[Bilimsel Haber] CfP: REVISITING PERESTROIKA – PROCESSES AN D ALTERNATIVES: 7th Aleksanteri Conference

[Sule Tarakci]

CfP - 7th Annual Aleksanteri Conference

7th Annual Aleksanteri Conference

Revisiting Perestroika - processes and alternatives

http://www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/conference2007

November 29 - December 1, 2007

The Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland


Keynote speakers (in alphabetical order) :

Marietta Chudakova - Prof. 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 - Prof. of Philosophy and Media Theory, Hochschule für
Gestaltung, Karlsruhe; Global Distinguished Prof. of Rus. and Slav.
Stds, 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 / Interdisciplinaires des
Faits Religieux.
http://cercec.ehess.fr/documen t.php?id=511
<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
<http://ls.berkeley.edu/dept/anth/yurchak.html>

Elena Zdravomyslova - Co-director of the Gender Studies Program, the
European University at St. Petersburg.
http://www.eu.spb.ru/en/imars /faculty.htm
<http://www.eu.spb.ru/en/imars/faculty.htm>


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.



A Wide Scope for Debate

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?

Please consult our new website for discussion and much more information:
www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/conference2007
<http://www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/conference2007>

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, where an
Extended Call as well as a 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!





_______________________________

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

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