Socialist Internationalism Conference, Birkbeck College, University of London
3rd February 2017
Research on the global history of socialism has been growing, but the majority of narratives and frameworks for approaching the history of the so-called ‘socialist world’ are still focused on the relationship of the United States and the Soviet Union. In a one-day workshop, to be held on Friday 3rd February at Birkbeck College, discussion will take stock of recent historical contributions that shift focus away from the superpowers and from Washington and Moscow, and instead consider the circulation of ideas, goods, people, and practices within and beyond the socialist and communist worlds on their own terms.
Which conventional Cold War concepts does taking a global approach to the history of socialism and communist reinforce, and which does it contest? What are the conceptual and methodological challenges of constructing an alternative history of internationalism from a global socialist perspective? Was there such a phenomenon as ‘socialist globalisation’ and what did it entail in the context of the Cold War and decolonisation? How do we understand the global boundaries and exchanges between the communist world in the East and the institutions of (non-communist) socialist internationalism in the West? How does shifting perspectives away from the US-Soviet binary change our understanding of socialist networks? To what extent can we leave the view from the West behind?
The Socialist Internationalism workshop aims to foster discussion around these central questions through short presentations in a roundtable format. Presenters shall each discuss a primary source and explain the approach they take to transnational, global, and international history. Topics that will be addressed in the workshop will encompass: trade and exchange in the socialist world, the role and definition of development and humanitarianism in the socialist world, the roles of experts in socialism across the globe, and exchanges in culture and knowledge production among socialist countries and beyond.
The workshop is free and open to all, however spaces are limited and booking is required. To reserve a place, please email reluctant.internationalists@gmail.com.
Further details of the workshop are outlined below:
Introductions 9.30am
Johanna Conterio (Birkbeck)
Panel 1: Culture within and beyond the Socialist World 9.45 – 11.15am
Chair: Ana Antic (Exeter)
Kristin Roth-Ey (UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies)
Paul Betts (Oxford)
Simon Huxtable (Brunel)
Katarina Lichvarova (Courtauld Institute of Art)
Dina Fainberg (City, University of London)
Panel 2: Trade and Exchange within and beyond the Socialist World 11.30am – 1.00pm
Chair: Johanna Conterio (Birkbeck)
Alessandro Iandolo (Oxford)
Kristy Ironside (Manchester)
Katarzyna Jezowska (Oxford)
Yakov Feygin (U Pennsylvania)
Panel 3: Medicine, Urban Planning, and Environment 1.45 – 3.15pm
Chair: Jessica Reinisch (Birkbeck)
Katherine Lebow (Oxford)
Timothy Nunan (Freie U, Berlin)
Robert Balogh (Budapest)
Jo Laycock (Sheffield Hallam)
Dora Vargha (Exeter)
Panel 4: Global Socialism 3.30-5.00pm
Chair: Dora Vargha (Exeter)
James Mark (Exeter)
Rowena Razak (Oxford)
Tobias Rupprecht (Exeter)
Ana Antic (Exeter)