History after Hobsbawm

Conference, 29 April - 1 May 2014, London, UK

Birkbeck, University of London; Past & Present 29.04.2014-01.05.2014, London, Senate House, University of London

A major international conference, with plenary speakers and large parallel sessions, exploring where the study of history is currently heading. The conference draws inspiration from the capacious legacy of the late Eric Hobsbawm, but is not a memorial event. We aim, rather, to bring together discussion about what we are currently doing as socially-committed historians and what it means to be an historian in the twenty-first century. Amongst the topics discussed in keynote lectures and panel debates will be empire, world histories, Europe, Latin America, political conflict, class, Marxism, capitalism, environmental history, the crisis of the seventeenth century, the invention of traditions, nationalism, economic history and historical explanation.

The conference is organised by Birkbeck, University of London, where Eric Hobsbawm taught most of his life, and by Past & Present, which he co-founded. Speakers will include Mark Mazower (Columbia), Catherine Hall (UCL), Gareth Stedman Jones (Queen Mary), Chris Wickham (Oxford), Maxine Berg (Warwick), Rana Mitter (Oxford), Geoff Eley (Michigan), Emma Rothschild (Harvard/Cambridge), Prasannan Parthasarathi (Boston), Donald Sassoon (Queen Mary), John Elliott (Oxford), Sanjay Subrahmanyam (UCLA), Geoffrey Parker (Ohio State), Peter Burke (Cambridge), Joanna Innes (Oxford), Renaud Morieux (Cambridge), Lucy Riall (EUI/ Birkbeck), François Jarrige (Bourgogne), Illaria Favretto (Kingston), Antoinette Burton (Illinois), Maya Jasanoff (Harvard), Jan Rüger (Birkbeck), Marjorie Levine-Clark (Colorado), Sonya Rose (Michigan/Birkbeck), Sean Brady (Birkbeck), Jay Winter (Yale), Vivian Bickford-Smith (Cape Town), Camilla Schofield (UEA), Alan Knight (Oxford), Joan Martinez Alier (Barcelona), Paulo Drinot (UCL), Harriet Ritvo (MIT), Paul Warde (UEA), Christof Mauch (Munich), Andy Wood (Durham), Jane Whittle (Exeter), Lucy Robinson (Sussex), Mike Braddick (Sheffield), Stefan Berger (Bochum), Bill Schwarz (Queen Mary), John Breuilly (LSE), Margot Finn (UCL), Pat Hudson (Cardiff), Giorgio Riello (Warwick) and Peter Bailey (Manitoba).

For more information and to register, please visit http://www.bbk.ac.uk/history/about-us/events/history-after-hobsbawm

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History after Hobsbawm

29 April - 1 May 2014

Senate House, University of London

DRAFT Programme

Tuesday 29 April 2014

5pm Registration

6pm Welcome

6.15pm Eric Hobsbawm Memorial Lecture: Mark Mazower - Europe

7.30pm Drinks reception

Wednesday 30 April 2014

10am-11am Plenary: Gareth Stedman Jones - Marxism

11am-11.20 Coffee

11.20-12.50 Parallel sessions

Session 1 - History of political conflict Lucy Riall (EUI/Birkbeck) François Jarrige (Bourgogne) Illaria Favretto (Kingston)
Chair: Steve Smith (Exeter); convenor: Illaria Favretto

Session 2 - The Crisis of the 17th Century Sanjay Subrahmanyam (UCLA) Geoffrey Parker (Ohio State) John Elliott (Oxford) Chair and convenor: Mike Braddick (Sheffield)

12.50-1.50 Lunch

1.50-3.20 Parallel sessions

Session 1 - Latin America
Alan Knight (Oxford)
Joan Martinez Alier (ICTA, Barcelona)
Paulo Drinot (UCL)
Convenor: Alan Knight

Session 2 - Britain, Empire, Europe
Antoinette Burton (Illinois)
Maya Jasanoff (Harvard)
Jan Rüger (Birkbeck)
Chair: David Feldman (Birkbeck); convenor: Jan Rüger

3.20-3.40 Tea

3.40-5pm Parallel sessions

Session 1 - Global environmental history Harriet Ritvo (MIT) Paul Warde (UEA) Christof Mauch (Munich) Chair and convenor: Sunil Amrith (Birkbeck)

Session 2 - Marxist and post-Marxist social history Andy Wood (Durham) Jane Whittle (Exeter) Lucy Robinson (Sussex)
Convenor: Andy Wood

5pm-6pm Plenary: Chris Wickham, Maxine Berg and Rana Mitter - World
histories

7pm-9pm Conference dinner (buffet), talk and piano by Peter Bailey

Thursday 1 May 2014

10am-11am Plenary: Catherine Hall - Empire

11am-11.20 Coffee

11.20-12.50 Parallel sessions

Session 1 - Capitalism
Prasannan Parthasarathi (Boston)
Emma Rothschild (Harvard/Cambridge)
Donald Sassoon (Queen Mary)
Chair and convenor: Frank Trentmann (Birkbeck)

Session 2 - Frameworks of historical explanation Peter Burke (Cambridge) Joanna Innes (Oxford) Renaud Morieux (Cambridge) Chair and convenor: Filippo de Vivo (Birkbeck)

12.50-1.50 Lunch

1.50-3.20 Parallel sessions

Session 1 - What happened to class?
Sonya Rose (Michigan/Birkbeck)
Marjorie Levine-Clark (Colorado)
Sean Brady (Birkbeck)
Chair: John Tosh (Roehampton/Birkbeck); convenor: Sean Brady

Session 2 - The Invention of Traditions
Jay Winter (Yale)
Camilla Schofield (UEA)
Vivian Bickford-Smith (Cape Town)
Chair and convenor: Emma Griffin (UEA)

3.20-3.40 Tea

3.40-5pm Parallel sessions

Session 1 - Nationalisms
Stefan Berger (Bochum)
John Breuilly (LSE)
Bill Schwarz (Queen Mary)
Convenor: Stefan Berger

Session 2 - Economic history and material culture Margot Finn (UCL) Pat Hudson (Cardiff) Giorgio Riello (Warwick)
Convenor: Giorgio Riello

5pm-6pm Plenary: Geoff Eley - History and politics

6pm Conference ends

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Victoria Russell

Birkbeck, University of London

historyafterhobsbawm@bbk.ac.uk

Homepage
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/history/about-us/events/history-after-hobsbawm

[Cross-posted, with thanks, from H-Soz-u-Kult]