouvelle fois, le bilan n'est pas très favorable même si plusieurs accords d'association ont été signés. Les difficultés politiques de la zone méditerranéenne (problèmes en Algérie, entre l'Algérie et le Maroc, tension entre la Grèce et la Turquie, aggravation des tensions au Proche Orient, conflits balkaniques) ont été accompagnées d'un engagement insuffisant de l'Union européenne (le Nord et l'Est de l'Europe ont été davantage privilégiés). Des progrès encore insuffisants et inégaux sont apparus en matière de démocratisation des sociétés et de transparence de l'action des administrations publiques dans les pays méditerranéens. Aujourd'hui, les évolutions géopolitiques et géo-économiques internationales rendent indispensable une refondation de la coopération en Méditerranée. Il est cependant clair que cette refondation ne peut être envisagée avec des chances réelles de succès qu'avec des États en paix et progressant dans la voie de la démocratisation de la société. De ce point de vue, l'Ouest de la Méditerranée semble plus à même de respecter cette condition, en particulier le Maghreb (même si des progrès à des degrés divers sont encore nécessaires).

La nécessité d'une refondation de la coopération en Méditerranée

Cette refondation doit prendre en compte une nouvelle approche géopolitique et géo-économique et ne saurait se limiter aux préoccupations des seuls pays de l'Union européenne (coopération dans la lutte contre le terrorisme et le contrôle des mouvements migratoires). L'Europe n'a pas probablement vocation à s'intégrer dans un processus exclusivement Nord-Nord et les États du Sud ou de l'Est de la Méditerranée nont pas davantage intérêt à s'intégrer dans un processus exclusivement Sud-Sud. L'approfondissement de l'intégration de l'Union européenne est stoppé et la réalisation de l'Union du Maghreb arabe ne progresse pas. À l'heure où la recomposition européenne est envisagée pour pallier le rejet du projet de traité constitutionnel (France et Pays-Bas en 2005) en invoquant l'Europe réaliste de la géométrie variable, ne faut-il pas saisir cette opportunité historique pour construire aussi une géométrie variable entre pays européens et pays méditerranéens? Le problème de la construction politique de l'Europe et le blocage de la formation du Maghreb noffrent-ils pas paradoxalement de réelles opportunités pour lorganisation d'un ensemble méditerranéen? Des entités intermédiaires d'intégration regroupant des pays du Sud de l'Europe et du Nord de l'Afrique pourraient se constituer et rendre caduc le «tout sauf les institutions» de R. Prodi (repris par J. Pujol) qui définissait les limites du champ de la coopération euro-méditerranéenne. Il s'y substituerait alors le «tout y compris les institutions» d'une approche nouvelle et fonctionnaliste des relations euro-méditerranéennes. La Méditerranée occidentale, avec ses 4 + 4 composantes, cest-à-dire le Portugal, l'Espagne, la France, l'Italie au Nord, et le Maroc, l'Algérie, la Tunisie et peut-être la Libye au Sud, pourraient parfaitement institutionnaliser leurs relations sans renoncer pour autant à l'Union européenne pour les uns et à l'Union du Maghreb arabe pour les autres.

Quant au contexte géo-économique, il est caractérisé aujourd'hui par l'affirmation des pays asiatiques (Chine, Inde, etc.) dans la production et le commerce international des biens industriels. Dans un avenir proche, les services seront pleinement concernés par l'internationalisation de leur production. Les économies d'échelle réalisées à distance profitent de plus en plus à la main-d'oeuvre d'Asie et aux détenteurs de capital qui y délocalisent leurs activités productives (États-Unis, Union européenne, Japon). Un basculement de la géographie des spécialisations industrielles vers l'Asie est possible, entraînant des pertes d'activités dans la zone euro-méditerranéenne dont les coûts salariaux sont relativement trop élevés (cas du secteur textile européen et maghrébin, par exemple). Dans une économie globalisée où les facteurs de production sont à des degrés divers mobiles internationalement, le modèle ricardien de spécialisation internationale nest-il pas en train de perdre de sa pertinence au profit du modèle smithien? C'est alors le moindre coût absolu au niveau global qui serait recherché. Cela appelle des réponses nouvelles dans l'organisation productive et la définition de nouvelles politiques commerciales au sein de la zone euro-méditerranéenne. Une réflexion approfondie doit être conduite sur les mécanismes et les effets de la concurrence inégale (voire déloyale) subie par la zone euro-méditerranéenne et des solutions originales proposées (définition de règles minimales de normalisation sociale ou reconsidération des règles d'origine et de leur application, par exemple).

Lors du congrès «Europe-Maroc : dix ans du processus de Barcelone» (Rabat, octobre 2005), le ministre espagnol des Affaires étrangères, Miguel Angel Moratinos, a affirmé que le «statut avancé» proposé par l'UE au Maroc était «insuffisant» au regard du rôle «fondamental que joue le Royaume dans la zone méditerranéenne», ajoutant que le développement des relations avec le Royaume doit être un «objectif prioritaire» de la politique espagnole et de l'UE, car «jour après jour, les relations avec le Maroc nous affectent dans des secteurs aussi divers que l'économie, l'immigration, le commerce ou le terrorisme». Plus largement, la définitiond'une entité institutionnelle euro-maghrébine répondrait aux exigences actuelles de la nécessité dinscrire la coopération en Méditerranée sous le sceau de la modernité et de lavenir. De la même façon, en Méditerranée orientale, pourrait se construire une entité régionale regroupant des pays euro-méditerranéens voisins. Un tel processus serait de surcroît de nature à réduire les tensions dans la région.

Les travaux qui débuteront et sachèveront en séance plénière se dérouleront dans deux ateliers pluridisciplinaires autour des thématiques ci-dessous, relatives au bilan et à l évolution nécessaire de la coopération euro-méditerranéenne (énumération non exhaustive) :

Atelier 1 - Le bilan de la coopération euro-méditerranéenne : la mise à niveau institutionnelle des pays méditerranéens (renforcement des capacités, démocratie); les progrès en matière de développement humain; la régulation des migrations internationales; les effets macro-économiques du processus de Barcelone : croissance économique, répartition, réduction de la pauvreté; les évolutions des échanges commerciaux; les déterminants des investissements directs et leur allocation géographique et sectorielle; la coopération verticale de type moyeu-rayon et ses insuffisances; les politiques d'harmonisation des conditions de production (adoption de règles du marché unique européen, transfert de l'acquis communautaire, etc.); les transferts de technologie Nord/ Sud; le rôle des NTIC, en particulier comme facteur de développement et d'intégration; les chocs économiques dans les pays méditerranéens; l'ancrage -- partiel ou total -- des monnaies des pays méditerranéens à l'euro, etc.

Atelier 2 - Les champs d'une refondation de la coopération Union européenne-Pays méditerranéens : les évolutions démographiques euro-méditerranéennes; le vieillissement démographique et ses conséquences : contraintes sur les marchés du travail, la croissance économique et la protection sociale; les droits des travailleurs migrants et leur extension; l'immigration clandestine; la gestion commune des flux migratoires dans l'intérêt de tous; la prise en compte de la relation migration-développement; la politique euro-méditerranéenne de sécurité; l'aménagement concerté de l'espace agricole méditerranéen; la privatisation des activités et leur impact économique et social; la promotion des IDE, notamment des systèmes BOT; les politiques d'interconnexion des infrastructures (effets du tunnel sous le détroit de Gibraltar); la production des biens collectifs marchands et non marchands et leurs échanges; les politiques commerciales extérieures face à la concurrence inégale ou déloyale; la prise en compte de l'évolution environnementale en Méditerranée (pollution, épuisement de la ressource énergétique, désertification, déficit hydrique, etc.); la gouvernance économique et sociale dans la zone euro et les régions méditerranéennes; le partenariat avec le monde arabe; l'opportunité d'une Communauté économique ouest-méditerranéenne (CEOM); un scénario alternatif de coopération Afrique du Nord (Maghreb plus l'Égypte)-Europe du Sud (pays de la Méditerranée occidentale plus la Grèce); le rôle de la BEI et de la FEMIP; la création de nouvelles modalités de financement (fonds de réduction de la pauvreté); le rôle des pays tiers majeurs tels les États-Unis, la Chine et les autres pays asiatiques émergents; la formation des hommes et le dialogue interculturel, etc.

Les propositions de contribution, de deux cents mots environ, sont à adresser avant le 15 novembre 2007 au :

Secrétariat de la Chaire Jean Monnet «Intégration régionale comparée» Université Montesquieu-Bordeaux IV
Avenue Léon Duguit
33608 PESSAC
E-mail : chaire@u-bordeaux4.fr
Téléphone : + (33)-05-56-84-86-20

Les auteurs seront informés le 15 janvier 2008 au plus tard de la suite donnée à leur proposition de communication après examen par le Comité scientifique des VIIèmes Journées Internationales d'Etude Jean Monnet. Les textes définitifs des contributions (15-20 pages) devront parvenir au Secrétariat de la Chaire Jean Monnet en Intégration régionale comparée, au plus tard le 30 avril 2008. Le programme des Journées d'Études sera envoyé dans le courant du mois davril 2008 aux différents intervenants et participants.

Comité scientifique du colloque :

R. Amrani, CEREC and University Mohamed V Agdal
S. Ben Hamad, ESC Sfax
C. Bergouignan, University Montesquieu-Bordeaux IV
B. Blancheton, University Montesquieu-Bordeaux IV
C. Blayo, Présidente de la CUDEP
S. Dkhissi, Faculty of Law and Economy, University Mohamed V Souissi
A. Hakam, CEREC and University Mohamed V Agdal
B. Hamdouch, CEREC and University Mohamed V Agdal
P. Hugon, University Paris 1-Panthéon Sorbonne
D. Torre, University of Nice Sofia Antipolis
B. Yvars, University Montesquieu-Bordeaux IV

The world in 1989: New sources and interpretations of trans-national And regional interdependency across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas

Workshop (East Coast, USA): May/June 2008; book Publication: 2009

Deadline: 30 November 2007

Organizers:

Transregional Center for Democratic Studies, New School for Social Research: http://www.newschool.edu/tcds/
World History Network: http://www.worldhistorynetwork.org/
Research Network 1989: http://www.cee-socialscience.net/1989/

The fall of the Berlin Wall, the conflict at Tiananmen and the break up of the Soviet empire were events of global significance in 1989. Yet, 1989 may equally well be remembered as the year that signalled the end of apartheid and the flowering of pro-democracy movements in Europe, Asia, Africa and America.

In anticipation of the twentieth anniversary in 2009, we invite contributions examining trans-national interdependencies as well as interconnections within and among regions in the period centred on 1989. We are interested in the full variety of world regions: Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Western Europe, Eastern Asia, Southern Asia, Southern Africa, the Middle East, Western and Central Africa, Latin America, Australia and North America.

We ask the following pointed questions to garner interested responses but also divergent opinions:

How were the pro-democracy movements of 1989 connected? Can we show a networked interdependence or was their appearance coincidental, driven by global change? Did the movements learn from each other and, if so, by what technological, social and cultural means?
The Soviet empire vanished. Looking not just at the USSR, but also the outer empire and the global political network of clients, supporters and (alienated) allies: Can we show that movements significantly contributed to the break up of the empire or did it collapse, possibly driven by external political, economic or technological change, particularly in the Anglo-Saxon world?
The CCP state survived. What were the implications of the confrontation at Tiananmen for other events in 1989? What will be the lasting regional and global impact of the divergent trajectories of China, Russia and central and eastern Europe? What was the mix of global and local factors in the movements of Africa and Latin America?
Struggles of class, gender and ethnicity. If we look at 1989 through this lens: What can we say about the meaning of democracy for the actors, particularly in relation to notions of communism and socialism? How were pro-democracy movements based in gender, class and ethnicity? What was the outcome of 1989 in terms of the global realignment of inequalities and difference?

Proposed format:

Anticipated number of authors: 10-15, plus discussants
Deadline for expressions of interest: 30 November 2007
Draft version of 6-7,000 words ready for circulation among workshop participants: 30 April 2008
Workshop (East Coast, USA): May/June 2008
Revisions to be completed by 30 August 2008
Book Publication: 2009

Organising Committee:

Elzbieta Matynia (Professor of Liberal Studies and Sociology at the New School, New York, Director of the Transregional Center for Democratic Studies: http://www.newschool.edu/tcds/).
Patrick Manning (Professor of World History at the University of Pittsburgh and President of the World History Network: http://www.worldhistorynetwork.org/).
Padraic Kenney (Professor of History at Indiana University and President of the Polish Studies Association in the United States).
Chris Armbruster (Executive Director of the Research Network 1989: http://www.cee-socialscience.net/1989/).

Contact: For more information about this event, please contact Elzbieta Matynia, Director, Transregional Center for Democratic Studies (tcds@newschool.edu); Patrick Manning, President, World History Network (pmanning@pitt.edu); or, Chris Armbruster, Executive Director, Research Network 1989 (chris.armbruster@eui.eu).

Remembering 1948 and 1968: Reflections on Two Pivotal Years in Czech and Slovak History

University of Glasgow, 3-4 April 2008

Deadline: 30 November 2007

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the imposition of communism in Czechoslovakia and the 40th anniversary of the Prague Spring, a conference will be held at the University of Glasgow in April 2008, organised by DCEES in conjunction with the wider CRCEES network. This conference will reflect upon the impact of these momentous events on Czech and Slovak society, culture and politics. The conference will address new and changing perspectives on these historical events and discuss how these events are remembered in the Czech Republic and Slovakia today.

Presentations are invited on any aspect of the events of 48 and 68 and their impact on contemporary culture and politics. Themes could include:

Re-interpreting the events of 1948 and 1968 based on newly available archive materials
International significance of the events
Impact on ethnic minorities in Czechoslovakia
Impact on the arts and media
Role of exiles
Attitudes towards the Communist Party
Portrayal of events in contemporary literature/art/cinema
Representations of the events in contemporary media

The organisers hope to receive papers from a wide range of disciplines and would be particularly interested in papers which adopt a comparative approach.

Proposals for papers (not exceeding 250 words) should be sent to Laura Cashman (l.cashman@lbss.gla.ac.uk) no later than 30 November 2007.

Dr Laura Cashman
Department of Central and East European Studies
University of Glasgow
Hetherington Building
Bute Gardens
Glasgow G12 8RS
Tel: +44 141 330 6039/5585
Fax: +44 141 330 5594
Email: l.cashman@lbss.gla.ac.uk

ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops: Religion in Europe, Religion and Europe: Rennes (France), Friday 11th - Wednesday 16th April 2008; Deadline: 1st December 2007; Workshop organized in concertation with the ECPR Standing Group on Religion and Politics; Scientific committee: Yves Deloye (Panthéon-Sorbonne University, French Association of Political Science) François Foret (Université Libre de Bruxelles) ; Jeffrey Haynes (London Metropolitan University, ECPR standing group on religion and politics); Xabier Itçaina (IEP de Bordeaux) ; Philippe Portier (Université Rennes 1); Presentation; Recent debates have focused on the institutional issues raised by the relations between religion and European integration, such as the Churches' participation in EU governance, references to the Christian heritage of Europe in the preamble of the Constitutional treaty, or the revival of denominational powers within national arenas. Meanwhile, belief is nowadays developing in Europe essentially through individualized and deregulated forms which are no longer under the control and the mediation of organized political and spiritual institutions. This workshop aims to analyse both institutional and non-institutional religious phenomena in their interaction with the Europeanization process experienced by State members.; From a more global perspective, material presented here will contribute to discuss the hypothesis of secularization as a European exception in a world marked by the resurgence of religion. Far from being entirely relegated to the private sphere, religion has kept its strong presence in the European public sphere, either as a "resource for identity", as an "ethical reference" or as a "ritual provider".; One must go beyond the deterministic vision of State-Church relations, without neglecting the long-lasting effects of historical heritages. Echoing other analyses in terms of "Europeanization from below", special attention will be paid to the way religion, as a sectorial part of civil society, has adapted to the new context of European integration. To what extent does religion influence European integration, either by strengthening or weakening it? The temporal and spatial references of religions need to be compared with the boundaries and political agendas defined by the EU. What is the role played by religion in the constitution of a comunicational Europe, defined as a community of trust and identification, and as a space of exchange and shared meanings?; The Europeanization of religion can be understood as the process that makes religion an object which both influences European integration and is influenced by it. Its effects on institutions and EU policies and upon wider transnational and inter-State phenomena will be considered. The EU can constitute alternatively an incentive framework for or a constraint upon religious change. Conversely, it can also be the strategic target for "moral entrepreneurs".; Various empirical illustrations should be considered. The media are particularly crucial due to their ambiguous relationship to religion and to the increasingly distant relations between the believer and his community of conviction. Recent events such as the Mohammed cartoons crisis or, in the case of the Roman Catholic Church, the election of a new pope, are relevant from this perspective. The role played by religious factors -- coming from any of the European denominations -- in European debates on education, migration, internal security or social commitments also provides fertile ground for investigation.; Religion and European integration. Religions are more and more involved in European integration politics, policies and polity. Religious groups and institutions act as lobbies and political forces in Brussels or in intergovernmental games. Religious stakes are on the EU agenda, in terms of controversies over European identity or of normative policy issues (multiculturalism, bioethics, international affairs...). The religious dimension underlines the way the Turkish bid is addressed and impacts the external relations of the EU, speaking of "clash of civilizations" or "dialog between cultures".; Religion and the media. The cartoon crisis is a major example among many of the tumultuous relationships between media and religious freedoms. These two principles are often competing within pluralistic societies. Religions develop a strategy of using traditional and new media both as a way of spreading belief and as a battlefield to impose the recognition of ;their specificity through a growing use of law. This cooperation/confrontation leads to a redefinition of the limits and regulation principles of the public sphere which need to be investigated comparatively to see whether there are European trends in a common communicative space or if it remains rooted in national particularisms.; Religion, national and local identities. Religion has always been a symbolic resource and a massive set of actors in the process of nation-state building and political legitimation. The secularization of societies makes this role more indirect and diffuse but not obsolete. In renewed ways, religion may influence if not frame political engagement and debates on social and ethical issues, especially in Southern and Central-Eastern countries. Immigration has been a major example, both at the national and local levels. Conflicting infra-national territorial identities have also been a structure of opportunity for religious actors, either in furthering the politico-territorial divisions, or in trying to reduce them through mediation. The interactions of these discourses and mobilizations with supranational and/or transnational dimensions are parameters of the level of Europeanization of societies.; Religion between institutions and social movements. The "believing without belonging" and "belonging without believing" phenomena express the desinstitutionalization of the sacred and the individualization of practices and beliefs. The spiritual market is now wide open to competition. Participative democracy offers ambivalent structures of opportunity to religious entrepreneurs: political institutions are promoting direct dialog with civil society and empowerement of groups and individuals; at the same time, they are looking for stable partnerships with established institutions in order to manage social diversity. To what extent do religious actors and/or institutions fit themselves into this process? How is the religious "market" adapting to this new context of political governance?; This workshop is the continuation of ongoing individual and collective researches which have already produced events (a conference supported by the French and Belgian Associations of Political Science in Mons, February 2006, and a workshop at the French Association of Political Science Congress in Toulouse, September 2007) and publications . The objective is to widen the empirical and theoretical scope of the programme and to internationalize the debate. Editorial followings will be discussed. Any researcher tackling the issues cited above is welcome to propose a contribution, with a particular emphasis on comparative works. Monographies will be considered to the extent they cast an original light on theoretical questions. The directors of the workshop will try to secure alternative financial support, but each prospective participant should look for his own resources.; Proposals must be sent to the two organizers (fforet@ulb.ac.be; x.itcaina@sciencespobordeaux.fr) before the 1st December 2007.; Organizers: François Foret (Université Libre de Bruxelles); Xabier Itçaina (Institut d'Études Politiques de Bordeaux)

Divided Dreamworlds - The Cultural Cold War in East and West: 26-27 September 2008, Utrecht (The Netherlands; Deadline: 1st December 2007; On Friday 26 and Saturday 27 September 2008, the Roosevelt Study Center (RSC, Middelburg), the Dutch Institute for War Documentation (NIOD, Amsterdam) and the Research Institute for History and Culture (OGC, Utrecht) organize a conference in Utrecht (The Netherlands) on "Divided Dreamworlds - The Cultural Cold War in East and West".; In recent years there has been increasing scholarly attention given to the "Cultural Cold War". In general terms this phrase is used to refer to the ideological struggle between the US and Soviet blocs following the Second World War, and how this struggle was conducted with cultural arguments in East and West. This trend has broadened our understanding of the political relevance of Cold War cultural manifestations, but it has also raised questions concerning the value of the Cold War, and its implicit East-West divide, as a valid periodisation for examining cultural history. Some scholars have argued that a full understanding of cultural activity can only take place if a longue durée analysis is used which takes into account developments long before the Second World War. Others have focused on the similar mission of East and West within their ideological contest to claim the heritage of universal Enlightenment rationality, leading to the potential for a cross-bloc comparative analysis of common cultural themes.; To be sure, the Cold War, as a unique ideological contest between East and West, remains a very significant backdrop to the cultural history of the 1945-1990 period. In this context, cultural activity played a crucial role in shaping the meta-narrative of both blocs. This was done either actively, by those who consciously engaged their art or intellectual output with the political environment, or passively, through the co-optation of cultural forms for political purposes. Culture became the sign through which the ideology of the Cold War was represented and understood in society at large, and contributed significantly to the process of "mobilisation": the concentration of energies in the service of countering external as well as domestic threats.; Susan Buck-Morss offers an ideal starting point for investigating these insights with her book Dreamworld and Catastrophe: The Passing of Mass Utopia in East and West (MIT Press: Cambridge MA, 2000). In this work she portrays the mass-utopian experiments of American-style capitalism and Soviet-style communism as two paths that led from the same industrial modernity. Both systems claimed exclusive access to happiness, optimal social organisation, and the end of scarcity. Both systems promoted a dreamworld of messages, images, and artefacts to transmit their inevitable triumph to a mass audience abroad, co-opting along the way all possible means and media to do so. By using this perspective, the hindrance of a high/low culture division dissolves into a general analysis of how all cultural forms were drawn into and utilised by the competing dreamworld meta-narratives. After all, high culture relied on mass media and a mass audience for its impact to be registered.; This conference seeks to explore the ways in which the Cold War heightened the contest between these cultural dreamworlds of East and West while at the same time exposing their structural similarities. The conference encourages papers on other cultural agents who were active in this field but escaped (or tried to escape) the rigid East-West divide. This will allow a greater appreciation for the many actors involved and the multifarious agendas and ideals that were being expressed within, through, and around the norms of bloc politics.; he conference aims to build on the results of the April 2007 conference "European Cold War Cultures", organized by the Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung (ZZF) in Potsdam, which specifically focused on European cultural identities in the context of the Cold War. We would like to attract contributions that address the following issues:; 1. East-West divide:; How did cultural forms and cultural activity contribute towards portraying the respective capitalist and communist dreamworlds? What was the role of the state in promoting these processes, either alone or with private partners, and how did this vary from country to country? What was the relation between portraying the utopian dreamworld and demonising the enemy through stereotypes? Did the one rely wholly on the other?; Is Cold War essentially to be understood in terms of the bipolar divide, or have we gained new insights on the structural similarities between East and West which have gradually revealed themselves since the end of the Cold War? What was the range and impact of cultural dialogue or flow across the borders (Marsha Siefert)?; 2. Culture and politics:; To what extent did the context of the Cold War reduce culture to a political message, so that it became little more than propaganda? What were the effects of the mobilisation of culture and cultural producers for political goals? How possible was it to escape the straight-jacket of Cold War interpretations?; Alternatively, what did the political engagement of cultural producers contribute to the discourse of ideological struggle? How did cultural forms shape the expression of political agendas?; 3. Longue durée:; Which developments before WWII have to be taken into account for a well-founded understanding of the cultural Cold War?; How did these issues change over time, from the tensions of the early Cold War, through the period of détente, to the 1980s?; Please, send your proposal (c. 1.500 words) and a short curriculum vitae before 1 December 2007 to Joes Segal, Department of History and Art History, University of Utrecht, Drift 10, 3512 BS Utrecht, The Netherlands, or by e-mail: Joes.Segal@let.uu.nl.

18 April 1948: Italy between continuity and rupture: Reading and Italian Cultural Institute in London, 18-19 April 2008; Deadline: 14 december 2007; After one of the fiercest electoral campaigns in the history of the country and the mobilisation of all sectors of society and international actors, the Christian Democrats and their allies gained the majority of the votes at the elections of 18 April 1948, thus officially inaugurating the history of the new Italian Republic.; The 1948 elections have traditionally been seen by scholars as a watershed between war-time Italy and the return to 'normality'. The end of the Resistance and the creation of new political institutions opened the way to a new-found love for foreign literature, the foundation of publishing houses, the cultural influence of the US and the emergence of a young generation of artists, movie directors and actors. At the same time, underlying continuities exerted a strong impact on the cultural, historical and economic development of Italy. The North/South divide, the backward economic structure, the administrative centralisation, the legal tradition, the role of the Catholic Church are only a few of the most notable examples of the legacy of the pre-war time.; Through a multidisciplinary approach that brings together history, politics, literature, legal studies and international relations, this conference re-examines the significance of 18 April 1948. It assesses in what ways the legacies of WWII, of the fascist regime and of Liberal Italy have influenced the foundation of the new Italian Republic and to what degree 1948 can be seen as a 'watershed in the history of Italy'.; Submission of proposals: the organisers welcome the submission of proposals and panels on any aspect of Italian history and culture and which relate to the issues highlighted above. Please send a 300-word proposal, including your name and academic affiliation via email to Dr Linda Risso (l.risso@reading.ac.uk) by Friday, 14 December 2007.; Organizers: Linda Risso, Christopher Duggan and Richard Bosworth.; For further information: http://www.reading.ac.uk/humanities/18April1948conference.htm

Les humanitaires européens au XXe siècle, entre urgence et nouvelle diplomatie

Matériaux pour l'histoire de notre temps

Date limite : 15 décembre 2007

L'action humanitaire en général est à l'ordre du jour. Elle fait partie des relations internationales et entre donc dans les préoccupations d'une revue comme Matériaux pour l'histoire de notre Temps (BDIC). Il semble intéressant de faire le point sur l'action humanitaire des Européens qui commence dès le XIXe siècle avec la Croix-Rouge internationale. Depuis lors, à l'occasion des guerres mondiales mais aussi en raison des déplacements de personnes qui ont suivi les conflits les problèmes des réfugiés occupent la première page des journaux. Donc des organisations non gouvernementales ou gouvernementales, des organisations internationales ou nationales européennes, ont développé des actions destinées à venir en aide aux populations européennes et à d'autres populations dans le monde. Les drames humains qui se déroulaient hors des frontières européennes ont provoqué la naissance d'ONG originales ou d'agences spécialisées gouvernementales et européennes communautaires.

Nous voudrions donc faire un numéro de Matériaux pour l'histoire de notre Temps consacré à l'action humanitaire des Européens au XXe siècle en appuyant toutefois sur l'après-seconde guerre mondiale et en faisant un numéro ouvert sur d'autres pays européens que la France (9 articles). Les articles peuvent être un travail d'histoire immédiate ou d'histoire sur le long terme.

Ce numéro ne peut pas présenter en quelques articles l'ensemble de l'action humanitaire européenne au XXe siècle, mais il peut offrir la connaissance précise d'actions humanitaires et apporter des réflexions synthétiques si on suit le plan suivant :

L'action humanitaire des Européens avant la seconde guerre mondiale, dont deux par exemple pourraient trouver leur place : la Croix-Rouge et l'opération passeport Nansen en vue du rapatriement de milliers de personnes déplacées en 1919-1920, ou encore l'aide alimentaire d'origine européenne à la Russie bolchevique en Ukraine (2 articles)
L'action d'ONG européennes ou gouvernementales pendant et après la seconde guerre mondiale en Europe (Secours national en France par exemple ou son équivalent en Allemagne ou en Grande-Bretagne) (2 article)
La fin de l'innocence humanitaire. Les nouvelles ONG européennes, (telles Oxfam, Médecins sans frontières, etc.) (2 articles)
L'action humanitaire de gouvernements européens après la seconde guerre mondiale (soit une synthèse, soit une étude de cas) (1 article)
La diplomatie humanitaire, l'action humanitaire de l'Union européenne à travers l'agence spécialisée européenne Echo (1 article)
Comparaison de l'action humanitaire des États-Unis ou du Japon avec celle des Européens (1 article)
Conclusion sur la typologie de l'action humanitaire européenne, sur la sociologie des personnels engagés, sur les raisons de l'engagement humanitaire, mais aussi sur l'efficacité des opérations humpanitaire, esquisse d'un bilan humain et politique. (1 papier)

Dans chaque article les auteurs voudront bien :

Faire apparaître la spécificité de chaque organisation ou de chaque réseau par rapport aux relations internationales du moment.
Insister sur les principes d'action, les fondements moraux ou politiques qui varient d'une période à une autre : on passe souvent du secours, de l'aide immédiate toujours présents, à la notion d'ingérence humanitaire voire à la diplomatie de l'humanitaire. Une rupture s'est-elle produite? Quand?
Explorer dans tous les cas les relations entre ONG, gouvernements ou organisations internationales et opinions publiques.
Apprécier l'efficacité de l'action humanitaire dans tous les cas de figure et quelle que soit la période considérée.
S'interroger en conclusion de chaque article sur l'originalité de la sensibilité à « l'humanitaire» en Europe par rapport à d'autres continents (États-Unis, Japon).

Délais et forme (impératifs) :

Les articles d'une longueur de 5500 mots, notes comprises
Des photos sont souhaitées
Réponse à l'offre fin décembre 2007 (joindre une proposition de une demie-page page maximum avec titre précis et une fiche d'identité indiquant les nom, prénom, adresse postale, téléphone et e-Mails)
Les articles publiés en français, mais les articles acceptés en anglais seront traduits.
Retour des articles : 1er mai 2008
Publication fin 2008

La revue Matériaux pour l'histoire de notre Temps est une grande revue française de Science historique créée en 1985 pour valoriser les fonds de la Bibliothèque de documentation internationale contemporaine (BDIC). La revue est numérisées, les articles seront disponibles sur le Web. Un comité de lecture sélectionne les propositions d'articles pour la revue.

Contact :

Gérard Bossuat
Professeur d'histoire contemporaine, Chaire Jean Monnet ad personam
Université de Cergy-Pontoise
33 bd du Port 95011 Cergy-Pontoise cedex
Tel bureau : 01 34 25 64 12
Courriel : bossuat@u-cergy.fr

Conflict and Community: Transatlantic Relations during the Cold War

May 12-14,2008, University of Tampere, Finland

Date limite : 15 december 2007

The Academy of Finland Distinguished Professor Program based at the University of Tampere is planning to host, within the next five years, A series of conferences on the main theme of its project -- transatlantic relations during the 20th Century. We are currently planning the first of these conferences, which will focus on the Cold War and on the evolution of the Euro-Atlantic relationship during the era of bipolar confrontation. The members of the project wish to inaugurate this cycle with a high profile, thoughtprovoking and stimulating conference which will offer scholars the possibility to discuss, debate and share views on transatlantic relations in a period when a reflection on the origins and development of the Euro-Atlantic community appears to be all the more important. Moreover, the possibility of hosting the conference in Tampere offers an added value, considering Finland's particular role and position as a "bridge" between East and West during the Cold War years.

Topics to be addressed during the conference include, but are not limited to, the following issues/questions:

A broad overview of the transatlantic relationship -- from the Beginning of the Cold War to 1989:
- the moments of conflict/tension between the two sides of the Atlantic - their significance, legacy, etc.
- the moments of conversion/parallel interests - their significance, legacy, etc.
- these moments seen from "the other side" - how did the USSR assess The evolution of the transatlantic relation?
The "essence" of the transatlantic relationship:
- security issues
- economic relations
- the balance between the two aspects - was the transatlantic relation Based on both? Was one aspect more important than the other? Did this vary depending on the moment/contingencies? If yes, when and why did one aspect become more important than the other?
The transatlantic relation and the "small" or "medium" powers:
- of Western Europe - views and role, for example, of Italy, Denmark, Greece, Portugal, etc.
- the view from the East - did the transatlantic relation "attract" or Not members of the Warsaw Pact?
- the view and role of "neutrals" - Switzerland, Finland (the importance of their particular position in the context of the transatlantic relation)
The "bridges" between East and West:
- Détente, CSCE, East-West trade, etc.
- Other moments when the two blocs cooperated despite the division and Their repercussions on the cohesion and unity of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership

Through the conference the organizers seek to strengthen existing Scholarly connections and build new ones. The development of the international interaction between scholars constitutes one of the primary objectives of our project. We therefore invite proposals from both experienced and young scholars eager to contribute to the creation of what we hope will constitute an important and stimulating forum for the discussion of transatlantic relations during the twentieth century.

Organization

The conference will take place at the University of Tampere, Finland on May 12-14,2008, hosted by the Department of History. It is organized by the project entitled "Conflict and Community: Transatlantic Relations in the "Long" Twentieth Century" financed by the Academy and led by Finland Distinguished Professor Jussi Hanhimaki.

Co-organizers and project members are the Aleksanteri Institute of the University of Helsinki and the Tampere Peace Research Institute of the University of Tampere. Coorganizers and sponsors include the Machiavelli Center for Cold War Studies based at the University of Florence, Italy.

The proposals should include a schematic description of the paper and a brief CV of the author. The deadline for the submission of the proposal is December 15th, 2007. The selected participants will be notified by January 31st, 2008. The final version of the paper should be submitted by April 23rd, 2008.

Please submit the proposals via e-mail to Dr. Barbara Zanchetta at conflict.community@uta.fi.

"Political Science and Current Events"

Louvain-la-Neuve (UCL), 24-25 April 2008

Deadline: 15 december 2007

The Belgian Political Science Association (ABSP-CF) organises its 4th congress on the 24 and 25 April 2008 in Louvain-la-Neuve (University of Louvain, UCL). Parallel to a round-table dedicated to Belgium, a plenary conference with international guests and 9 thematic workshop, a "Young Researchers" Panel is scheduled.

The ABSP thinks that Political Science has to support the debates and wishes to enlighten the richness and originality of the works of our PhD students and young researchers. These researchers often miss a platform to make public the evolution of their research and to confront it directly with the experience and knowledge of senior researchers. In order to mitigate this deficiency, a platform dedicated to the young researchers will be organised inside the Congress. By the means of short papers, this panel intends to give an opportunity to the PhD students of being known more widely within the Belgian academic network as well as among various professionals strongly interested by political science. This panel wants to be to a place of exchange and meeting between the PhD students themselves, but also between those and experienced researchers.

Panel directors: Régis DANDOY (University of Brussels, ULB), Caroline VAN WYNSBERGHE (University of Louvain, UCL), Nathalie PERRIN (University of Liège, ULg).

Type of papers: The "Young Researchers" Panel consists in the presentation of short communications (max. 20 pages) in the field of political science. All possible scientific research topics are affordable, even those being outside the general topic of the Congress. Every paper proposal should:

be send to the person of contact before 15th December 2007: Régis DANDOY (rdandoy@ulb.ac.be)
not be longer than one page.

For your information, it is possible for young researchers to present a paper inside the "Young Researchers" Panel AND inside one of the ad hoc thematic workshop (see list below and the Congress website). In addition, and subject to the acceptance on behalf of the Administration Board of the ABSP, the papers presented in this panel could be the part of a publication in the form of a book published at Academia Bruylant Press into the "Political Science" Collection.

Practical information and Congress organisation: absp@spri.ucl.ac.be. More information on the pages "Congress 2008" of our website (in french): http://www.absp-cf.be/Congres2008.htm

Organizing Committee:

CANTELLI Fabrizio (FNRS, ULB, FUSL)
DANDOY Régis (ULB)
GOBIN Corinne (FNRS, ULB)
JACQUEMAIN Marc (ULg)
LETON André (ULg, Lille II)
MARQUES PEREIRA Bérengère (ULB)
MATAGNE Geoffroy (FNRS, ULg)
PAYE Olivier (FUSL)
PERRIN Nathalie (ULg)
PILET Jean-Benoît (ULB)
RIHOUX Benoît (UCL)
VERCAUTEREN Pierre (FUCaM)

Working Languages: French and English (NB. the knowledge of French is not required). List of ad hoc thematic workshops where the knowledge of French is not required:

Workshop 1 - Expert knowledge, profane knowledge: towards new modes of construction of the political news?
Workshop 3 - Current elected officials and current events of the elected officials: changes of the work of Member of Parliament vis-a-vis to the reign of the media
Workshop 4 - Ethical dilemmas of the public actors and the researchers
Workshop 5 - Political science and current events: which methods?
Workshop 6 - Election time: which role for the political scientist?
Workshop 8 - Party membership and current events
Workshop 9 - Complexification of the world v. minimalist requirements of the narration

Representations of the Past: The Writing of National Histories in Europe (NHIST)

30 June-6 July 2008, Institute for Social and European Studies, Köszeg, Hungary

Deadline: 15 december 2007

The five-year European Science Foundation-funded Scientific Programme "Representations of the Past: The Writing of National Histories in Europe (NHIST)" runs since 2003. It aims to:

analyse in depth national historiographies and their relationship to wider national historical cultures,
study systematically the construction, erosion and reconstruction of national histories across a wide variety of European states,
bridge the existing historiographical gap within Europe by bringing together the histories of Western and Eastern Europe,
combine cultural transfer and comparative approaches in examining the relationship between national historiographies and national historical cultures.

The programme is the collaborative effort of more than one hundred scholars from around 30 European countries. Its agenda is being implemented by four teams occupied with

The institutions, networks and communities which produced national histories and were themselves influenced by the idea of national history (Team 1)
The construction, erosion and reconstruction of national histories in their relationship with competing representations structured by the social cleavages in a society (Team 2)
National histories and their relationship with regional, European and world histories (Team 3)
The national histories in their spatial relationships and mutual interdependency with other national histories (Team 4)

For more details please see the programme's website: http://www.uni-leipzig.de/zhsesf/

The aim of the summer school is to promote the results of the NHIST programme to the next generation of academics across Europe and to identify new projects and researchers in the history of historiography using comparative and cultural transfer approaches. Leading NHIST scholars who will be present at the summer school include Professor Stefan Berger (University of Manchester), Professor Christoph Conrad (Université de Genevé), Professor Chris Lorenz (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Dr. Frank Hadler (Geisteswissenschaftliches Zentrum für Geschichte und Kultur Ostmitteleuropas), Professor Ilaria Porciani (Università di Bologna).

If you think your work fits in the NHIST remit and you would like to present aspects of it at the summer school we look forward to hearing from you!

Travel Costs are reimbursed up to a maximum of EUR250; accommodation, including meals, is provided. The trip includes one day of sightseeing in Budapest (5th July). The group will have a final dinner, stay for the night and depart the next day from Budapest.

Submissions: please send a 100 word CV and a 300 word abstract of your proposed paper via email to:

Sven de Roode
ESF NHIST Programme Coordinator
School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures
University of Manchester
Sven.DeRoode@manchester.ac.uk

Abstract and CV should reach the programme coordinator by 15 December 2007. The executive group of the NHIST will select the participants of the summer school and the programme coordinator will inform successful applicants by the end of February 2008 at the latest. In case of withdrawals a list of additional potential students will apply.

Summer School: "Confronting Cold War Conformity - Peace and Protest Cultures in Europe, 1945-1989"

August 18-25, 2008, Faculty of Humanities, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic

Deadline: 15 december 2007

Marie Curie Conferences and Training Courses: "European Protest Movements since 1945". Organizers: Kathrin Fahlenbrach (University of Halle), Martin Klimke (HCA Heidelberg), Joachim Scharloth (University of Zurich), with the support of the European Commission. Jointly hosted/organized by the Charles University in Prague & Heidelberg Center for American Studies, University of Heidelberg.

Conveners: Martin Klimke (University of Heidelberg), Joachim Scharloth (University of Zurich), Kathrin Fahlenbrach (University of Halle), Milos Havelka, Michal Pullmann, Zdenek Nebrensky, (Charles University in Prague).

The year of 2008 will mark the 40th anniversary of the Prague Spring, the French May events, as well as numerous other protest movements which attempted to bring about domestic change and transform the geopolitical confines of the Cold War. Due to this occasion, the Marie-Curie-Conference and Training Courses on "European Protest Movements since 1945" invite applications for an international summer school in Prague on European peace and protest cultures from 1945-1989.

We will take the anniversary and the historical location as an opportunity to discuss the contributions of protest movements to processes of political participation and transformations of culture and value systems in European societies from an interdisciplinary perspective. Our goal is to examine the variety of political, social, cultural and aesthetical forms of protest and social dissent by including all sides of the political spectrum. Particular emphasis will be laid on the impact of peace and protest cultures for the development of a European transnational civil society and for the international diffusion of alternative lifestyles and cultural practices.

Though mainly focusing on the years of the Cold War, our aim is also to analyze the influence of longer historical trajectories reaching into the first half of the century, as well as to make the connection to more recent forms of social dissent and protest phenomena in the era of the internet. By bringing together innovative approaches to phenomena of social change, protest movements and cultures of dissent in Europe during the Cold War from a variety of disciplines, the summer school wants to offer a more comprehensive view of historical and cultural transformations in the 20th century.

Thematically, we therefore invite applications from scholars whose research is focused on:

aesthetic and literary avant-gardes (e.g. DADA, surrealism, situationism, etc.)
anarchist and autonomous movements
nationalist and conservative movements
fascist and neo-fascist movements
peace movements
workers' and peasants' protest
labor and trade union activism
1968 in East and West
sexual politics
new social movements (women's / environmental movement, etc.)
the revolutions of 1989
recent nationalist or right-wing movements
terrorist movements and violence
cyber-protest / dissent in the age of the internet

We especially encourage applications implementing perspectives on:

media strategies of protest movements
alternative lifestyles within countercultural movements
transnational networks and communication
transfer and re-contextualization of cultural practices
languages of dissent and protest
emotions
constructions of race and class
the impact of protest movements on international relations
the perception of the superpowers and the Cold War
aesthetics and artistic dimensions of protest from the field of cultural studies

The organizational format of the summer school will feature various workshops with leading scholars of different disciplines, panel discussions on overarching themes and innovative approaches, as well as oral presentation by the participants. The aim is to foster an academic dialogue across disciplinary boundaries while at the same time providing ample space for discussion and mutual exchange.

Successful applicants will be provided with a travel grant and a living allowance that should cover all necessary expenses.

Although the conference language will mainly be English, we also invite proposals in Czech, French, Spanish, Dutch, German and Polish, if a short summary in English is provided.

Selections will be made by: January 15, 2008

Please use online application at http://www.protest-research.eu/

Further questions or suggestions: mail@protest-research.eu