"THE CONTOURS OF LEGITIMACY IN CENTRAL EUROPE: NEW APPROACHES IN GRADUATE STUDIES" International Graduate Conference in the Humanities and Social Sciences European Studies Centre, St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford 24-26 May 2002 Opening Keynote Panel (tentative): Mr. Timothy Garton Ash (St. Antony’s College, Oxford) Dr. Martyn Rady (SSEES, London) Professor George Schoepflin (SSEES, London) Website: http://ce-conf.5er.com/ PROPOSALS DUE: 1 FEBRUARY 2002 The idea of Central Europe rests, paradoxically, upon ambiguous boundaries and essential definitions. This heartland remains a contested area in terms of overlapping and competing conceptions of territorial frontiers, political authority, economic trading blocs, ethno-linguistic communities and cultural development. Nonetheless, the region retains a genuine and unique character whose expression extends far beyond the terms of nationalist myth-making. In an effort to identify the workings of this paradox, and consequently the nature of the region itself, the Conference Committee of Postgraduates in Central European Studies at the University of Oxford is calling for papers in the field which focus on the concept of legitimacy. The notion of legitimacy embraces Central Europe’s uncertainties and certainties: it is a model both of justification and vindication, based on a mixed historical legacy. On the one hand, Central Europe shares the same instances of great socio-political change as Western Europe, from the Reformation to the European Union. On the other hand, the dynamics of these changes were and are different in Central Europe. From the Early Modern period varied relationships between the spiritual and secular spheres combined with alternative forms of social-economic hierarchy, absolutism and imperialism to produce different founding principles for future state development. From these processes and principles we can trace varying subsequent patterns of ethnic diversity and national identification. This legacy ironically pushes the region to the periphery of Europe, even as its relations arguably provide the key to the continent’s affairs. We are calling for interpretations of legitimacy that address this essential contradiction. Our starting point is Max Weber’s definition of legitimacy as any one of three different ways of exercising power: by tradition, charisma or rational legal authority. We aim to draw from these three concepts of authority as we debate legitimacy in language, culture, history, geography, economics and politics in Central Europe. We hope that the ensuing discussion will bridge the methodological gaps between the academic disciplines, whose respective approaches have come to reflect cleavages in the subject matter itself. Panel sessions will follow a chronological framework, from the *Early Modern period to the present*. The boundaries of 'Central Europe' for these purposes remain broad and can include the region as it has been, and is defined, in relation to either Western Europe or Eastern Europe. In addition, we particularly welcome papers on minority (e.g Jewish and Roma) communities within the region. * * * The Committee suggests the following possible topics for papers from the Reformation to the present. However, proposals need not be limited to these suggestions, nor to the placement of particular themes within this loose chronology: *The Integrity of Community Life and Domestic Continuities *Religious Conflict and Authority -- The Process of Secularization *Nobility, Aristocracy, Intelligentsia ¯ The Maintenance of Hierarchy and Sources of Reform within Empire *Folklore in Relation to Definitions of High Culture *Hegemony and Language ¯ Dominant Linguistic Traditions *Historical Construction as the Foundation of Ideology *Regionalism Versus Cosmopolitianism ¯ The Pressures of Modernization *Great Power Interest and Ideological Influences ¯ Changing Imperatives for Nationalism *National Self-Determination, Civil Society and the Determinants of Citizenship *Journalism ¯ Representation of Social and Political Change, the Public Voice and Literary Licence *The Problem of Common Critical Consensus ¯ The Establishment of 'Legitimate' Forms of Art and Culture *Party politics and the Co-opting of Culture *Borderlands and the Persistence of Pluralism *World War II and the Holocaust ¯ The Failure and Destruction of Civil Society *Broadcasting and the Media ¯ Locating Independent Viewpoints *Central Europe During the Cold War ¯ Contested Bloc of European Security Architecture *Cinema and the Projection of Self-Conscious Identity *From Revolutionaries to Politicians ¯ A Troubled Path? *Redefining Left-Right Cleavages in Transition Politics *Devolution in Central Europe ¯ Balancing the Centre-Periphery Relationship *Patterns of Economic Interdependence *The Emergence of National Business Elites *Doctrines and Values of Development ¯ The Mixed Results of Growth *Political and Economic Infrastructures ¯ Continuity or Change? *Constitutionalism, Legal Transformation and the Problem of Institutional Reconstruction *Post-Marxist Ideology and the Social Question in Twenty-first Century Central Europe *Redefining Central Europe on the Eve of EU enlargement and Globalization * * * The Committee invites Post-Doctoral, Graduate and final-year Undergraduate students in the Humanities and Social Sciences to submit original research papers for discussion. A one-page abstract of the paper (including title), along with a curriculum vitae and contact information (E-mail, Telephone, Postal Address) should be submitted no later than ** 1 FEBRUARY 2002 **. Read papers in their final form should not exceed twenty minutes in length and must be in English. The conference fee is yet to be confirmed and announced. * * * Submissions may be sent by post or by E-mail (preferably in a Word attachment) to the Conference Coordinator: Larissa Douglass, St. Antony’s College, Oxford, OX2 6JF United Kingdom ce_conf@yahoo.co.uk (D.Phil. European History, St. Antony’s) Senior Academic Advisor to the Conference Committee: Timothy Garton Ash Kurt A. Koerber Senior Research Fellow in Contemporary European History, European Studies Centre, St. Antony’s College. The conference is held under the auspices of the European Studies Centre, St. Antony’s College, Oxford (http://www.sant.ox.ac.uk/esc.htm). Conference Committee: Monika Baar (D.Phil. European History, Brasenose) Martin Benedek (D.Phil. Politics, St. Antony’s) Adam Fergus (M.St. European Literature, New) Michael Fleming (D.Phil. Geography, Pembroke) Katya A. M. Kocourek (M.Phil. Russian and East European Studies, St. Antony’s; M.Phil./Ph.D. SSEES, London) Stefan Szwed (M.Phil. European Politics and Society, St. Antony’s) Wanda Wyporska (D.Phil. European History, Hertford) Assisting Panel to the Conference Committee: Deborah Holmes (Junior Research Fellow in Medieval and Modern Languages, The Queen's College) Tim Noetzel (M.Phil. European Politics and Society, St. Antony's) Vanda Pickett (D. Phil. Czech Literature, Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, St. Hugh's) Robert Pyrah (D. Phil. Austrian Cultural History, Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, Magdalen) Marius Turda (Ph.D. History, Central European University)