Call for papers: Europe in the 20th century – An Asymmetric Europe

Version française

For its forthcoming participation in the International Congress of Historical Sciences in Poznan, Poland in 2020, the International Association for the Study of Contemporary Europe is organising three conferences on the theme : « Europe in the 20th century – An Asymmetric Europe ».

European history of the twentieth century has been characterised by an alternation between common European projects and a questioning of such projects, often vehemently, through alternative visions. To borrow an expression from an American president, the vicissitudes of the European continent’s history have led to a significant difference between the « Old Europe » and that which took shape at the end of the First World War, referred to either as « Central Europe » for some, « Eastern Europe » for others, even sometimes « East-Central » or « Danubian »  Europe. The divergences between these « two Europes », as Francis Delaisi first pointed out in the inter-war years, are striking and manifest themselves throughout the twentieth century. They are present in the Versailles system, and throughout the Hitlerian project for Europe. They are still present during the Cold War.

The conferences that will take place leading up to the 2020 International Congress of Historical Sciences intend to explore this asymmetry. Have these projects influenced interpretations of European history ? Did they present Europe as a homogeneous entity? Or as a differentiated entity? Which interpretation is most current in Western Europe ? And Eastern Europe ? The idea will be to cross-compare these different currents.

The first conference on this theme will take place in Moscow from 6-8 December 2018. It will be focussed on : « Ideologies during the Second World War».

This conference is organised around several questions. First it is interested in the Hitlerian project for Europe. National-socialist plans were different for West and East Europe. Their application in different European spaces demonstrates this differentiated vision of Europe. Integration in a Nazi Europe was equally variegated (incorporation here, occupation there or satellitisation). Several works exist on these aspects. In the context of this conference we wish to favour a comparative approach, which is often fruitful for historiography if one confronts narratives and interpretations. The different experiences in the East and West offer a wide variety of perspectives.

But it is equally important to question the European projects of the Allies, of governments in exile or resistance movements. There too asymmetry exists and the different contexts lead either to uniform projects or infra-regional projects for the organisation of Europe.

Paper proposals should be sent by the deadline of 8 May 2018 to

John Keiger / Sylvain SchirmannTomaz Schramm

Proposals should include the title of the paper, a summary of the argument in a maximun of 3500 characters. It should be accompanied by a short cv giving career, present occupation and a list of the author’s publications.

Proposals should be written in either French or English.

The selection panel will notify applicants of their success or failure by the end of June 2018.

A second conference will look at the asymmetry of the Versailles system. It will take place in Paris at the Scientific Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences from 20-22 June 2019. A call for papers will go out nearer the date.

CFP: Invasion to Integration

Affiche du colloqueOn 23 June the British people will vote in a referendum on the country’s membership of the European Union, the latest chapter of a dialogue which has been characterised by competing visions of what ‘Europe’ is to Britain: ‘friend’ or ‘foe’. This dynamic is one which has pervaded British perceptions of mainland Europe throughout the modern era, from fears of invasion and hopes of internationalism during the nineteenth century, through the world wars, and into membership of the EEC in 1973. Both centuries also saw growing involvement with Europe on a personal level, as improved communications and travel increasingly allowed Britons to view the countries and cultures of Continent through the media or ‘invasions’ of their own, as soldiers, traders or tourists. Throughout, British perceptions of the Continent have experienced both profound change, and remarkable continuity.

This conference seeks to offer a long view of Britain’s relationship with the Continent, focusing on how Britons perceived and understood their mainland neighbours. This topic can be addressed from either the elite or popular perspective, and can deal with the idea of Europe as a whole or British views of individual European countries.

Papers might discuss, but are not limited to:

  • Attitudes towards European arts and culture
  • British tourists and/or merchants in Europe
  • Perceptions of European societies or political systems
  • Military threats or interventions
  • Integrationist movements/British nationalism
  • Anglo-European cooperation (cultural, economic or diplomatic)
  • Imperial vs. European perspectives

Please submit abstracts of c.300 words with a short biography by 29 July 2016 to Adam Rolewicz or Peter Keeling.

Call for papers: Pierre Renouvin, Jean-Baptiste Duroselle (1917-2017). The Building of an academic field, the History of International Relations

French version

International History Conference. Paris, June 8-10, 2017.

Deadline : 1st June 2016

Co-organizers: L. Badel (Professor, Panthéon Sorbonne University), R. Frank (Professor Emeritus, Panthéon Sorbonne University), A. Marès (Professor, Panthéon Sorbonne University), G.-H. Soutou (Professor Emeritus, Académie des sciences morales et politiques), M. Vaïsse (Professor Emeritus, Institut d’études politiques, Paris).

Supported by the Labex EHNE, the BDIC and the Mission du Centenaire

As is well known, the First World War influenced the lives of Pierre Renouvin and Jean-Baptiste Duroselle. It left its mark on their personal, institutional and academic lives. Aged twenty four, the former was seriously injured at the Chemin des Dames in 1917. The latter was born in that very year and would be « haunted » his whole life long by the memory of the Grande Guerre des Français to which he devoted his last book in 1994. A generation separates them but both their names are brought together on the title page of the book Introduction à l’histoire des relations internationales published in1964. This book is dedicated to a field, which, as with other humanities and social sciences, was born from the intellectual turmoil that marked the First World War. Neither intended to be a mausoleum in memory of both French historians, nor an hagiographic account of a specific French historical « school », this conference aims to situate the intellectual and academic career of these two historians within the intellectual debates. It will focus on the birth and the development of an academic area: the History of International Relations.The methodical building of this new academic area will be thoroughly examined, in particular through its interaction with other fields of the human and social sciences.

The careers of P. Renouvin and J.-B. Duroselle cannot be isolated from their social and political environment. Far from being confined to an ivory tower, they took part in the intellectual battles which left their mark on these decades (such as the criticism from Lucien Febvre or Marcel Merle). Deeply rooted within a French and Francophone field, they built transnational academic and political networks, which extended beyond France and Europe. Historians firmly engaged in the debates of their time (the responsibility of Germany in the outbreak of the First World War; the Cold War; European construction), they practised an instant history, at the heart of the institutional struggles in France or worked to resolve them. Thus in order to understand fully their distinctiveness these two historians need to be studied in the context in which they lived, worked and taught. Having principally devoted their research and reflexions to Europe and its peoples, they did not however neglect other continents. Academics, but teachers first of all, they taught whole generations in France and abroad who were indelibly marked by their lectures. As researchers, they opened up research paths that their students have followed and deepened. Members of the intellectual establishment of their time, both men accumulated honours and responsibilities: their political networks will be brought to light.

At the beginning of a twenty-first century marked by the flourishing of global history, this conference will be the place for a free and specific debate on the character, subjects, sources and particular approaches of international history. This conference aims to offer a comparative and transnational approach of their itineraries, combining a thematic and a biographical approach. We particularly welcome papers from foreign historians and scholars from other academic fields.

Possible paper topics include, but are not limited to :

The wars and their influence upon:

  • academic careers
  • institutional careers
  • public and private writings
  • the place of the military and strategic questions in their work

The institutionalization of international relations, a mark of the new influence of the United States?

  • Diplomatic history and history of international relations
  • reforms, new academic fields and academic chairs
  • key role of American foundations (Carnegie, Rockfeller, Ford); Swiss and Italian collaboration
  • The United States in the writings of P. Renouvin and J.-B. Duroselle

Sources, publishing and teamwork

  • Sources
  • The Documents diplomatiques français
  • Documentation as a source of action (Commission des archives diplomatiques)

Translation, transmission and reception

The construction of an academic field: the history of international relations

  • The building of a library: la Bibliothèque de documentation internationale contemporaine
  • The publications: la Revue d’histoire de la Guerre mondiale, L’Année politique, Relations internationales
  • The establishment of an academic chair
  • Topics of degree courses
  • Masters and followers (Tuesday evening workshop of J.-B. Duroselle)
  • The birth of the CERI (Fondation nationale des Sciences politiques)
  • The institutional consecration : the académiciens des Sciences morales et politiques

Europe and the world

  • The ”Asia” of Pierre Renouvin
  • “Europe” as seen by P. Renouvin and J.B. Duroselle
  • The United States of J.-B. Duroselle

Public action of both French scholars

  • Academic and institutional struggles
  • Pierre Renouvin during the Second World War
  • Jean-Baptiste Duroselle during the Second World War
  • Catholic and Christian-Democrat networks of Jean-Baptiste Duroselle
  • Renouvin, the Dean and the creation of research centers at the Sorbonne
  • The University of Vincennes and Jean-Baptiste Duroselle
  • The ‘Europeist’ action of Jean-Baptiste Duroselle
  • May 1968

These topics are not restrictive and each submission will be considered carefully.

The conference languages will be English and French

Regardless of language, all proposals will receive due consideration.

The deadline for paper proposals is: 1 June 2016

Please send your proposal (abstract in English or French of no more than 500 words and short CV) to Andrea Martignoni: martignoni.andrea@yahoo.fr

Scientific Advisory Board of the Conference

Laurence Badel (professor, Panthéon Sorbonne University), Andrew Barros (professor, Université du Québec à Montréal), Eric Bussière (director, UMR Sorbonne-IRICE), Antoine Fleury (professor emeritus, Geneva University), Robert Frank (professor emeritus, Panthéon Sorbonne University), John Keiger (professor, Cambridge University), Peter Jackson (professor, Glasgow University), Thomas Maissen (director, Deutsches Historisches Institut, Paris), Antoine Marès (professor, Panthéon Sorbonne University), Antoine Prost (president, scientific board of the Bibliothèque de documentation internationale contemporaine, Paris), Matthias Schulz (professor, Geneva University), Georges-Henri Soutou (professor emeritus, Académie des sciences morales et politiques, Paris), Arnold Suppan (professor, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien), Valérie Tesnière (director, Bibliothèque de documentation internationale contemporaine, Paris), Maurice Vaïsse (professor emeritus, Institut d’études politiques, Paris), Antonio Varsori (professor, Padova University), Andreas Wirsching (director, Institut für Zeitgeschichte, München).

Call for Papers : The International Echoes of the Commemorations of the October Revolution (1918-1990)

Organisation

Location & date

Switzerland, University of Lausanne, Géopolis (Room: 2227), 14-16 September 2016.

Organising Committee

J-F Fayet (Univ. of Lausanne) – Stéfanie Prezioso (Univ. of Lausanne) – Kevin Morgan (Univ. of Manchester) – Norman Laporte (Univ. of South Wales)

Scientific Committee

Dr. Marco Albeltaro (Univ. of Torino, Historia Magistrae. Rivista di storia critica), Prof. Korine Amacher (Univ. of Geneva), Dr. Bernhard Bayerlein (Ruhr-Univ. Bochum, dir. The International Newsletter of Communist Studies), Prof. Sophie Coeuré (Univ. Paris-Diderot), Prof. Angelo d’Orsi (Univ. of Torino, Historia Magistrae. Rivista di storia critica), Prof. Sabine Dullin (IEP Paris), Prof. Jose Maria Faraldo Farillo (Complutense Univ. of Madrid), Prof. José Gotovitch (Univ. Libre of Brussels), Prof. Gianni Haver (Univ. of Lausanne), Prof. Catherine Gousseff (dir. of Marc Bloch Center, Berlin), Dr. Alexander Hobel (Fondazione Istituto Gramsci), Dr. William A. Pelz (dir. Institute of Working Class History, Chicago), Prof. Silvio Pons (Univ. of Roma II, dir. of Gramsci Foundation), Dr. Tauno Saarela (Univ. of Helsinki), Prof. Emer. William H. Sewell Jr. (Univ. of Chicago), Prof. Brigitte Studer (Univ. of Bern), Prof. Emer. Ronald G. Suny (Univ. of Chicago), Prof. Alexandre Vatlin (Lomonosov Moscow State Univ.), Prof. Jean Vigreux (Univ. of Bourgogne, dir. ANR Paprik@2F).

Sponsors

Swiss National Science Foundation, University of Lausanne, Manchester University, the journal Twentieth Century Communism: a Journal of International History.

Publication

Publication of the Lausanne international conference proceedings in a special volume of the journal Twentieth Century Communism: a Journal of International History.

Publication Date: during 2017 (deadline for submitting papers November 2016). Additional publication could be considered depending on the number and quality of the papers presented.

Synopsis

It is necessary (for purely political reasons) to demonstrate to the diplomats and to members of the Communist International the strength of the Republic and the faith the masses of workers have in Soviet power.

Telegram from Trotsky to the CC of the PCR, 1920 F.17/60/163, RGASPI

My only consolation is that as celebrations are bourgeois institutions at which nobody tells the truth it perhaps just as well that I shall be at a safe distance

Letter from G. B. Shaw (who could not attend) to Polovtseva, 18.10.1927, F.5283/8/47, GARF

Commemorations express a political will to remember, a process that relies on establishing a mythologised historical referent. The Russian Communists were aware of the importance of this instrument for the implantation of a regime whose legitimacy was contested both domestically and abroad, and proceeded therefore to construct a new collective memory through the reordering of time around the regime’s founding act: the great socialist revolution of October. From 1918 on, 7 November was a day of celebrations: speeches, military parades, orderly marches, inaugurations of public monuments commemorative plaques, political carnivals, mass spectacles, and popular parties that united the peoples and territories of the Soviet Union in celebration of October. In addition to their domestic role in fostering unity, providing legitimacy, and facilitating internal mobilisations, the practices of commemorations also supported the regime’s international eminence, especially when it presented itself as a model for world revolution.

Inviting foreign dignitaries to celebrations of sovereignty is a tradition as old as diplomacy itself. However, assisted by their numerous political (the communist parties), trade-unionist, and above all associative conduits, in terms of both quantity (the number of persons invited) and quality (the methods of selecting candidates and their handling during the visit), the Soviets took this tradition to a whole new level. While in the first few years celebrations were a modest affair, a thousand foreign delegates are invited to the Soviet Union for the tenth anniversary of the revolution, celebrated in 1927. Unlike the ambassadors, these representatives of the international working class and progressive social forces are far from being passive spectators. Their status, however, is ambiguous. Invited as observers, they are expected to take sides, and then to commit themselves. They have a role in the October spectacle and its political usages. The Soviets intend to show the world that the USSR is not isolated, and that its international legitimacy extends beyond the limited gamut of its diplomatic relations. During this period, except for the duration of the “Great Patriotic War”, foreigners attend the celebrations every year, although at greatly varying numbers. After 1945, it becomes standard to invite the ambassadors posted to Moscow, the heads of friendly states (from Europe, Asia, and soon from Latin America), and the leaders of Communist parties. The circle of invitees traces the contours of, and the fluctuations in, Soviet foreign policy. Let us also highlight the return of youth and women delegations, as well as the presence of intellectuals. In the 1960s, the Red Square becomes an almost obligatory passageway for the representatives of the “progressive” movements of the Third World (the Vietnamese are the most regular, but one finds also Ethiopians, Somalians, and others). In 1977, the sixtieth anniversary parade is watched from the tribunes by over a hundred foreign delegations from left-wing formations, joined by the head of states of communist countries and by the president of Finland (U. Kekkonen). The number of attendees remains high for the seventieth anniversary a decade later and until the last commemoration, in 1990.

Commemorative events were also held outside the Soviet Union, constituting another aspect of the international reach of the October Revolution. Initially, they were small events, organised spontaneously—in Zurich in 1918, Turin 1919, Beijing 1923, but also in Prague, London, Paris, etc.— small street processions, lectures, discussions in factories, an evening at a community centre, evidence of the hopes the Revolution inspired beyond its borders. But in 1927, gigantic meetings take place in Berlin, Paris, London, New York, with workers’ banquets and the projection of Soviet films. An exhibition with fifteen pictures travels across Europe and the Americas under the title “ten years of socialist edification”. In many countries, workers organize strikes in solidarity with the Soviet working class. The internationalisation of the celebrations becomes progressively enmeshed in a very structured context that includes Soviet institutions (embassies, commercial services, and cultural missions), the Communist International, and the many mass organisation that orbit the Communist Parties—in the manner of, for example, the Friends of the Soviet Union. A similar development takes place in Russia: the chaotic, political and artistic carnival of the early commemorations is transformed with time into a very conventional, repetitive, and scripted display of militarism and patriotism. The commemorative date is fixed, but it is part of a changing commemorative calendar. At the beginning, 1 May remains the other great ‘proletarian commemoration day’. A focus on leaders and martyrs – the ‘3 Ls’ of Lenin, Luxemburg and Liebknecht – then shifts under Stalin to the leader’s birthday and a form of commemorative competition.

The military victories of the Soviet Union in the “Great Patriotic War” will lead to the further key commemoration day of 9 May. There is also the exportation of the soviet culture of commemoration, initially to the newly “liberated” areas, with celebrations of 7 November taking place across a Russia that extends from Kaliningrad to Sakhalin, as well as in the Baltic countries and in Moldavia. Next it is the turn of the people’s democracies to integrate the date of the October Revolution in their official calendar, and also to reproduce the Soviet commemorative model in the scope of their own national days, albeit with efforts to mark it with certain national variations. In the capitalist countries, the small communist organisations take advantage of the new prestige of the USSR, victor of the Great War, in order to hold modest commemorative events: concerts, theatre shows, lectures series, etc.

Finally, the spectacle of the celebrations is broadcast around the world, first by radio and news reels, and later by television. This was evidently the case with countries in the Soviet orbit. Like in many other people’s democracies, the television services of East Germany and Hungary broadcasted the ritual processions. But this mediated commemoration reached also into Western democracies. Every year in the US, regularly in France and Italy, less often in Switzerland, the October parades were rebroadcast on the national channels. The broadcasting of the military procession was incorporated into the setting of the Cold War, providing fodder for Western military experts and Kremlinologists. While the latter offered theories about the balance of power at the top of the hierarchy deduced from the seating arrangements on the Mausoleum’s balcony, the viewer could see the aging of the leaders, a metaphor for the regime itself, and the growing standardisation of the festivities, symbol of its advancing bureaucratisation. Everywhere, the commemorations represented a pertinent index of the political culture of the country that produces them.

Keywords for proposals (two primary axes)

1. The Participations of foreigners in the 7 November commemorations in the USSR

I. Foreigners invited to the USSR for the October celebrations

a. Workers delegations, by country, political and occupational categories, function, organizational type (sports, Esperanto-related, pacifist, women, youth, etc.)
b. Intellectuals, scientists, and progressive artists
c. Leaders of allied states: the Mongol Republic, European people’s democracies, North Korea, China, Cuba, African states, etc.
d. Military attachés, diplomats, government officers
e. Journalists
f. Undercover
g. Absentees (those who could not come, those who rejected the invitation)
h. Personal consequences of the visit: joining the party, promotion/exclusion in the trade union, job loss, etc.

II. The Soviet side: the inviting structure and the handling in situ

a. Organising committees
b. Welcome desk for the foreigners of the VOKS
c. The foreign relations committee of the trade unions
d. Communist International, Sportintern, KIM…
e. Culture Ministry
f. NKID-MID…
g. Translator-guides
h. Intourist
i. The political police (INO-Tcheka)

III. Activities – key moments – mandatory stations for the foreigners

a. The warm welcome: cheering crowds everywhere
b. The learning trip: the itineraries in the different republics
c. The organised tours:
d. Questions time: “tell us the truth comrades…”
e. The commemorative vigils: the stories of veterans, the shows put by worker clubs
f. The military parade, the marching columns and the popular holiday of 7
November
g. Activities upon return: written and oral testimonies

2. Celebrations of 7 November abroad: by country, type of place, and type of event

I. Commemorations in different territories

a. The big cities: Berlin in 1927, London, Paris, Rome, in the US, Beijing (from 1923 at the university)
b. Allied states: people’s democracies in Europe; in Asia: China, North Korea,
Vietnam; in Latin America: Cuba…
c. Africa:Ethiopia

II. Commemorations in Soviet spaces outside the USSR

a. Embassies
b. Cultural centres
c. Friend circles (Friends of the USSR)
d. The Communists Parties
e. Factories

III. Delegations and tours abroad: political, artists…

a. Official Soviet delegations
b. Lecture tours
c. Cultural events : exhibitions, concerts, and commemorative shows

IV. Opposition events

a. Takeoverorboycottofevents,dissidentevents
b. Anti-Soviet events
c. Competing events (Mensheviks, Trotskyist, etc.)

V. The commemorations in foreign medias

a. The foreign press
b. The foreign radio
c. The newsreels
d. The foreign television broadcasts
e. Films of October as international commemorative medium

VI. October in the communist calendar

a. Proletarian commemoration days
b. Heroes and martyrs as a focus for commemoration
c. Commemorative competition: 1 May, 9 May and the leader’s birthday

Paper Proposals

We invite submissions of proposals for papers on issues pertaining to the international echoes of the commemorations of the October revolution.

Priority will be given to proposals that emphasise long timeframes, use a comparative approach, involve the prosopography of attending delegates, or deal with the international circulation of commemorative practices.

Proposals should include the title of the presentation, an abstract, and a description of the sources. Length should be about 2500 signs. Proposal should be sent to: october17commemoration@unil.ch by 30 November 2015, together with a brief CV including the most important (maximum five) publications.

Financial Matters

In case of a proposal’s acceptation, the costs of the stay and the hotel will be covered. We kindly ask to use own funds for the travel costs. Only in case this should not be possible, coverage of the travel costs can be held in prospect.

Organisation, Networks and Policy-making in European Foreign Ministries in the Twentieth Century

Workshop 16-17 October 2015, University of Cambridge, Department of Politics and International Studies, Alison Richard Building, West Road, Cambridge

This workshop is part of a major four-year AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK) funded research project entitled ‘Networks and Actors in the British and French Foreign Ministries : Responses to the Idea of European Integration, 1919-1957’, conducted by Prof John Keiger (Cambridge University) and Prof. Gaynor Johnson (Kent University).

The thesis which this project seeks to test is that in both the British and French foreign ministries from the end of the First World War – when ideas of European integration gained ascendancy as a means to international security and prosperity – to the establishment of the European communities in 1957, permanent officials were at least as important as their political masters in promoting or blocking the path towards some form of European integration. Two principal research questions emerge from the project:

  1. How were the foreign ministries of Britain and France organised between 1919 and 1957 in their dealing with questions relating to European integration ? In particular which foreign ministry departments (eg in the case of the British Foreign Office, the Central European Department, the Western European Department and the League of Nations Department) were the most powerful and influential in driving the policies of these two states in relation to Europe : how did the power distribution fluctuate between the departments over time and how did this affect policy ?
  2. Who were the permanent officials formulating policy on key issues affecting Europe ? In particular, what were the social and educational backgrounds of these actors ? How did this cultural context and training influence their world view and lead to formal or informal networks of like-minded individuals championing particular positions within their respective foreign ministries ? And how did all these factors influence the thinking of permanent officials when they considered the issue of a more integrated Europe ?

The workshop is intended to broaden this approach to other European foreign ministries across the whole of twentieth century Europe, broadly conceived, either through comparative perspectives or single state studies.

Papers of 20 minutes duration might consider, for instance :

  • organisation of foreign ministries or their reform

  • education and background of permanent officials and diplomats

  • networks and sociability in the diplomatic world

  • schools or academies of diplomatic preparation, training and competitive exams

  • impact of the European ideal on permanent officials

  • influence of other government departments or agencies (finance, commerce, defence, central banks etc) on policies for European integration

  • the policy-making process in foreign ministries

  • bureaucratic politics and policy blocking tactics in foreign ministries.

The working languages of the workshop will be French and English. Please send abstracts (one page A4) of your paper in either English or French, with a brief cv, to jk586@cam.ac.uk by 15 August 2015. An editorial panel will select the papers.

CFP (French / German): Defis internationaux et emergence d’un espace public en Europe depuis les annees 1970

Journées d’études de l’Institut historique allemand Paris en coopération avec le laboratoire d’excellence « Écrire une histoire nouvelle de l’Europe » et le réseau franco-allemand « Saisir l’Europe »18−19 juin 2015, Paris Date limite de candidature : 27 avril 2015.

L’historiographie des relations internationales en Europe après 1945 reste dominée par une focalisation sur les relations bilatérales et sur l’histoire politique. La création progressive d’un espace européen de communication depuis les années 1970 invite cependant à un changement de perspective, qui consiste à revoir l’étude du processus décisionnel, en mettant la société civile comme point de départ. Dans cet espace de communication émergent, on peut en effet constater des convergences dans les débats qui ont eu lieu dans différents pays européens sur des questions à caractère transnational. Il semble par conséquent utile de s’intéresser à ces convergences et de s’interroger sur l’impact qu’elles ont pu avoir sur les décisions politiques tant au niveau national qu’au niveau européen. Les problèmes environnementaux constituent une question à caractère transnational par excellence. En effet, la protection de la nature voire de l’héritage naturel ou bien l’approvisionnement en énergie, notamment l’utilisation de l’énergie nucléaire, ont suscité et suscitent toujours un vif intérêt dans l’opinion publique partout en Europe. Bien que ces questions aient, depuis les années 1970, fortement gagné en importance dans l’espace public, il semble important de ne pas négliger la dimension de longue durée, inhérente à ces questions. Les contributions devraient s’intéresser à un ou plusieurs des points mentionnés ci-dessous :

  • la perception des questions transnationales dans les différents espaces nationaux de communication (p.ex. études comparatives de discours et de sémantique)
  • la circulation d’idées, de concepts et de schémas de perception entre les différents espaces nationaux de communication
  • les activités des associations ou des ONG qui se sont engagées en faveur de problèmes environnementaux ou d’autres problèmes à caractère transnational dans un ou plusieurs pays européens
  • les institutions et les personnes qui ont servi d’intermédiaire, de manière délibérée ou nonconsciente, entre les différents espaces nationaux de communication
  • le travail parlementaire, tant au niveau national qu’au niveau européen, qui s’est emparé de tels problèmes et qui a réagi à l’opinion publique et/ou aux activités des ONG, faisant entrer de cette manière des sujets et des revendications concrètes dans le circuit de la décision politique
  • les conséquences de telles convergences sur l’agenda politique des différents gouvernements et chefs d’État ainsi que sur celle des institutions européennes
  • les conditions et les délais dans lesquels les questions d’intérêt public, comme par exemple les problèmes environnementaux, peuvent devenir des objets de la politique européenne
  • les sujets en lien avec l’Allemagne et/ou la France sont appréciés, mais pas obligatoires.

Ce workshop se situe dans le cadre d’un nouveau projet de recherche de l’Institut historique allemand Paris en coopération avec le laboratoire d’excellence « Écrire une histoire nouvelle de l’Europe ». Pour en savoir plus sur ce projet, consulter la rubrique « Recherche » sur le site web de l’institut, www.dhiparis.fr . Font partie du comité scientifique pour ce workshop : Éric Bussière (univ. ParisSorbonne/LabEx EHNE), Anahita Grisoni (« Saisir l’Europe »), Hélène Miard-Delacroix (univ. ParisSorbonne/LabEx EHNE) et Christian Wenkel (IHA). Cet appel à contribution s’adresse prioritairement à des jeunes chercheurs (étudiants avancés en Master 2, doctorants et post-doc). Les frais de voyage et d’hébergement seront pris en charge par l’IHA. La langue de travail sera le français, des communications en anglais seront toutefois acceptées. Merci de bien vouloir envoyer votre candidature (une page A4 environ) en français, en allemand ou en anglais avec un court C.V. (merci d’indiquer vos compétences linguistiques) dans un seul fichier PDF d’ici le 27 avril 2015 à cwenkel@dhi-paris.fr. Les candidats sélectionnés seront invités à envoyer leur communication d’ici le 8 juin 2015 au plus tard.

Call for papers – RICHIE Conference: Networks, Practices and Dynamics of Socialization in European diplomacy from 1919 to today

RICHIE
In cooperation with RICHIE and
Académie royale de Belgique the Académie royale de Belgique

Brussels, Royal Academy of Belgium
19-21 March 2015

1. Disciplines involved

Trans-disciplinary conference favouring an historical perspective. Contributions in History and all social sciences are welcomed (Political Science, Anthropology, Sociology).

2. Working languages

Debates will be conducted mainly in French, but we welcome contributions in English.

3. Main Themes / Research Questions

After the First World War, diplomats became the key-figures of a new International order that was meant to be founded on new principles: transparency, cooperation, arbitrage and international law. However, it meant an erosion of their monopoly over foreign affairs as new “technical” experts would now play a major role along the traditional actors of diplomacy: international lawyers, academics, journalists, senior officials seconded to multilateral organisations, or international bankers. These actors were more and more organized in international networks: their activities were impacted by technological revolutions in transport and communication, and by the rising influence of mass media. The timing of the negotiator’s job was accelerating, while diplomats were increasingly monitored by public opinion and by their political masters.

The new diplomacy was mainly taking place in the European capitals and in Geneva. The League of Nations became a prominent forum for diplomatic encounters and socialization at the time of the attempted “Collective Security”, and a fertile ground for the first projects of European Union. Those professional and personal connections between foreign policy actors witnessed a new momentum after 1945 when Western European stated started to organize their close cooperation. From the 1970s onwards, the European Political Cooperation (EPC) provided an official framework, but diplomatic socialization existed informally between individuals, via various forms of connection (family, financial, intellectual or artistic).

Exploring those formal and informal networks will set a new light on the diplomatic machine in general, and on decision-making in particular. To what extent did the recourse to those networks contribute to the settlement of some crises? Did national Ministries for Foreign Affairs contribute to accelerate or to resist that process of networking among diplomatic agents? Do the latter usually share common representations of Europe? To what extent did the rise of multilateral, public and economic diplomacy impact diplomatic practices?

This call for papers requests contributions that will resort to new approaches to analyse activities of foreign policy actors from 1919 to today, favouring a transnational and pan-European focus. Different (and non-exclusive) research questions may be followed:

1. How diplomatic jobs changed in the European context?

Sociology, training, competences, definition of bilateral and multilateral diplomatic positions in Europe, transformation of national Foreign Ministries (structure, management, respective position towards home departments, impact of the unification process of Europe), transfer of training between national foreign services in Europe, exportation of a “European diplomatic model” to non-European areas.

2. Perceptions/Visions of a United Europe for Foreign policy actors:

Effects of generations, political involvement, national or transnational divisions over the European project; resistance to the integration process; confronting principles with reality: the issues/difficulties of diplomatic cooperation at the European level.

3. Formal and informal transnational networks among Foreign policy agents:

Personal and family connections between European diplomats, including the periods of war (how contacts were maintained – or not- in belligerent countries – via third or neutral countries during the two World Wars; diplomatic connections within the Soviet bloc during the Cold War); the role of contact groups in the settlement of local/regional conflict, such as the Balkans); the role of informal forums in the networking of Foreign policy actors (associations, journals, European movements).

4. New diplomatic practices in the 1970? Convergence and mutualisation of national diplomacies:

development of a European diplomatic milieu within the institutions of the ECC/EU and in their delegations abroad. The rise of public diplomacy and new proactive forms of commercial and economic diplomacy; new division of labour and mutualisation between bilateral embassies and the ECC/EU delegations; the advent of the High Representative for the CFSP as a new diplomatic figure; sharing of diplomatic practices with European countries of the ex-Soviet bloc; development of the European External Action Service (EEAS)

4. Participating institutions

Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) et Université de Liège (Centre d’étude d’histoire de l’Europe contemporaine – CEHEC and Contact group FRS-FNRS « Belgique et mondes contemporains »)

Paris I / Paris IV (Labex EHNE et Centre d’histoire des relations internationales contemporaines/IRICE)

Association « Diplomatie et stratégie »

5. Scientific Committee

  • Laurence Badel (Paris I)
  • Eric Bussière (Paris IV)
  • Björn-Olav Dozo (FNRS/ULg)
  • Michel Dumoulin (UCL)
  • Vincent Genin (ULg)
  • Johannes Grossmann (Tübingen)
  • John Keiger (Cambridge)
  • Catherine Lanneau (ULg)
  • Christian Lequesne (Sciences Po)
  • Thomas Raineau (Paris IV)
  • Philippe Raxhon (ULg)
  • Pierre Tilly (UCL)
  • Matthieu Osmont (ICFA Tübingen)
  • Maurice Vaïsse (Sciences Po)

6. Submission process and deadlines

  1. Applicants are expected to submit abstract of papers by Tuesday 30 September 2014 at email address: colldiplo2015@gmail.com
  2. Abstracts should not exceed 500 words and should be accompanied by a short biographical note, a CV and a list of publications
  3. Notifications to successful applicants will be sent by 1 December 2014. Final papers are expected to be produced by 15 February 2015.
  4. The accommodation costs in Brussels are paid.Requests for financial grants covering a partial or total amount of travelling expenses can be submitted and will be considered on a case-by-case basis

7. Organizing Committee

  • Vincent Genin (Phd Candidate, Université de Liège)
  • Dr Matthieu Osmont (Director of Institut culturel franco-allemand de Tübingen)
  • Thomas Raineau (Phd Candidate, Université Paris IV Sorbonne)

Call for Papers – Summer School: “Europeanization from the mid-XIXth Century to the Present Mixing National, International and Transnational approaches”

Poland, Krzyzowa Foundation, 6-11 September 2012

Organized by RICHIE Association (http ://www.europe-richie.org/) the University of Paris-Sorbonne(http ://www.paris-sorbonne.fr/), the University of Hildesheim, (www.uni-hildesheim.de/), with the support of Université franco-allemande

Deadline for applications: 10 June 2012

The Summer School is opened to Masters and Doctoral students studying European history in the XIXth and XXth centuries. The key methodology of the conference will be that of historical analysis, however the Summer School welcomes researchers from other disciplines (sociology, political science, economy, law, etc.). Summer School participants will not qualify for ECTS credits.

“Europeanization” will be the central topic of the Summer School. Historians have defined Europeanization as a “a gradual process of political, economic and cultural convergence leading to the increasing development of similarities in European societies” (J. Grossman, J. Niesser, T. Schneider, Synthesis of the Summer School: Towards a European Society?

Convergence and Divergence in 20th Century). This process needs to be understood in conjunction with the overall structural transformations that took place in the XIXth and XXth centuries as a result of internal and external pressures. Instead of considering the wars of the XXth as markers of a new era, we approach the second half of the XIXth century as laying the foundations of modern globalization. As such, the process of Europeanization should be understood as the mutual interaction of national, international, global and trans-national dynamics, without excluding local dynamics.

Proposals for presentations might deal with the following non-exhaustive topics:

  • States, Administration and civil society (-ties) in the process of Europeanization;
  • Politics at the junction of national, transnational and European dynamics (lobbies, political parties, institutions);
  • Building, circulating and challenging European model(s) (in the economic, social, politic, cultural intellectual and philanthropic fields);
  • Public opinion and the media: public spaces for Europeanization?
  • A plurality of Europeanization(s)?: symbolic representations, images, symbols and lieux de mémoire.
  • Europeanization and reconciliation: of the People of Europe? between the People of Europe/the European People and Others?
  • Europeanization at the borders of Europe: societies, influx and trades.

The Summer School will take place at the Krzyzowa Foundation in Poland. Transport between Wroclaw and Kreisau, accommodation, catering and social events will be provided by the Organization Committee. Travel expenses will be covered for up to 100 euros (please keep receipts).

The Summer School’s Scientific Committee is composed of internationally recognised academics, including: Eric Bussière (Paris IV- Sorbonne University), Michael Gehler (Hildesheim University), John Keiger (Salford University), Léonard Laborie (CNRS) and Konstanty Wojtaszczyk (Warsaw University).

Members of the Organization Committee are Noël Bonhomme (Paris IV Sorbonne), Anna Konieczna (Sciences Po Paris), Céline Paillette (Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne), Karolina Pietras (Paris IV-Sorbonne).

If you wish to participate in the Summer School, please email us at ecole2012@europe- richie.org. Please include the following documents with your email (.doc or pdf files only).

Your presentation proposal (500 words maximum);

  • A summary of your current research project(s) (Phd or Masters – only in circumstances where this is different from the topic of your proposed presentation);
  • A short CV (1 page); and
  • The name of an academic referee.

Successful applicants will be contacted in end-June 2012. The working languages of the conference will be French and German however a good command of English is required.

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Call for papers: The Transformation of the World Steel Industry from the Twentieth Century to the Present

The Transformation of the World Steel Industry from the Twentieth Century to the Present

Call for papers

Changes in the world steel industry have been faster in the late twentieth century than in all previous periods. The conference The Transformation of the World Steel Industry from the Twentieth Century to the Present aims to scientifically describe and study the transformations which occurred in all areas of that industry. Its positioning in the contemporary period will allow a multidisciplinary and comparative reflection about the origins and forms of those changes.

This comparative approach is essentially historical, but it is also open to other disciplines such as geography, economics, business administration, sociology, engineering and so forth.

Supported by the Association Internationale d’Histoire Contemporaine de l’Europe (AIHCE), the conference is divided into two parts differing in terms of orientation, dates and location. They will be presented in French or English, without translation, according to the speakers’ choice.

The first part of the symposium, which will take place on May 24 and 25, 2012 in Le Creusot (France), deals with global questions, whereas the second part, taking place on September 20 and 21, 2012 in Luxembourg (Grand-duché de Luxembourg), will be focused more specifically on the European dimension. The results of both sessions will be published in the conference proceedings.

Proposals for papers, either in French or in English , should not exceed the maximum of 2,000 to 2,500 characters. Proposals can be made specifically to one of the two sessions, or left to the judgement of the Scientific Committee. An electronic copy and a CV must be sent to the following three addresses before September 1st, 2011 at the latest:

  • Barthel Charles : Charles [point] Barthel [at] cere [point] etat [point] lu
  • Kharaba Ivan : kharaba [point] afb [at] wanadoo [point] fr
  • Mioche Philippe: philippe [point] mioche [at] univ-provence [point] fr

The organizers also intend to devote half a day of the Luxembourg session to a workshop for young researchers (doctoral or postdoctoral students). Their complete communication proposals (maximum 25,000 to 30,000 characters) in French or in English, accompanied by a CV, should be submitted to the above mentioned addresses before December 31, 2011

* * * * *

The two parts of the conference programme comprise the following themes:

Changes and Globalization in the Steel Industry

Le Creusot

24 and 25 May 2012

The part of the symposium organized in Le Creusot, entitled Changes and Globalization in the Steel Industry, will focus on the following topics: Work organization and social relations; Innovation and technology; Changes in territories and environment; Raw materials and supplies; Heritage and representations. For each of these themes, the presentations may include case studies and/or comparative works over time or space, from the past to the present, here and elsewhere.

The sub-themes presented below are not exhaustive, all proposals on the general themes of the symposium are welcome.

  • Organization of labour and social relations studies the evolution of work organization and social relations. What social policies are implemented in the steel industry? Can we compare the social data, such as training, salaries, …? What are the social relations between employers and workers in the steel industry? Etc.
  • Innovation and technology examines the research and innovation policies and the evolution of technologies in the steel industry. Which policies for research and innovation are applied in the steel industry? What are the new frontiers for innovation? What are the developments in productivity? Which future developments will the world steel industry take? What about research for new steels? Etc.
  • Changes in territories and environment: The objective of this part is to study the evolution of the territories occupied by the steel industry from the past to the present, and its changes through social and environmental evolution. What are the changes in the steel territories ? Can we speak of a decline in U.S. and European steel industries to the benefit of new countries? What forms does the emergence of the steel industry take? What are the environmental policies in the steel industry; where do the differences between countries lie? Etc.
  • Raw materials and supplies: This part will examine the strategies and policies for raw materials supply, and their evolution. What are the flows of raw materials and supplies? How did they change? What are the transport arrangements and their impact on markets and locations? What are the relative positions of strength of the steel companies and the mining companies? Etc.
  • Heritage and performance: A special place will be devoted to the preservation of the heritage of the steel industry and its representations. What is the legacy of the steel industry? How is it preserved and valued here and elsewhere? In which ways are the steel industry and its workers represented ? Etc.

A roundtable will deal with «The Transformation of the Steel Industry and the Social Question».

The future of the European steel industry

Luxembourg

20 and 21 September 2012

Central themes addressed in Luxembourg will be the European steel companies and the various types of local, national and international structures within which production takes place. As these are constantly changing under the effect of reorganizations conditioned sometimes by endogenous factors and sometimes by outside influences or interventions from beyond the sector, our purpose will be to analyze over a period stretching from the beginning of the 20th century to the dawn of the 21st century, the integration process, the composition of capital, the employers’ networks, etc., with the aim of identifying possible constant features, changes in company policy or a return to the roots following the example of the recent re-emergence of family capitalism. Consequently, another point at issue will be that of corporate culture, in the present case at the level of management in mills having been integrated into large often transnational groups, where new causes for concern in particular of a financial and commercial nature outweigh the management policy of the traditional ironmasters. A better knowledge of the entrepreneurs’ profile will undoubtedly allow a better analysis of their strategic choices and thus help explain the success of the one and the setbacks of another metallurgical society.

The constant reorientations imposed on the sector have of course also had an impact on the fiscal, environmental or social standards of production. Control, first of minor significance during the pioneer era of the modern steel industry, rapidly grows in importance. What are the forms of dialogue between the private sector and public institutions? The governments’ and/or companies’ hesitations have given rise to much confusion and controversy in the field of agreements and cartels. Could these particular forms of market organization, which have often been condemned as violations of the basic rules of fair competition, become superfluous nowadays? Besides the development of the markets, we will finally also have to examine the products which have considerably developed since the beginning of the 20th century, not only in quantity, but also and above all in quality. We also intend to assess the future prospects of a category of production that has largely contributed to Europe’s wealth. This last topic will as a matter of fact be examined in more detail during a roundtable debate with insiders. The debate will focus on “The Position of the European Iron and Steel Industry in the World of Tomorrow”.

The meeting organized in Luxembourg includes a half-day’s workshop where selected young doctoral or postdoctoral students will be given the opportunity to present their research work and to discuss it in common. These papers, besides the topics specific to the Luxembourg part of the symposium, may also deal with the whole of the topics covered during the session to be held in Le Creusot (see above).

* * * * *

Publication of the conference papers:

The final deadline for delivery of the final drafts of manuscripts is

November 2012

For further information, please contact the scientific secretary of the conference: kharaba [point] afb [at] wanadoo [point] fr or charles [point] barthel [at] cere [point] etat [point] lu

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