The Network for the Study of Civilians, Soldiers, and Society (NSCSS)
The Network for the Study of Civilians, Soldiers, and Society (NSCSS), based at the Gregg Centre of the University of New Brunswick, is planning a workshop-style conference entitled “As Wars End…” for 19-21 June 2019. Through pre-circulated papers, the conference seeks to reconsider, from a wide range of geographic and temporal perspectives, the character, dynamics, and legacies of military conflicts as they came to a close. For some, the end of war meant liberation, but for others, such as civilians involved in colonial conflicts, it meant occupation and subjugation. The end of wars does not therefore always mean the restoration of peace and a return to ‘normalcy’. The conference thus seeks to bring together scholars to re-examine the following overlapping questions, issues, and themes:
Civilian repercussions: For many civilians the end of wars brought little peace. Devastation, displacement, occupation, and disease frequently accompanied conflicts, their consequences profound and complicated by variations in class, gender, age, ethnicity, and geography. Even for those not living in conflict zones the challenges of readjustment, incorporating veterans into everyday life, and dealing with the social and psychological consequences of conflict proved enduring and even life-long. Papers that address these and other dimensions of civilian experience in the fraught and often incomplete transition from war to peace are welcome.
Societal reconstructions: The long-term social impact of military conflicts take numerous forms. Possible paper topics might include: decolonization; the rise of civil rights movements; demobilization and the civilian reintegration of soldiers; economic recovery; the writing and rewriting of constitutions; the civilian application of military technologies; and, the reconsideration of citizenship and political participation.
Geopolitical reverberations: From the Thirty Years’ War through the Second World War and beyond, the outcomes of wars and other military conflicts invariably have had geopolitical reverberations for victors and vanquished, allies and neutrals alike. This theme explores the geopolitical implications of ending wars, including: shifting alliances; emergence of new powers; decolonization; new international institutions and legal regimes; imperial powers in decline; and, new international economic arrangements. Proposals that address these examples of geopolitical reverberations or related themes are welcomed.
The organizing committee welcomes papers that examine these issues from ancient times to the contemporary period, that focus on a wide variety of geographic locations, and that reflect a wide range of historical approaches and perspectives. Please send paper abstracts (up to 250 words), a one-page CV, and contact information to Dr. Colin Grittner (Department of History, University of New Brunswick) at colin.grittner@unb.ca by 31 August 2018. Please note that for those whose abstracts are accepted, we request completed working papers for circulation by 15 May 2019.