Main theme with call for session proposal
30 years after the referendum about the Norwegian affiliation to the EU (1994), we take up the term "dichotomization" as a theme for the Norwegian History Days. The main topic will deal with dichotomies, more specifically concepts or phenomena that contain or are based on conceptual opposites. There was talk of dichotomies about people and elite, city and country, center and periphery, Europe and Norway, and not least between nation and union. The dichotomies also increased the sense of democratic crisis, and characterized the public debate then as well as now. Dichotomies have an ability to stimulate polarization, and can promote populism. In November 1994 during the election about Norway’s future, all existent dichotomies ultimately boiled down to the choice between "yes" or "no", which were the only possible choices on the ballot.
Dichotomies are important concepts that simplify our world of knowledge, and in recent years dichotomies have perhaps become even more important than before, also for historians’ treatment of complex topics.
The Norwegian History Days will be held in the European capital of culture, Bodø, in 2024, where 59.9% of the people voted against the EU in 1994. History is full of paradoxes and nuances, something we want to address in the country where 52.5% of the people also voted no during the mentioned election. Today, Norway and Bodø are a foreign country and a foreign city in a European community.

Dichotomization and polarization can overshadow the public exchange of words. The Norwegian history community, as well as the international one, is therefore challenged to discuss and problematize the widespread use of dichotomies in public discourse. This does not only apply to those who work with modern history or contemporary themes, but also historians with research interestests in antiquity, the Middle Ages or the early-modern period. It is particularly important to analyze the dichotomies in a chronologically broader perspective in order to understand the long-term effects they have had, for Norway in particular. The National History Days in 2024 will thus challenge the contemporary unvarnished, unrefined use of dichotomies.

We particularly encourage researchers, archivists, teachers, PhD students and people interested in (Norwegian) history to send proposals for sessions, scripts and free lectures with relevance for the National History Days 2024. Feel free to suggest topics for lectures and sessions not exclusively related to dichotomies such as:

Center and periphery
Climate and economy
Gender and politics
Hopes and realities
Shame and the nation state
Elite and mass
Norway and the World
Norway and Scandinavia
Religion and state
Revolution and reaction
Utopia and dystopia
Individual proposals (maximum of 300 words) and a short biographical sketch (maximum of 100 words), session proposals (3-4 papers each, same format as outlined for individual presentations for each participant) inquiries etc. should be sent to the members of the organizing committee:
Professor Frank Jacob: frank.jacob@nord.no
Professor Steinar Aas: Steinar.aas@nord.no

Information about the program, accommodation and registration will follow soon.
Submission deadline 15 January 2024