EXTENDED Application Submission Deadline: December 12, 2006

The Eurasia Program of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) invites proposals for a dissertation development workshop, focusing on issues of violence in Eurasia.  Graduate students at any stage of their dissertation process (from proposal to write-up) and from any disciplinary or interdisciplinary program in the humanities or social sciences are eligible to apply. Proposals may elaborate upon one or more of the following issues, or applicants may propose their own topics. We particularly encourage applicants who propose new theoretical perspectives and methodologies and whose work speaks to a wide scholarly audience.

Violence – the use or threat of physical/psychological force – has played a role in the exercise of power and the shaping of social relations throughout history.  The forms and meaning of violence have varied, however, with time, location, cultural tradition, and political context.  In all eras, in any given situation, some types of violence are accepted as legitimate, even necessary, while others are condemned as extreme.  How is violence interpreted in the Eurasian context?

One has only to mention the tsarist-era anti-Jewish pogroms, the self-inflicted brutalities of the Stalinist regime, the present government of Uzbekistan, the Russian Mafia, or the conduct of both parties to the war in Chechnya to evoke stereotypes of a Eurasian propensity for violence. 

What kind of norms or values have governed the use of violence in the territory once covered by the Russian empire and the Soviet Union, and now by the Russian Federation and other successor states?  To what extent have attitudes and practices converged with or departed from patterns elsewhere?  To what extent do local patterns vary within the region?  What has been the impact of political, social, and economic change on interpersonal and social relations?  How has violence been represented through literary and cultural productions, and what impact has this had on the further propagation of violent behavior in society?  What have been the responses from individuals, groups, and states from within and outside the region to violence and repression?  And does the region deserve its reputation in the West as lawless and violence-prone? 

For detailed information on application procedures and eligibility requirements, please visit the Eurasia Program online at www.ssrc.org/programs/eurasia or contact program staff at [log in to unmask]

Eurasia Program
Social Science Research Council
810 Seventh Avenue
New York, NY 10019
Phone: (212) 377-2700
Fax: (212) 377-2727