call for papers: conference on the Perestroika period- Helsinki, 29 November 2007

[Alexandra Smith]

Dear Aleksanteri Institute and Aleksanteri List-Members,

Please help us distribute the following Call for Papers for the 7th  
Annual Aleksanteri
Conference

REVISITING PERESTROIKA – PROCESSES AND ALTERNATIVES
November 29 - December 1, 2007 There are three versions of the CfP:
1. The below plain-text e-mail (for e-list distribution)
    - please ask before forwarding to major Slavic lists to avoid  
cross-posting.
2. the short CfP word doc (for posters, e.g.)
3. the long CfP word doc (for extensive information).

Full and updated information may always be found on the new conference website
http://www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/conference2007.

Thank you for your help! - and, of course, your potential participation.

With best wishes,

Ivor Stodolsky

______________________________
_______________________________

Ivor A Stodolsky
Researcher, Russian Culture and Theory
Aleksanteri Institute, Helsinki University
Aleksanteri Conference Coordinator
http://www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/conference2007
<http://www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/conference2007>
Institute: +358 3 191 23631



CfP - 7th Annual Aleksanteri Conference
http://www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/conference2007
<http://www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/conference2007>

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
<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
<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
<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  
<http://cercec.ehess.fr/document.php?id=511>

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

•       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?
•       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?
•       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
(WWW.HELSINKI.FI/ALEKSANTERI/CONFERENCE2007
<http://WWW.HELSINKI.FI/ALEKSANTERI/CONFERENCE2007>), where an
Extended Call for Papers as well as a Conference Discussion Forum for
establishing panels is available.

EXTRA-ACADEMIC PROGRAMME

Information on a series of cultural events – artistic, documentary,
archival, literary and cinematic – will be found on the website as
they are confirmed.

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!

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