Call for Papers: Conference “Restoring History: Memory Politics in Central and Eastern Europe”

Within the framework of the conference, which will take place on 3-4 May 2013 in Minsk, it is planned to analyze the main strategies for implementing historical politics in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, to identify specific and common features of work with the past, and to consider the relationship between memory politics and the broader context of political and cultural transformations in post-communist countries.

The task of the conference is to create a platform for interaction among academic and expert communities of the region for a deeper understanding and study of the problems of memory politics in Eastern Europe.

The following three key themes, which seem to us the most significant for understanding the region’s shared cultural and historical heritage, will be selected for analysis and discussion at this conference:
1.

A shared past or autonomous national histories?

Memory of the GDL and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the states of Central and Eastern Europe.
2.

Kastuś Kalinoŭski and the uprising of 1863: a conflict of interpretations 150 years later.
3.

The communist past: between overcoming and restoration in post-communist countries.

Main organizers:
Political Sphere Institute (Belarus)
Institute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Lithuania)
Instytut Polski (Minsk, Belarus)
Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania)
Institute of Lithuanian History (Vilnius, Lithuania)
Working languages of the conference: Belarusian, Russian, English, Polish.

Approximate number of participants: 40 people.

Technical details
To participate in the international conference, please send:
1) a CV in any working language
2) an abstract of the presentation, 2,000-3,000 printed characters in length, in any working language
3) also indicate in the letter whether visa support is required.

The application should be sent to info @ palityka.org by 3 March 2013.

The organizers will assist in obtaining a free Belarusian visa.

In individual cases, reimbursement of accommodation and travel expenses may be considered.