9th ENRS conference “Myths, Memories and Economies”
The year 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of political changes in former state socialist countries of Eastern Europe in 1989. With 30 years separating the eventful year of 1989 and the present, we find ourselves at a point with sufficient distance to retrospectively reflect upon the above described changes. At the same time, 1989 and subsequent years remain part of the living communicative memory of present societies.
The 9th Genealogies of Memory conference “Myths, Memories and Economies: Post-Socialist Transformations in Comparison” will aim to explore the still ongoing and dynamic process of memory sedimentation of the economic transformations, as well as their contradictory valences ranging from unlimited opportunities to traumatic failure. As a period actively experienced by most of today’s adult generation, the post-1989 economic, political, and social changes are only now undergoing a process of historicisation. The conference seeks to explore the role that memory plays in this process, particularly at a time when this period has already produced its own popular mythology. The 1990s have become a subject of popular culture and even an object of nostalgia for their „wild“ and free spirit. A central question to be addressed is the ways in which such popular narratives interact and compare with various social groups‘ memories and scholarly efforts to understand the processes of economic change.
The conference organisers invite presentations on economy and memory, in particular, but not limited to the context of post-socialist economic transformations in East-Central Europe, as well as their interactions with parallel economic processes in other parts of the world. They may be based on a wide range of disciplinary perspectives, including history, sociology, anthropology, economics, literary and film studies, and others. While the focal point for most economic transformations in question is the 1990s, we invite speakers to address these changes in the context of their longer histories with attention to the genealogy of shifts in economic thought through the 20th century and related memory processes.
More information you can find here.
Organisational information:
The conference will take place on 28-30 October 2019 in Warsaw. We encourage applicants to send abstracts at a maximum of 300 words, together with a brief biographical statement and the scan of signed Consent Clause of the conference abstract provider to genealogies@enrs.eu by 15 January 2019. Applicants will be notified of the results by 30 March 2019. Written draft papers (2,000- 2,500 words) should be submitted by 5 September 2019. There will be an opportunity to publish some revised and extended papers in an edited volume or special issue. While the organisers will fully cover accommodation expenses for all participants, reimbursement of travel expenses will be based on an application process with clear preference for early career researchers lacking support from their home institutions. The conference language is English.
Conference Convenors:
Dr Veronika Pehe (Institute for Contemporary History, Czech Academy of Sciences)
Dr Joanna Wawrzyniak (Institute of Sociology, University of Warsaw)
Program Coordinators:
Dr Małgorzata Pakier (ENRS)
Dr Joanna Wawrzyniak (University of Warsaw)
Organiser:
European Network Remembrance and Solidarity (ENRS)
Partners:
Institute of Sociology, University of Warsaw; Institute for Contemporary History, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic