<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-9">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1543" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV align=justify><FONT face="Palatino Linotype"><STRONG>Call for
Papers:<BR>8th Mediterranean Research Meeting<BR>Florence and Montecatini Terme,
European University Institute<BR>March 21-25, 2007</STRONG><BR><BR>Workshop
7:<BR>The Late Ottoman Port Cities and Their Inhabitants: Subjectivity,
Urbanity, and Conflicting Orders<BR><BR>Dr. Malte Fuhrmann,<BR>Center for Modern
Oriental Studies (Zentrum Moderner Orient, ZMO)<BR>Kirchweg 33, 14129, Berlin,
Germany<BR><BR>Dr. Vangelis Kechriotis,<BR>History Department, Bogazici
University<BR>34342, Bebek, Istanbul, Turkey<BR><BR>Life on the shores of
the Levant during the 'Age of Imperialism' has often been described, both in
contemporary and historiographic assessments, as an exceptional experience.
Accordingly, within the past twenty years, the Mediterranean port cities under
Ottoman sovereignty have been thoroughly researched and debated. Several
approaches have been employed, with deviating results. Initially, port cities
drew attention because of their pivotal position in the region's
economy,supposedly linking them to the 'world economy'. This interpretation was
challenged for various reasons, among others, because some scholars did not see
the cities under discussion as sites oriented primarily towards European or
global economic activities, but as the foremost centers of the Empire, indeed as
privileged sites for the consolidation of Ottoman imperial hegemony. Another
strain of research dismissed both the stress on multi-national networks and on
the degree of integration into the state, focusing instead on<BR>the role
citizens took on in local institutions. Some of these studies even went so far
as to pronounce the Levantine port cities 'models of
conviviality'.</FONT></DIV><FONT face="Palatino Linotype">
<DIV align=justify><BR>These interpretations in turn received criticism on the
grounds that they supposedly did not take into account the nationalist and
communalist practices so prevalent in the 19th century, and that port cities
were no exception. However, studies focussing primarily on the role of
individuals and less on institutions have shown that city residents could
navigate their social and political relations fairly untouched by state identity
politics. Is there a way to meaningfully engage in a dialogue between these
varied approaches that does not lead to the dead-end of simply valuing one
perspective over another?<BR><BR>This workshop intends to use the kaleidoscope
of seemingly contradictory interpretations of the late Ottoman port cities as a
point of departure to open the ground for a debate which will hopefully lead to
a better insight of 19th century Eastern Mediterranean urbanity. Rather than
debating which discourse was predominant, we raise the question of how groups
and individuals navigated between them, and made their choices utilizing a range
of possibilities. It is our thesis that the competing orders did not produce
neatly divided camps among the cities' populations, but rather a terrain
permitting or even demanding individual interpretation and amendment. The panel
aspires to bring together researchers who will present their work on port cities
which were under Ottoman sovereignty for all or part of the period 1850-1922.
Case studies might focus on socially or culturally defined groups within each
city. Groups which have not been thoroughly studied as yet are of particular
interest. But rather than just presenting micro-histories focusing on particular
social practices, papers will be expected to demonstrate how these groups
developed their respective varieties of urbanity in a social arena dominated by
discourses on citizenship, civilization and the Empire. Could they relate these
constructs to their perceptions of the city and integrate them into their
practices? Or did they form negative images of the 'other' which would allow
them to strengthen their own group cohesion? And how did such perceptions and
reactions change over time? By raising these questions, we believe that we can
build upon a historiographical tradition in order to successfully compare urban
experiences between far-flung locations, various social strata, and cultural as
well as ethno-religious groups and reconstruct the common political and cultural
space of the late Ottoman Mediterranean urbanity which makes all these
experiences meaningful.<BR><BR>For a more detailed workshop description,
practical information, and submission of abstracts/applications, please go
to<BR></FONT><A
href="http://www.iue.it/RSCAS/Research/Mediterranean/mrm2007/Index.shtml"><FONT
face="Palatino Linotype">http://www.iue.it/RSCAS/Research/Mediterranean/mrm2007/Index.shtml</FONT></A><BR><BR><FONT
face="Palatino Linotype">All applications/submissions must be posted through
this website.<BR><BR>Deadline for submissions is: July 10,
2006<BR></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>