Peace in History: Avoiding War and the Quest for Social Justice
Third Biennial Conference in the Series Past, Present, Future Pula, Croatia
Following the successful first two conferences Identity in Flux (May 2015) and Victory or Defeat (May 2017) the Department of History is organizing the third in the series of conferences to tackle issues that challenge contemporary Europe by providing a historical context for their emergence and explaining the patterns of behavior that are common to different historical periods and are still relevant today.
Although war is a frequent and popular topic in historiography peace is just as important for our understanding of the human past and present. Caesar’s conquests are certainly a staple of Roman history, but one cannot highlight the achievements of the Roman Empire without understanding the “blessings” of the Pax Romana that enabled them. The bellicose Middle Ages with knights and crusaders certainly spark our imagination, but so should the quest for peace pursued by both secular and religious authorities of the era in the form of the Tregua and Pax Dei or the various Landfrieden. The Quakers arose as a pacifist sect in the seventeenth century and various peace movements emerged in the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars. The League of Nations, the UN and the EU have a quest for peace built into their core principles. Inextricably linked with peace is the quest for social justice, a just and fair relationship between individual and society which is a topic debated since Antiquity, though the term as such exists from the eighteenth century. Redistribution of wealth, access to healthcare and education, equal opportunities and the protection of one’s dignity are just some of the many themes related to this term.
The aim of the conference is to explore these themes from Antiquity to contemporary times. Topics can include peace negotiations, peace movements, diplomacy, anti-war and détente alliances, philosophy and religion of peace and justice, social reforms (agricultural, legal, juridical…), interwar periods, international organizations, the history of pacifism and so on. These are just a few of the myriad questions regarding the end and aftermaths of wars. In Europe without borders and without wars, the answers from our past may help to better understand the present as well as to prepare us for the challenges in the future.
Keynote speakers
1. Hannah Cornwell (University of Birmingham)
2. Egidio Ivetic (University of Padua)
3. Elvio Baccarini (University of Rijeka)
We invite historians and scholars of related disciplines to apply by submitting a proposal for papers (up to 1500 characters) with an accompanying brief biographical note to rkurelic@gmail.com (or past.present.future.pula@gmail.com).
The papers should be approximately 15 minutes in length and sessions will include ample time for discussion. The working language of the conference is English. In the first week of March, applicants will be notified about the acceptance of their proposal and receive further information. The registration fee is 60 Euros (30 Euros for PhD students). Meals (lunches and dinners throughout the conference) will be provided by the Organizer.
We are looking forward to your proposals and your participation at the conference.
For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
https://ffpu.unipu.hr/_download/repository/Peace_in_History_-_2nd_Call_for_Papers.pdf