History of Concepts
Archive
2022
23rd International Conference on the History of Concepts
Global Modernity. Emotions, Temporalities, and Concepts 7-9 April 2022
The 23rd International Conference on the History of Concepts, organized by Sebastian Conrad, Margrit Pernau and Florian Zemmin on behalf of the History of Concepts Group (HCG), brings together scholars from all disciplines interested in conceptual history. It offers a platform for interdisciplinary exchange on the problems and practice of the history of concepts and fosters the international network of conceptual historians.
The motto of the 2022 conference “Global Modernity. Emotions, Temporalities and Concepts” takes up two prominent movements within conceptual history: its globalization and its increasing interest in temporalities and brings them into conversation with the history of emotions.
The conference is organized by the History of Concepts Group, the Research Area "Global History" of Freie Universität Berlin, the "Center for the History of Emotions" at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development Berlin and the "Institute of Islamic Studies" at Freie Universität Berlin. It will take place in Berlin, 7-9 April 2022 at the campus of the Freie Universität Berlin.
2021
Virtual Group Event, 12 November 2021
It is with great pleasure that we announce an upcoming virtual History of Concepts Group Event on 12 November 2021 hosted by Bielefeld University and organized by Silke Schwandt and Margrit Pernau! In the keynotes, Ethan Kleinberg will be hunting the Ghosts of Time and Lisa Mitchell will give a deeper inside on state-hailing practices and the criminalization of collective assembly in India. Please find the full line-up down below. As the fog of the pandemic is hopefully clearing, we are looking forward to finally see you all again or for the first time! It is our wish, to continue the always fruitful discussions on conceptual history and reach (future) friends of the HCG working on inspiring subjects.
Additionally, the chair of the History of Concepts Group Martin Burke warmly invites you to participate in the event and to become a member of the HCG:
“On behalf of my fellow officers of the History of Concepts Group, and with the co-operation of our partners at the Berghahn Press, I am writing to ask that you renew your membership in the HCG. As you will see, we are increasing the annual dues for Regular Membership; expanding the criteria for Concessionary Membership to include students, emerging scholars and emeritus academics; and initiating the category of Sustaining Membership for those who are interested in providing additional financial support for the Group’s endeavors. As before, all HCG members receive subscriptions to our journal, Contributions to the History of Concepts, along with access to the full run of back issues from Volume 1 (2005) onward.
Your membership is also a prerequisite for presenting papers at the international conferences sponsored by the HCG. The 23rd conference on “Global Modernity: Emotions, Temporalities and Concepts,” initially had been scheduled for 2020 on the campus of the Freie Universität Berlin. Regretfully, the ensuing Covid-19 pandemic forced a postponement. The organizers are now preparing for the conference on 7-9 April 2022; the specific details and the registration are to follow in January 2022. In lieu of a conference in the current year, our colleagues at Bielefeld University will be hosting a virtual plenary event on 12 November 2021 with keynotes by Ethan Kleinberg and Lisa Mitchell. We are glad to have these noted scholars.
My colleagues and I look forward to “seeing” many of you “in” Bielefeld this fall, and to meeting formally again in Berlin next year. In the meantime, our sincere thanks for your continued interest in the History of Concepts Group.”
Please register for the event and the business meeting under the following address: ikukla@uni-bielefeld.de until 10 November 2021. Please note that the business meeting registration requires a membership in the HCG.
In order to renew your membership or to become a new member of the History of Concepts Group, please follow the registration link: https://www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journals/contributions/contributions-overview.xml?tab_body=Subscribe
Program
Virtual Event, 12. November 2021, 5 – 7 p.m.
5.00 Martin Burke (Professor at Lehman College, City University of New York), Chair, History of Concepts Group: Welcome
5.10 Ethan Kleinberg (Professor of History and Letters, Wesleyan University): The Time of Ghosts and the Ghosts of Time
5.40 Helge Jordheim (Professor of Cultural History, University of Oslo): Comment
5.50 Discussion
6.10 Lisa Mitchell (Professor of Anthropology and History, University of Pennsylvania): The Concept of the Political in India. State-Hailing Practices and the Criminalization of Collective Assembly
6.40 Angelika Epple (Professor of History, Bielefeld University): Comment
6.50 Discussion
7.30 Business Meeting History of Concepts Group (Members only)
2020
22nd International Conference on the History of Concepts: Beyond Borders: Conceptualizing Boundaries, Crossings and Disruptions
El Colegio de Mexico, in Mexico city, July 25-27th 2019.
Plenary speakers:
- Professor Annabel Brett, University of Cambridge
- Professor Hans Erich Bodeker, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin
- Professor Claudio Lomnitz, Columbia University
- Professor Jorge Myers, CONICET-Center for Intellectual History-University of Quilmes, Buenos Aires
LO PÚBLICO, LO POLÍTICO Y LO CONCEPTUAL
Ciclo de conferencias en Historia Conceptual
30/07 - 06/08 2020. Horario (Bogotá y CDMX/ Buenos Aires y Sao Paulo/ Madrid): 9am/11am/4pm.
La crisis sanitaria del 2020 –además de los retos, por todos conocidos, que trajo para gobiernos, sistemas de protección social e instalaciones hospitalarias- ha desafiado también la capacidad de las ciencias sociales para iluminar nuestra comprensión del presente. Los análisis urgentes sobre el sentido de la vida en común y las oportunidades abiertas para su reconstitución postraumática se han sucedido, con impresionante celeridad, prácticamente desde el momento mismo en que se declaró la pandemia. Aquí y allá se ha insistido en interpretaciones económicas, sociológicas o politológicas previsibles que, de hecho, han recalcado los términos previos del debate contemporáneo sobre lo político. En efecto, las más de las veces la urgencia dio paso a la oportunidad de insistir sobre las agendas políticas precedentes. Para un sector de la tradición crítica, por ejemplo, la crisis sanitaria –al enfrentarnos con la pulsión de muerte y con la precarización de la vida social- trae consigo los renovados esfuerzos del Estado por extender su cobertura y regularizar amplios aspectos de la vida cotidiana. Por otra parte, la crisis también ha despertado anhelos entre sectores importantes de la sociedad civil a replantear lo común y ejercer la solidaridad en detrimento de la privatización neoliberal. Y, desde un lugar políticamente diferente, se ha insistido en el peligro de la intromisión pública sobre las libertades individuales con ocasión del control poblacional profiláctico. El problema de la constitución de lo común y lo público está en el centro de la polémica contemporánea y ha florecido con ocasión de la crisis actual. Este ciclo de conferencias desarrolla el asunto desde una mirada histórico-conceptual.
En estos meses, las sociedades contemporáneas –confinadas como nunca en sus espacios privados- han debatido intensamente sobre el valor y la naturaleza de lo público. Bien para jerarquizar la importancia de las actividades económicas y su relación con el bien común; bien para evaluar los rescates que deben cubrirse con el erario; bien para reconocer los esfuerzos solidarios o bien para censurar los comportamientos irresponsables; la constitución de lo público, en el filo entre los intereses privados y colectivos, está más que nunca en discusión. Así y todo, lo público, más que una verdad unívoca sobre su naturaleza y funcionamiento necesita hoy una reflexión sobre su constitución histórica, que reconozca sus profundas herencias sociales y conceptuales. Aunque está en el centro de nuestra vida política, rara vez se lo reconoce como un escenario controversial que define los límites de nuestra imaginación política. Este ciclo de conferencias, cada una a su manera, se ofrece como una oportunidad de avanzar al respecto.
27/07/2020 Francisco A. Ortega, Joao Paulo Pimenta, Federica Morelli, Javier Fernández Sebastián: Conversatorio.
“Lo público, lo político y lo conceptual”. Modera: Constanza Castro
28/07/2020 Joao Paulo Pimenta: "Historia conceptual como historia de larga duración"
29/07/2020 Javier Fernández Sebastián: "Crisis, revolución, guerra civil. Tres conceptos disruptivos en el tiempo"
30/07/2020 Gonzalo Capellán: "Historia de los conceptos e imágenes: la representación visual de la democracia moderna"
3/08/2020 Federica Morelli: "La ciudadanía entre historia política e historia conceptual"
4/08/2020 Elisa Cárdenas: "Religión, libertad, revolución: ¿Qué tan lejos quedó el siglo XIX?"
5/08/2020 Elías Palti: "En busca del Santo Grial. La ‘tradición republicana’ en el debate político contemporáneo"
6/08/2020 Gabriel Entin: "Pensar la libertad en tiempos de pandemia. Una aproximación histórico-conceptual"
2019
Concepta Iberoamerica Summer School 2019
For all additional information, CfP and application process klick here!
Helsinki Intro to Conceptual History 2019
INTRODUCTION TO CONCEPTUAL HISTORY
University of Helsinki, Finland, 12-23 August 2019
In August 2019 the annual summer school “Introduction to Conceptual History” will be offered by the Centre for Nordic Studies at the University of Helsinki. Now in its fourteenth year, the course is organized jointly by Concepta: International Research School in Conceptual History and The Political Concepts Standing Group of the European Consortium of Political Research (ECPR). An international team of distinguished scholars and visiting lecturers will engage and encourage course participants in critical discussions around key concepts in politics, the social sciences and the humanities.
The summer school seeks to familiarize younger scholars with the theories and practices of conceptual history and the study of political concepts as a style of political theorizing. The goal of conceptual history is to understand the ways in which concepts and ideas are operationalized in political life through the study of the debates on their formation, migration, translation, reinterpretation and diffusion through time and space (from the local to the global). Conceptual analysis involves the examination of the larger semantic, discursive, ideological and rhetorical settings of conceptual controversies, and requires familiarity with a variety of approaches to discourse, ideology and rhetoric. These concepts are communicated verbally, in print and through other media.
The course will introduce the main aspects of the theory and methodology of conceptual analysis through discussions the work of Reinhart Koselleck and Quentin Skinner, but also J. G. A. Pocock, Michel Foucault, Pierre Rosanvallon and Dipesh Chakrabarty as well as such thinkers as Max Weber and Hannah Arendt. For political science, conceptual history offers a distinct perspective for studying the activity of politics in theorizing, practices and institutions. This includes the study of historical cases as well as contemporary conceptual disputes, for example regarding human rights or the European Union. For history and other fields in the humanities, conceptual history is a means of historicizing key terms and concepts that guide our analysis as well as understanding how past actors used language to frame their existence.
The “Introduction to Conceptual History” courses, organized since 2005, have created an efficient European and global network for young scholars in political science, history and related fields. This network can and has been used by our alumni to spread information on research positions and events, to forge new research projects, as well as to organize scholarly visits abroad.
The course will be conducted via lectures, text discussions and work-in-progress sessions.
The course welcomes Ph.D. and advanced Master’s degree students from a variety of academic disciplines.
Teachers and lecturers
Professor Martin Burke, The City University of New York
Postdoc Ainur Elmgren, University of Helsinki
Professor Jan Ifversen, University of Aarhus
Professor Niilo Kauppi, University of Jyväskylä and CNRS
Postdoc Anthoula Malkopoulou, Uppsala University
Postdoc Jani Marjanen, University of Helsinki
Associate Professor Niklas Olsen, University of Copenhagen
Professor Kari Palonen, University of Jyväskylä
Professor Margrit Pernau, Max Planck Institute for Human Development
Dean Evgeny Roshchin, RANEPA University, St. Petersburg
Associate Professor Johan Strang, University of Helsinki
Postdoc Rieke Trimҫev, University of Greifswald
Professor Claudia Wiesner, Fulda University of Applied Sciences
Time, place, duration, tuition fees, and ECTS
Time: 12–23, August 2019
Place: University of Helsinki, Topelia building (Unioninkatu 38 A)
Duration: 45 contact hours
Tuition fee: The course is free of charge, but students are required to cover their own travel, food and accommodation. Once you have been accepted to the course, we will assist you with options for affordable accommodation.
ECTS: 6–10 (depending on submitting an essay)
Applications and admission requirements
In order to be admitted you must be a PhD-student with a topic that relates to political concepts and/or a conceptual history approach. We are also willing to consider advanced-level MA students that have a strong interest in the topics of the summer school.
Applications to the course must include information about:
- your educational background
- names of your supervisors
- a short description of your PhD project (max 400 words)
- a motivation letter describing how you hope to benefit from the course (max 200 words)
Please send your applications per e-mail to the course coordinator Frederik Braae (frederik.braae@helsinki.fi). If you have questions about the academic content of the course please contact Jani Marjanen (jani.marjanen@helsinki.fi), and Johan Strang (johan.strang@helsinki.fi).
Application deadline: April 15, 14:00 (CET), 2019
RECAST WG2 Pilsen 2019
Critiques of Liberalism and Challenges to Democracy: Understanding the Conservative Standpoint
Research Workshop–COST Action CA 16211 RECASTWorking Group 2: Languages and Ideologies
The research workshop of COST Action CA 16211 RECAST: "Critiques of Liberalism and Challenges to Democracy: Understanding the Conservative Standpoint", will take place 14-15 February 2019 at the University of West Bohemia, Pilsen, Czech Republic.
Co-organised with the Department of Politics & International Relations of the University of West Bohemia and Concepta: International Research School in Conceptual History and Political Thought, this second workshop of Working Group 2: Languages and Ideologies, of COST Action RECAST, is scheduled for 14-15 February 2019 in Pilsen. Convened by Rosario López (University of Málaga) and Lenka Strnadová (University of West Bohemia), it deals with Critiques of Liberalism and Challenges to Democracy: Understanding the Conservative Standpoint.
The common understanding of conservatism as an ideology draws attention to its unique elements that make it into an identifiable discourse. Many scholars believe that, like any other ideology, conservatism retains some core elements, i.e. concepts and values, which provide its internal structure. Although this structural aspect is either immutable nor agreed upon, conservatism as a language or ideology has been regarded as having some recognisable characteristics, and as such it is susceptible to rhetorical analysis.
The key task of this workshop is to explore, whether from a historical or normative perspective, the position of conservatism as a thread connecting an otherwise diverse critical reaction towards liberalism and liberal democracy.
Proposals (title, abstract of up to 200 words and short bio) should be submitted to pilsencostworkshop@gmail.com by 15 December 2018.
For more information, see the