Call for Papers
'What is Radical History?':
A One-Day Post-Graduate Led Interdisciplinary Conference
Tuesday, March 24th 2015. Birkbeck, University of London
'Historical writing always has some effect on us. It may reinforce passivity; it may activate us. In any case, the historian cannot choose to be neutral; [s]he writes on a moving train.'
Howard Zinn
We invite post-graduates to submit abstracts for a one-day conference exploring the relationship between rigorous historical research and active political engagement. In 1970 Howard Zinn asked a question still important for politically-engaged academics today: 'what is radical history?' This conference will provide a space to re-engage with this debate, both to ask what we can learn from radical historical practice of the past but also to question what has changed in the intervening decades, and what a radical history might look like now.
We invite contributions from post-graduates from any disciplinary background who have a strong historical component to their research. We have identified three themes on which we especially invite reflections:
1. What identifies 'radical history' as 'radical'? Does its radicalism lie in its subject of study or in the
approach of the researcher?
2. How does 'radical history' negotiate the relationship between 'objectivity' and politics?
3. What use is 'radical history'? Does it have a role to play in emancipatory politics?
We welcome theoretical responses to the question 'what is radical history?' as well as contributions rooted in empirical research. We invite submissions of 10-20 minutes in length: these could be collaborative or individual in nature, and encompass interviews, short films, and papers, as well as other appropriate methods. We aim to generate a multidisciplinary analysis of the nature of 'radical history' today and of the challenges that politically active researchers across various departments currently face within academia and wider society.
The conference will end with a round-table between activist-academics including Dr. Becky Taylor (Birkbeck, History, Classics and Archaeology) and Dr. Robbie Shilliam (QMUL, International Relations), and an audience-participatory discussion. The event will be free to attend.
Prospective speakers are invited to submit abstracts of 250-300 words. Separately, please also include your name, affiliation and contact details, as well as full-details of the presentation method and any audio-visual or mobility requirements. The deadline for submission of abstracts is 22nd December 2014. For more
information about the conference, or to submit an abstract, please email the organising committee: Luca Lapolla (Birkbeck), Diarmaid Kelliher (Glasgow) and Julie Russell (Exeter) at:
radicalhistoryconference@gmail.com.
Please also see our website for more information: http://radicalhistoryconference.wordpress.com.
We are very grateful to the Department of History, Classics and Archaeology at Birkbeck, University of London for funding this conference.
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Dear All
ReplyDeleteWe are currently looking for book proposals to be included in a new book series, Routledge Studies in Radical History and Politics.
(http://www.routledge.com/books/series/RSRHP/)
The series has two areas of interest. Firstly, it aims to publish books which focus on the history of movements of the radical left. ‘Movement of the radical left’ is here interpreted in its broadest sense as encompassing those past movements for radical change which operated in the mainstream political arena as with political parties, and past movements for change which operated more outside the mainstream as with millenarian movements, anarchist groups, utopian socialist communities, and trade unions. Secondly, the series aims to publish books which focus on more contemporary expressions of radical left-wing politics. Recent years have been witness to the emergence of a multitude of new radical movements adept at getting their voices in the public sphere. From those participating in the Arab Spring, the Occupy movement, community unionism, social/new media forums, independent media outlets, local voluntary organisations campaigning for progressive change, and so on, it seems to be the case that innovative networks of radicalism are being constructed in civil society that operate in different public forms.
The series very much welcomes titles with a British focus, but is not limited to any particular national context or region. The series will encourage scholars who contribute to draw on perspectives and insights from a variety of disciplines including social policy.
If you do have a book proposal that you think might fit the remit of the series then please email it to Thomas Linehan at Thomas.Linehan@brunel.ac.uk and John Roberts at John.Roberts@brunel.ac.uk
Best wishes,
John Roberts, Sociology, Brunel University
(http://www.brunel.ac.uk/people/john-roberts)
Thomas Linehan, Politics and History, Brunel University
(http://www.brunel.ac.uk/people/thomas-linehan)