Concept of the III International Congress of Belarusian Studies

Concept of the Third International Congress of Belarusian Studies

“Belarus: The Northern Dimension”

Belarus is usually viewed as a country located between West and East, between Poland and Russia, between Catholicism and Byzantinism, between European and Asian civilizations. This position may lead to different ways of understanding the country: as a bridge between different civilizations, as a borderland of different cultures, or as a country wavering between an important geopolitical choice: to move East or West.

At the same time, this choice can also be seen as a conscious trap, when a broad range of possibilities is reduced to a narrow dichotomy that deprives the country of alternatives, other directions and orientations. In this sense, the northern dimension may be particularly interesting. It has always been important for the historical development of our country: one may recall the political presence of the Vikings and the baptism of Polotsk by Thorvald, the creation of a common state with the Balts, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the attempt to reorient the Grand Duchy toward an alliance with Sweden in the form of the Union of Kėdainiai, and various projects to create alliances in the Baltic-Black Sea region or Intermarium. It should also be noted that some Scandinavian countries, Sweden in particular, include Belarus in the Baltic region.

Declaring the northern dimension as the concept of the third Congress, we have two aims:

• To expand cooperation among researchers from the Baltic and Scandinavian countries in various fields, not necessarily connected with the study of Belarus and the region. Naturally, this implies the active involvement of representatives of the academic community of the Baltic and Scandinavian countries in the work of the Congress, and the establishment of dialogue and cooperation.
• To expand regional and comparative studies of the Baltic Sea region in its broad understanding. In this case we are interested in the space of the Baltic and Scandinavia: through the study of historical connections, the reconstruction of intellectual projects for reorganizing the region, and the analysis of contemporary political, economic and cultural relations and parallels.

Thus, the 2013 Congress will devote more attention to regional and comparative studies, or to the study of Belarus in the context of the region. We will also promote long-term cooperation between the Belarusian and Balto-Scandinavian academic communities (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark). It is possible that the ideas and projects developed in this process may become a new source of inspiration that will significantly improve our understanding of Belarus and the entire region.