Call for papers
The International Committee for the History of the Second World War is currently organizing a conference on
The Experience of Occupation, 1931-1949
The conference will be held, at the invitation of the Chinese National Committee for the Study of the Second World War, at the University of Wuhan, China, on Monday 14 and Tuesday 15 April 2008. On Wednesday 16 April, the Chinese National Committee will organise a separate session on China and the Second World War which all participants are cordially invited to attend. The conference languages will be English and Chinese (translation facilities will be provided).
The events leading to and arising from the Second World War, both in its European and Pacific theaters, span two decades. Fascist and imperial projects of territorial expansion and colonial domination, the exportation of political and ideological models, the reconstruction of defeated nations under the supervision of their victors, took various forms, with different levels of constraints and violence inflicted. Occupation of vast territories and areas, and even of entire nations by foreign armies and civilian authorities was, a central constellation of the international order of the 1930s and 1940s. To a greater extent even than during and after the First World War, the post-Second World War order was determined by experiences shaped by foreign occupation: ideological commitments and affiliations, economic exploitation, social and cultural deprivation, population displacement, and resistance. Occupation delegitimated certain political regimes and vindicated others, thereby conditioning the emergence of new nation states:
the independence of former colonies, the adoption of post-fascist regimes of a communist or liberal-parliamentarian systems of government, and the exacerbation of national and ethnic conflicts. A common discussion on the nature and impact of the experience of occupation therefore addresses the central ambition of the International Committee for the History of the Second World War, to encourage the study of these events in their widest chronological and geographical contexts.
The conference will focus on four main themes:
Occupation: its definition, nature in different war zones and status in international law.
Occupation and the displacement of peoples (refugees, forced mobilisations, resettlement policies).
The impact of occupation on the legitimacy of former political authorities, national and resistance movements.
The impact of occupation on civilians, other than their physical displacement (this theme encompasses social changes, gender relations and cultural developments).
In each of the panels, the organisers encourage comparisons between the European, Atlantic and the Pacific theaters of war.
The International Committee for the History of the Second World War invites scholars from around the world to contribute to this conference at Wuhan in April 2008. A one page proposal, plus a short c.v. of the author (or authors) should be send to the organisers before October 31th 2007 at the following address:
gmuc@ihtp.cnrs.fr
The organising committee will select the most promising papers on their scholarly merits and in accordance with the limits of the number of participants the
University of Wuhan can host. Limited financial aid will be available to cover travel expenses of scholars who do not benefit from other forms of financial support, i. e by their universities or other home institutions.
Please visit us at: http://www.ihtp.cnrs.fr/spip.php?rubrique138&lang=fr
