The general theme and title of the conference will be “key concepts in times of crisis”. The study of historical change through the formation of key concepts is at the core of conceptual history. Concepts can acquire the status as central within the political and social vocabulary through long historical processes. The modern concept of democracy emerged with the French revolution of 1789 and became central to ideologies and political languages in the latter part of the 19th century. The concept of crisis took shape in the 18th century and became central to the understanding of politics and economy in the 19th century. The study of changes through the emergence of key concepts is underpinned by a sophisticated theory of historical time and temporality. On one hand, concepts are layered in time. They carry with them older meanings that can be activated in the present.

KEY NOTE SPEAKERS:
Professor Janet Roitman, The New School for Social Research, New York, USA
Professor Javier Fernández Sebastián, Universidad del País Vasco, Bilbao, Spain
Professor Claude Romano, Université Paris-Sorbonne
Professor Anders Ekström, Uppsala Universitet, Sweden
Professor Helge Jordheim, Universitetet i Oslo