Tag Archives: legacy

CfP: The First World War in Italy and Beyond: History, Legacy and Memory (1918–2018)

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30 November – 1 December 2018
Italian Institute of Culture, London

Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of Modern Italy

Download CfP: CFP – ASMI 2018

The conference will explore the history, legacy and memory of the First World War in Italy from 1918 to 2018. As the War was one of the formative experiences of the modern Italian nation, the aim is to place the conflict in a longer chronological perspective and to highlight its lasting impact from a range of viewpoints. Drawing on recent innovations in the historiography, the conference will shift focus away from the battlefields towards hitherto neglected areas of study, including the experience of civilians and everyday life, the transition from war to peace, and the post-war climate and reconstruction. It will shed light on how the memory of WWI shaped Italy’s national identity and served political ends during the Fascist period and after the Second World War. The intention is also to escape the confines of national historiography by placing Italy in comparative and transnational contexts. Thus, the centenary presents an opportunity to look with fresh eyes at the mark left by the War on the history, politics and society of Italy.

We welcome proposals from scholars working in a variety of disciplines including history, literature, film, politics, anthropology, art, economics, sociology and geography.

Panels might include, but are not limited to:
• The immediate aftermath of WW1 (1918–1922) and the rise of social conflict, political violence and Fascism
• The creation of the League of Nations and the emergence of pacifism, humanitarianism and internationalism
• The experience of veterans in the post-war period
• New historiographical approaches to the study of Italy and WW1
• Global, transnational and comparative perspectives
• Local, regional and national experiences
• Gender, both femininity and masculinity
• Family and societal ties
• Changes to ideas of nationhood, democracy, citizenship and community after WW1
• The legacy of WWI under Fascism
• Parallels between the aftermath of WW1 and the aftermath of WW2
• The material heritage of the War: monuments, memorials and cemeteries
• Italy’s commemorations of the centenary in national or transnational contexts

The organizers welcome proposals for individual papers and for panels composed of 3 speakers. They reserve the right to break up and re-structure proposed panels.

Confirmed keynote speakers:
Prof. Gunda Barth-Scalmani (University of Innsbruck)
Author of numerous works on Italian-Austrian relations and the experiences of women during WWI, including Ein Krieg – Zwei Schützengräben, Österreich – Italien und der Erste Weltkrieg in den Dolomiten 1915–1918 (Bozen 2005) and Militärische und zivile Kriegserfahrungen 1914–1918 (Innsbruck, 2010).

Dr. Marco Mondini (University of Padua/Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Trento)
Author of numerous bestselling books on Italy and WW1, including most recently Il Capo. La Grande Guerra del generale Luigi Cadorna (Il Mulino 2017) and La guerra italiana. Partire, raccontare, tornare 1914-18 (Il Mulino 2014). He is a frequent contributor to programmes on Rai Storia, e.g. http://www.raistoria.rai.it/articoli/cadorna-il-capo/32462/default.aspx

Please send an abstract of max. 250 words and a short biography to: asmi.conference1918@gmail.com
Abstracts can be both in English and in Italian.
The closing date for receipt of abstracts is 1 June 2018

Accepted speakers will be required to join ASMI, which includes subscription to the journal Modern Italy.

Organising Committee: Selena Daly (University College Dublin), Carlotta Ferrara degli Uberti (University College London), Hannah Malone (Freie Universität Berlin), Martina Salvante (University of Warwick)

CFP: Cultural Encounters during Global War, 1914-1918: Traces, Spaces, Legacies

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Date: 21 – 23 January 2016
Place: London, United Kingdom

Convenors:
Dr Santanu Das, King’s College London
Prof Andreas Gestrich, German Historical Institute
Dr Daniel Steinbach, King’s College London

The First World War resulted in an unprecedented range of encounters between peoples from different ethnic, social and cultural backgrounds. Soldiers from across the globe travelled to different theatres of war – Europe, the Middle East, East Africa, Egypt, Gallipoli – where they not only encountered fellow-soldiers and non-combatants with different languages, religions or customs, but also interacted with friendly or belligerent civilians. Between 1914 and 1918, on French soil alone, there were over 1 million Asian and African men, both soldiers and non-combatants, in addition to soldiers from Australia, New Zealand and North America.

This interdisciplinary conference seeks to investigate the different kinds of encounters, exchanges and entanglements happening during wartime. What particular pressures did the conditions of war put on such encounters? What is the relationship between ‘forced encounters’ (as in camps for POW or civilian internees), ‘voluntary’ encounters (as in towns, markets, billets) and the state-sponsored ideologically motivated ‘indirect’ encounters (in the neutral countries)? Does encounter always involve exchange? What were the structures of power and how did they navigate the prevalent ideologies of race? How did the encounters and exchanges occur across linguistic, national, religious, ethnic and social barriers, and what were their post-war legacies in terms of social, cultural, artistic and literary memory for Europe? Papers which pay attention to encounters or exchanges which involve colonials and neutrals – which is still a largely under-researched area – are particularly welcome.

Accommodation will be provided for speakers for the duration of the conference and speakers’ travel expenses will be reimbursed within reason.

Proposals from scholars at any stage in their career are invited and papers with an interdisciplinary approach are particularly welcome.

Participants should send abstracts of up to 300 words for a 20-25 minute paper, a short biography, and any enquiries to daniel.steinbach@kcl.ac.uk by 14 September 2015.

Further information: CfP_Cultural Encounters during Global War

Current History: Legacies of 1914

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Current History, the 100-year-old publication devoted to independent analysis of contemporary international affairs, presents its November 2014 issue, a special issue titled “Legacies of 1914.” For more information—or to subscribe and gain instant online access to the current issue and our full archives of articles—please visit our website: currenthistory.com.

Current History is available for devices with a Kindle app. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/curhist. And Twitter: @CurrentHistory1.

Our November issue includes the following essays:

The Global Legacies of World War I
by John Horne (Trinity College Dublin)
The Great War brought new forms of industrialized violence, civilian suffering, radical politics, and world order. Understanding its legacies requires a global perspective.

Rediscovering Internationalism
by Glenda Sluga (University of Sydney)
Visions of international cooperation culminated after World War I in the League of Nations. Yet internationalism in practice has always been constrained by the competing force of nationalism.

The Many Meanings of National Self-Determination
by Brad Simpson (University of Connecticut)
In 1919, Woodrow Wilson embraced the principle of nationality—but only for Europeans. Debate has continued ever since over who is entitled to nationhood, and what rights it should entail.

Genocidal Legacies of the Great War
by Mark Levene (University of Southampton)
World War I catalyzed a century of genocides. The manipulation of ethnic groups by great powers during the war weakened minority rights and led to several massacres seldom remembered today.

The Economic Consequences of the War and the Peace
by Patricia Clavin (University of Oxford)
Total war produced a new political economy: As states demanded more from their citizens, the people also expected their governments to provide more economic security.

Perspective: Contingency and Catastrophe
by Sean McMeekin (Bard College)
Drawing analogies between the global political situation in 1914 and the present misses the point: From its outbreak to its conclusion, the Great War was defined by uncertainty and accident.

Books: Dawn of the Almighty Dollar
by Emily S. Rosenberg (University of California, Irvine)
A new book by Adam Tooze boldly seeks to revise the history of World War I and the interwar era. His focus on the rise of American financial power is apt, but overlooks the role of US politics.

Current History publishes nine times per year. Each month’s issue focuses on a single region or topic—including annual issues on China and East Asia, Russia and Eurasia, the Middle East, Latin America, South Asia, Europe, and Africa. At our website, currenthistory.com, you can see the current monthly issue, search Current History’s archives, or download a free sample article from the current issue.