NEWS & 2nd CfP: REVISITING PERESTROIKA - PROCESSES AND ALTERNATIVES

Tue May 22 08:59:51 UTC 2007

2nd Call for Papers: REVISITING PERESTROIKA - PROCESSES AND ALTERNATIVES
November 29 - December 1, 2007
http://www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/conference2007

NEWS

The Aleksanteri CULTURAL FORA: Parallel to the academic conference,
participants and guests will enjoy a new international series of
cultural events - artistic, documentary, archival, literary and
cinematic. See the website for the 6 fora already confirmed:
http://www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/conference2007/cultural_fora.htm

POSTER: A new pdf poster may be found at the below link from our
website. It is designed for A3 printing, although A4 is also possible.
Please send your postal address to aleksanteri7 at gmail.com to receive a
hard-copy colour print:
http://www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/conference2007/files/poster_alexconf.pdf

DEADLINE

It is less than two weeks to our first deadline for submissions: June 1,
2007.

Ivor Stodolsky
Conference Coordinator

==============================================

2nd Call for Papers for the 7th Annual Aleksanteri Conference
http://www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/conference2007
(Refresh your browser to get the new colours)

REVISITING PERESTROIKA - PROCESSES AND ALTERNATIVES
November 29 - December 1, 2007
The Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS (in alphabetical order):

Marietta CHUDAKOVA - Professor at the World Literature Institute,
Moscow; member of Boris Yeltsin's Presidential Council; member,
European Academy.
http://www.ecsocman.edu.ru/db/msg/203701.html

Boris GROYS - Professor of Philosophy and Media Theory, Hochschule für
Gestaltung, Karlsruhe; Global Distinguished Professor of Russian and
Slavic Studies, NYU
http://as.nyu.edu/object/aboutas.globalprofessor.BorisGroys

Boris KAGARLITSKY - Director, Institute of Globalization Studies,
Moscow; former Deputy, Moscow City Soviet; dissident and former
political prisoner.
http://www.tni-archives.org/detail_page.phtml?page=fellows_kagarlitsky

Jutta SCHERRER - Directeur d'études, EHESS, Paris, Centre d'études du
monde russe, soviétique et post-soviétique; Centre d'études
Interdisciplinaires des Faits Religieux.
http://cercec.ehess.fr/document.php?id=511

Alexei YURCHAK - Associate Professor, University of California at
Berkeley, author of "Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More".
http://ls.berkeley.edu/dept/anth/yurchak.html

Elena ZDRAVOMYSLOVA - Co-director of the Gender Studies Program,
Associate Professor, The European University at St. Petersburg.
http://www.eu.spb.ru/en/imars/faculty.htm

A WIDE SCOPE FOR DEBATE

The political foundation for the reforms of Perestroika, whose outcome
was to seal the fate of the USSR, was laid in Mikhail Gorbachev's
"basic theses" of 1987. Twenty years down that road which led to the
demise of an entire way of life and the re-constellation of the
international system, Helsinki's Aleksanteri Institute is hosting an
intellectual forum to revisit this era of dramatic changes,
reassessing causes and effects, while considering alternative
perspectives and paths not taken.

This call for papers is an open invitation for panels, papers and
suggestions for innovative formats (such as debates on new key
publications, round-tables or film presentations). It is addressed to
scholars and advanced graduate students from a wide range of
disciplinary backgrounds, including the social and political sciences,
cultural studies, the arts and humanities, law and economics. The
direct relation of the perestroika-process to the collapse of the
Soviet bloc, leading to the end of the Cold War means that
contributions concerning Eastern Europe as well as global
repercussions are also very much welcome.

To stimulate topics for debate and the formation of panels, please
find below some questions indicating the wide, multi-disciplinary
scope aimed at:

o       Revolutions and Processes - Was the collapse of the Soviet bloc a
result of a series of contingencies, or deliberate political decisions?
Was economic collapse avoidable, and if so, for how long?
Was the restoration of capitalism inevitable, or were there
alternative paths of development? What role did ideas and cultural
movements play in perestroika, its pre-history and aftermath?
o       Actors and Institutions - Which groups or traditions emerged, which
survived and which were neglected or "written out of history" during
the perestroika era? Did practices and customs genuinely see a
transformation in all fields of life - from the Kremlin to the
kitchen table? How was the role of women transformed? Did "parallel"
and "underground" cultures cease to exist?
o       Generations, Retrospectives and Perspectives - How did
different age groups evaluate the changes, and how did people of
different
"mind-sets" see each other? How do contemporary social formations
assess the perestroika era and how does this inflect the future?

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE AND DEADLINES:

Panel Proposals / Innovative Formats Submissions: June 1, 2007
Individual Paper Submissions (circa 300 words): June 1, 2007
Notification of acceptance: July 2, 2007
Online Registration by November 1, 2007
Conference: November 29 - December 1, 2007

All proposals should be sent via the conference website
<http://www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/conference2007>, where an
Extended Call for Papers as well as a Conference Discussion Forum for
establishing panels is available. For Inquiries Concerning Submissions
contact:
fcree-aleksconf at helsinki.fi

THE ALEKSANTERI CULTURAL FORA

Running parallel to the academic conference, participants and guests
will enjoy the opportunity to attend a new international series of
cultural events - artistic, documentary, archival, literary and
cinematic.See the website for the 6 fora already confirmed:
http://www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/conference2007/cultural_fora.htm

THE ANNUAL ALEKSANTERI CONFERENCE is an international,
multidisciplinary conference organized by the Aleksanteri Institute,
the Finnish Centre for Russian and Eastern European Studies
affiliated with the University of Helsinki. Aleksanteri Conferences
have attracted broad interest among scholars as well as policy and
opinion-makers from a wide variety of fields.

ORGANISING COMMITTEE

Dr. Markku Kangaspuro (Head of Research), Suvi Kansikas (Conference
Coordinator), Senior Researcher Vesa Oittinen, Professor Pekka Pesonen,
Senior Researcher Aino Saarinen, Ivor Stodolsky (Conference Coordinator)

Welcome!

_______________________________

Ivor A Stodolsky
Researcher, Russian Culture and Theory
Aleksanteri Institute, Helsinki University
Aleksanteri Conference Coordinator / Curator of the Aleksanteri Cultural
Fora
http://www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/conference2007
http://www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/conference2007/cultural_fora.htm
Institute: +358 3 191 23631
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