Deadline: 1 February 2014
Open to: young scholars and graduates
Venue: 9-10 May 2014, Rijeka, Croatia
Description
The conference “Strategies of Symbolic Nation-Building in South Eastern Europe” represents the final event within the scope of a 3-year project funded by the Norwegian Research Council. While the conference is on one hand intended to serve as the public promotion of the edited volume produced by the members of the research team, on the other hand scholars are invited to participate in analyzing the results of the research project and contribute to a broader discussion on nation-building in South Eastern Europe. The project and accompanying volume focused on nation-building in seven countries – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia – but conference paper proposals are not limited to these states, since comparative or theoretical approaches are welcome. The keynote lecture will be delivered by Maria Todorova (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign). Scholars who are interested in participating in the conference are encouraged to consult the quantitative results of the research project (10,500 opinion poll responses from seven countries conducted in 2011) and incorporate them in their paper proposals. Possible conference topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Case studies or comparative research in nation-building
- The role of religion and religious institutions in nation-building
- The politization of ethnicity and minority policy in South Eastern Europe
- Language and identity politics
- Debates about ethnicity and EU integration
- War remembrance and commemorative practices as nation-building
- Debates in historiography and history textbooks
- Nation-building during socialist Yugoslavia and Albania
- Geographical identities and debates about borders and boundaries
- Construction, destruction, and reinterpretation of monuments and memorials
- The role of the ICTY in nation-building debates
- Popular culture and national narratives
- Theoretical reflections on the relationship between state- and nation-building
- Economic factors and the success (or failure) of nation-building
- Sports and the nation
Eligibility
Submissions are encouraged from both established scholars and advanced graduate students.
Costs
Participants chosen to present at the conference will have their accommodation and meals provided, but only a limited number of grants are available for travel funding. There are no conference fees and all of the panels are open to the public.
Application
All proposals must be sent in a single email message to: Jon Kvaerne at johnkvaerne@yahoo.com, with an attached proposal in a Word document containing information, an abstract (300-500 words), and a biographical statement in a narrative form.
The call for participation is available HERE.
