[ Call for Papers-Call for Applications ]

The conference will address the history of hygiene, public health and eugenics in Southeast Europe. Of particular interest will be the complex relationship between public health schemes, population politics and eugenic ideas and practices, on one hand, and strategies and technologies of power as these are manifested in the national politics of the states in the region, on the other. This relationship will be pursued both by looking at how Western and Central European concepts of hygiene, health and eugenics were implemented in southeast Europe, as well as by excavating the historical and social peculiarities of local traditions of hygiene and social hygiene.
The central topics to be discussed include: the understanding of hygiene; prevention and combating of diseases by scientific, social and state institutions in different southeast European countries; eugenic movements; historical attempts to introduce eugenic policies; public health; systems of social welfare; the tension between science, politics and socially active agencies, such as private associations, women clubs, etc.; the influence of international institutions, such as the Health Organization of the League of Nations, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Red Cross; the relationship between public health and demographic changes with reference to the Balkan wars and the First World War.

Call for Proposals - The Case of Albania: Scholars with research interests in the topics of hygiene, eugenics, or the politics of health in the first half of the 20th century in Albania are encouraged to submit proposals for papers (300-400 words).

Deadline: December 15, 2006.

Contact:
Dr. Sevasti Trubeta
Osteuropa Institut der Freien Universität Berlin
Arbeitsbereich Geschichte und Kultur
Garystr. 5
D- 14195 Berlin
Tel. +49 30 838 52761