[Bilimsel Haber] Violence in Eurasia: Historical and Contemporary Approaches: SSRC Eurasia Program Dissertation Development Workshop (Deadline: December 12, 2006)

[Sule Tarakcioglu]

*Violence in Eurasia: Historical and Contemporary Approaches*
*Yale University*
*March 23-25, 2007*

*EXTENDED Application Submission Deadline: December 12, 2006*

The Eurasia Program of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC)
invites proposals for a dissertation development workshop, focusing on
issues of violence in Eurasia. Graduate students at any stage of their
dissertation process (from proposal to write-up) and from any
disciplinary or interdisciplinary program in the humanities or social
sciences are eligible to apply. Proposals may elaborate upon one or more
of the following issues, or applicants may propose their own topics. We
particularly encourage applicants who propose new theoretical
perspectives and methodologies and whose work speaks to a wide scholarly
audience.

Violence – the use or threat of physical/psychological force – has
played a role in the exercise of power and the shaping of social
relations throughout history. The forms and meaning of violence have
varied, however, with time, location, cultural tradition, and political
context. In all eras, in any given situation, some types of violence are
accepted as legitimate, even necessary, while others are condemned as
extreme. How is violence interpreted in the Eurasian context?

One has only to mention the tsarist-era anti-Jewish pogroms, the
self-inflicted brutalities of the Stalinist regime, the present
government of Uzbekistan, the Russian Mafia, or the conduct of both
parties to the war in Chechnya to evoke stereotypes of a Eurasian
propensity for violence.

What kind of norms or values have governed the use of violence in the
territory once covered by the Russian empire and the Soviet Union, and
now by the Russian Federation and other successor states? To what extent
have attitudes and practices converged with or departed from patterns
elsewhere? To what extent do local patterns vary within the region? What
has been the impact of political, social, and economic change on
interpersonal and social relations? How has violence been represented
through literary and cultural productions, and what impact has this had
on the further propagation of violent behavior in society? What have
been the responses from individuals, groups, and states from within and
outside the region to violence and repression? And does the region
deserve its reputation in the West as lawless and violence-prone?

For detailed information on application procedures and eligibility
requirements, please visit the Eurasia Program online at
_www.ssrc.org/programs/eurasia_ <file://www.ssrc.org/programs/eurasia>
or contact program staff at eurasia at ssrc.org.

*Eurasia Program*
*Social Science Research Council*
*810 Seventh Avenue*
*New York, NY 10019*
*Phone: (212) 377-2700*
*Fax: (212) 377-2727*