CFP: American Historical Association Meeting 2013, New Orleans, LA

Aftermaths: Everyday Lives, Memories and Conflicts in Transition

Recent events in North Africa and the Middle East - the "Arab Spring" of 2011, as well as the Iraq war of 2003 – have provided a powerful reminder of the complexities, contingencies and conflicts involved in the moments of dramatic regime change. This year also marks the twentieth anniversary of the collapse of the Soviet Union; two decades later, Russia – as well as the other nations of the former Eastern Bloc – remains “post-Soviet,” still struggling to emerge from the legacies of the fallen regime.

Responding to the theme of the 2013 AHA Annual Meeting – “Lives, Places, Stories” – this panel explores the political, cultural and social dynamics of moments of dramatic transition, including revolution, military defeat, economic collapse, de-colonization and other instances of regime change. Instead of viewing these events from a top-down perspective focused on political and cultural elites, we propose to examine them from the bottom-up. How did the collapse of political authority express itself in a quotidian setting? What accommodations, adjustments or changes did individuals have to make, and equally, what were the possibilities for resistance? What conflicts did transitions create, and which social fault lines exposed? How did the experience of regime shape memories and legacies, and how have these been confronted by subsequent generations? Topics might include retributive violence, the “settling of scores” and purges (both “official” and “informal); counter-revolutionary insurgency; iconoclasm and other acts of damnatio memoriae; the re-emergence of civil society; and efforts at political, cultural and educational reform.

This session will be explicitly comparative, interdisciplinary and trans-national; submissions from any geographic or chronological context are therefore encouraged, as are those from other fields (e.g. sociology, anthropology, etc.).

For further information, or to submit a paper proposal, please contact:

Dr. Joshua Arthurs
Department of History
West Virginia University
Joshua.Arthurs@mail.wvu.edu

Submissions must be received by January 15, 2012.