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March 02, 2009

Europe Before and After 1989, Padua 10 -12 June 09

Special call for papers: the revolutions of 1989 and the crisis of 2009

The twentieth anniversary of the revolutions of 1989 is overshadowed
by a large conjunctural crisis in global economics, world politics and
military relations – a conflagration that is said to be the most
serious since World War II, and which is more and more often compared
to the 1930s. Some historical keywords: the Great Depression, the
continental rise of fascism and communism, permanent war in Eastern
Asia - all leading eventually to world war.

We are looking for proposals that relate 1989 and 2009. While it
obviously cannot be said that the revolutions led to the present
crisis, it does seem equally obvious that way 1989 was interpreted by
key actors did play an important role. We offer the following
observations to stimulate panel and paper submissions:

A) Reconsidering scholarly judgement: For example, scholars
associated with 1989 ‘the end of History,’ the utopia of liberal
capitalism, the ideological junctim between market and private
property, the worldwide deregulation of financial and economic
activity and so on: What, if any, is the connection with the present
financial and economic crunch?

B) Reexamining (key) actors’ perceptions: For example, 1989 was
interpreted by politicians and policy makers as triumph of the West,
as confirmation of Western values, as conferring a set of historical
lessons. Arguably this led to unilaterialist action in Bonn (German
unification), Brussels (Eastward enlargement) and Washington (foreign
policy and national security strategy generally). What, if any, is the
impact of key actors’ perceptions on the course of events leading up
to the present quagmire in world politics?

C) Global ideas and trends: For example, the aftermath of 1989 saw
the rise and spread of notions such as shock therapy, the clash of
civilizations, the global network society and so on. Others have
identified as key trends (and consequence?) such issues as the return
of primitive accumulation, the rise of new autocracies and
low-intensity, but unlimited warfare. If the twenty years from 1989 to
2009 constitute a conjunctural cycle, which are its main features?

D) Europe and the EU: If 1989 was another ‘zero hour’ for Europe,
how, with hindsight, would we evaluate the chosen and predominant
solution of EU enlargement? What have been the consequences of
organising the unification of Europe according to ideas of Western
superiority, Eastern backwardness and fragility, the need for
conditionality and restricted access for Easterners to the core
freedoms of the EU? Some suggest it is the reinvention of Europe as
empire. What, if any, is the connection between the reordering of
Europe after 1989 and the present impasse in European integration
associated with the failed constitution, the troubled Lisbon strategy,
the problematic neighbourhood and so on?

E) 1989 as a model of peaceful, but revolutionary change: Arguably,
the revolutionaries of 1989 forged a new type of organized and
synchronous political and social change: the self-limiting or
negotiated revolution. In how far is the large-scale, purposeful and
rapid change achieved across a large space a model of significance in
confronting the crisis of 2009? In tackling some of the very large
issues ahead, such as energy and climate, or demography and poverty?
In returning to peace, constitutional democracy and prosperity?

Senior faculty, junior faculty and post-docs may participate by
submitting a joint proposal for a panel or an individual paper.
Doctoral researchers are encouraged to submit a poster proposal.

EUROPE BEFORE AND AFTER 1989 - Trans-national and comparative
perspectives on Eastern & Western Europe - Anniversary Conference,
10-12 June 2009, University of Padua, Italy

Terms and conditions for RN 1989 membership, Working Group formation
and the CPD programme are available on the website:
http://www.cee-socialscience.net/1989/

Professor Antonio Pavan (Padua), Professor Andrzej Rychard (PAN),
Professor Jacques Rupnik (Sciences Po), Dr Agnieszka Wenninger
(GESIS), Dr Chris Armbruster (RN 1989)

Posted by agripley at March 2, 2009 03:19 PM

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