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Petitions and Petitioning from the Medieval Period to the Present: When and Why Do Petitions Matter?

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The final workshop in the AHRC Research Network on Petitions and Petitioning from the Medieval Period to the Present considers the question of when and why do petitions matter? This workshop develops the themes explored in the first two workshops, held in Durham and Leiden respectively, which focused on conceptual definitions of petitions and writing a history of petitioning over the longue durée. 

 

The network is explicitly interdisciplinary, international and comparative: it brings together historians, political and social scientists, literary and media scholars, as well as officials administering legislative e-petitions systems and representatives of NGOs using e-petitions in their campaigns. In terms of chronological and geographical scope, the network covers petitions and petitioning from the medieval period to the present day in polities across Europe and North America.

 

The final workshop explores petitions and petitioning in specific contexts to examine their impact and effects. The workshop will also reflect on the potential and possibilities for future research, including beyond the geographical and chronological constraints of the network. We welcome paper proposals from PhDs and early careers researchers in the humanities and social scientists exploring petitions and petitioning in context from the medieval period to the present day.

 

Topics may include but are limited to:

  • Case studies of petitions/ e-petitions/ petitioning and their impact in specific social, political, national or temporal contexts.
  • Comparative analyses/ theories of when and why petitions/ e-petitions make a difference and in what contexts (e.g. democratic, patrimonial states etc).
  • Textual analyses of key petitions and their influence.
  • Examinations of the different roles of petitioners, authority and petitions and how these account for different outcomes.
  • The role and function of petitions/ petitioning in broader campaigns/ issues, past or present.
  • The effect of petitions / e-petitions/ petitioning in forming, consolidating, and spreading new repertoires of collective action.
  • The role of petitions/ petitioning in revolutions, democratisation, and other major political changes.
  • The impact of petitions/ petitioning in shaping individual and collective identities/ subjectivities.
  • The use of petitioning by women, minorities and other groups often excluded from mainstream politics.

 Confirmed speakers include:

  • Yuval Ben-Bassat (Haifa)
  • Daniel Carpenter (Harvard)
  • Gwilym Dodd (Nottingham)
  • Marta Gravela (Turin)

Proposals will be judged on their fit with the specific themes of this workshop.

Email proposals of no more than 300 words along with a 1 page CV to henry.j.miller@durham.ac.uk by 1 Dec. 2018.

The call for papers is open to Early Careers Researchers (post-doctoral researchers and PhD students) from all relevant disciplines. Bursaries are available for UK-based Early Careers Researchers.

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