The International Research Network of Young Historians of European Integration (RICHIE) is happy to present the call for papers for its fifth conference. RICHIE aims to facilitate networks between PhD students and young scholars and to encourage them to present their research. The RICHIE conferences shall be opportunities to bring together young researchers and renowned professors from different European countries.
In 2012, the conference will be organised by scholars from the University of Cologne and the University of Stuttgart. It will take place in Cologne at Schloss Wahn from January 19 – 21, 2012. Leading scholars in the field such as Bo Stråth (Helsinki) Wilfried Loth (Duisburg-Essen), Jürgen Zimmerer (Hamburg), Dirk Rupnow (Innsbruck), Karen Schönwälder (Göttingen), and Jürgen Elvert (Cologne) will participate in the conference.
RICHIE conference 2012: Globalizing Europe
The conference explores images, ideas, and perceptions of Europe from a global perspective after 1945. Europe has been, is, and will always be a project that defines itself in contrast to the perceived non-European world. The conference seeks to complement the debate on European identity by non-European perspectives on and constructions of Europe. The conference aims are three-fold. First, it paves the way to locate Europe in a global context and overhauls both national paradigms and euro-centric perspectives. While global history often seeks to highlight socio-economic phenomena this conference pursues a global intellectual history of Europe. Second, the conference highlights different national and transnational actors and their varying and ambivalent concepts of Europe. The conference, thus, aims to relocate Europe on a global mental map, thereby contributing to the ongoing historiographical debate about “Provincializing Europe” . Lastly, it scrutinizes multiple influences and entanglements between Europe and non-European actors. The conference will trace and discuss global images, ideas, and perspectives from five different, albeit connected angles.
1. Competitive perspective: Struggling with the European model
Europe in a global perspective is often characterized by the development of welfare states, a certain social permeability, an ongoing process of secularization, and the political and economical integration of nation states within transnational institutions. This first panel seeks to shed light on the empathic, critical, and disapproving global perspectives on Europe from nation-states, transnational actors that include both governmental and non-governmental organizations worldwide.
2. Postcolonial perspective: Europe seen by its former colonies
The varying experiences of foreign rule, and the continuing economic entanglements, left their deep marks on both the relation between former empire and periphery and the perspective of the postcolonial world on Europe. This panel will discuss this unique perspective on Europe from the post-colonial world.
3. Migration perspective
This third panel seeks to trace the perspectives on Europe from both European emigrants in non-European countries and non-European immigrants inside Europe. The panel will especially focus on the complex interdependencies of origin and destination that shaped the perspectives on Europe.
4. European identity and European integration
Since 1952, the process of institutionalization has been accompanied by complementary procedures of inclusion and exclusion of European states. This fourth panel will investigate the perception of the integration process from the perspective of the non-integrated, excluded European states. Frequently included into institutionalized Europe over time, the changing perspectives from nations of both democratic and authoritarian European areas on the integration process shall be examined.
5. Europe and the global politics of memory
The European history of the 20th century has been marked by eruptions of violence and mass murder, struggles for freedom, processes of democratization and trans-nationalization. This last panel aims to shed light on the worldwide politics of memory and instrumentalizations of Europe’s 20th century history. More specifically, it will interrogate how different actors worldwide perceive, memorialize, and make specific use of European historical phenomena and events like the Holocaust, Soviet crimes, the cold War, the European integration, and the downfall of Communism.
Application
The organizers welcome proposals from PhD students and young researchers of various academic backgrounds. Papers can focus on cultural, political or economic issues from a decidedly historical perspective. Presentation should not exceed 20 minutes. The conference language is English, however, the papers may also be given in French.
Abstracts (300 words, in English) should be submitted along with an academic CV by April 15, 2011 to the organizers via email:
globalizing-europe@gmx.de.
Selected candidates will be contacted by the end of May, 2011. Participants are asked to hand in their paper’s final version by December 15, 2011.
A publication of the conference papers is planned.
There are no registration costs. The organizers plan to refund travel costs and accommodation.