[ Call for Papers ]

The School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London welcomes papers for the 11th International Postgraduate Conference on Central and Eastern Europe Crisis: Interruptions, Reactions and Continuities in Central and Eastern Europe which will take place 15-17 February 2012. Deadline for submissions: July 15, 2011.

Crises have been common in the history of Central and Eastern Europe. The term crisis implies that a particular order, whether financial, social or political is thrown into a state of flux. The resultant instability usually forces those affected to react to the disturbance and reassert a sense of equilibrium. By unravelling the operation of social and political mechanisms that are normally taken for granted, crises give rise to a number of questions: Were crises preceded by a generally accepted order? How did individuals confronted with a crisis react to the new state of affairs? Were their attempts successful or has instability remained?

This conference examines the concept of crisis from a plethora of disciplinary angles within the Central and Eastern European context. It offers a platform for discussing a complex set of interactions, interruptions and continuities that various forms of crises provoke.

The conference invites postgraduate students and early career researchers in the Humanities and Social Sciences to take part in an interdisciplinary debate about the nature, meaning, causes and results of crises in Central and Eastern Europe, including South-East Europe, Russia and the countries of the former USSR. The disciplines include, but are not limited to, anthropology, art history, cultural and literary studies, economics, geography, history (medieval to modern), linguistics, politics and sociology. We particularly encourage comparative and multidisciplinary perspectives, as well as proposals using new research methodologies.

We look forward to receiving submissions on topics including but not limited to the following areas:

• financial and economic crises;
• social crises, gender and sexuality struggles, crises of memory and identity, crises of values, crisis of political activism;
• environmental and energy crises;
• existential crises, crises of the subject, philosophical, religious and confessional crises;
• representation of crises in literature, film and drama;
• institutional, political and security crises, crises of regime, succession and legitimacy, crises of empire;
• urban crises, rural and agrarian crises.

Paper abstracts of up to 300 words and a brief biography should be sent with full contact details (E-mail, Telephone, Postal Address) to postgradconference2012@gmail.com. Paper presentations should not exceed twenty minutes. The language of the conference is English. A selection of papers will appear in a separate Conference publication.

Email: postgradconference2012@gmail.com
Visit the website at http://www.ssees.ucl.ac.uk/postgradconf2012.htm