From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Seventeen years after the onset of revolutionary changes in 1989, Central
and Eastern European societies are still confronted with their
histories. Memories and recollections of the past are contested and the past
is painstakingly constituted through the interplay of
collective construction, political bargains, reversals, rationalizing of
refusals to come to terms with it as well as attempts to recognize
the past and cope with it. Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have witnessed
unprecedented spatial and population shifts and splits which
marked the 20th century globally. Many minorities which were often local
majorities or equal in number were left in the aftermath of wars
as mere memories that quickly faded due to the rapid intrusion of communism.
The process of building societies which are not just
ethno-culturally heterogeneous but also open to all diverse groups has been
contingent on coming to terms with the past. This process became
the arena for opening ways to facing current challenges such as migration,
borders dissolution and violation of local
social and economic balances.
Since 1989 CEE societies have undergone unparalleled social change, however,
the expected reforms in the spheres of law, public policy,
culture, media, economy and social policies have been substantially delayed
and compromised. The simultaneous emergence of free-market
economies and pluralist politics led to situations in which the state
quickly withdrew or collapsed, and distinctions between state,
collective, and private domains became unclear. It has been in the interest
of those actors that emerged in this initial phase of change
to prolong a specifically post-socialist culture between socialism and the
free market. This may have decisively contributed to the
Eurosceptic backlash in the ranks of particular mainstream political forces
and in specific cultural segments and sections of societies in
some CEE countries. What is in this light the meaning of "the big European
switch" of 2004 and its upcoming enlargement follow-up? How
'Central and Eastern European' have the CEE countries stayed and Western
Europe become? What are the reconstituted boundaries?
Held by School of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic,
28th - 30th June 2007 and organized in cooperation with the
School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, the
conference presents a major opportunity for postgraduate
students and young academics to discuss the events in Central and Eastern
Europe also including but not limited to Russia, Eurasia, the
Balkans, and the Baltic States. We invite submissions and participants from
a wide range of disciplinary perspectives. Proposals should be
sent, as email attachments, to: [log in to unmask] at the latest January
31, 2007.
further details and particular themes:
http://www.h-net.msu.edu/announce/show.cgi?ID=152432
with kind regards
Marcel Tomasek
School of Social Studies, Sociology Dep.,
Joštova 10,
602 00 Brno, Czech Republic
phone: 00420 549497611
fax: 00420 549 491 920
Email: [log in to unmask]
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