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CFP: The Transformation of the International System in the 1970s

Call For Papers for the International Conference The Transformation of the International System in the 1970s

Convened by: Dipartimento Politica, Istituzioni e Storia, Università di Bologna; Fondazione Gramsci dell'Emilia Romagna

Location: Bologna

Date: 27-28 February 2009

Deadline for submission of proposals: 15 October 2008

The 1970s are widely recognized by historians as a crucial period of change and transformation. Several processes interacted to produce radical changes impervious to modern formulas and categories: the crisis of territoriality; the rejection of Keynesian fiscal policies and economic models; the gradual transition to a post-industrial age; the contestation, and delegitimization, of traditional sources of power and authority; the crisis of the bipolar international structure and its growing inability to contain and discipline a complex and pluralistic world.

The papers will cover the impact that these transformations had and still have on the international system, from either structural or agency standpoints. The conference will deal with the impact of such transformations on the international system, on its structure as well as on the relations among its members. The conference will consist of three panels (with 3/4 presentations each) and a final roundtable. The sessions will deal with the following general issues:

-the impact of the transformation of the international system on Europe and on
the relationship within the two blocs;

-the new role of the global South, in light of the last wave of decolonization and the emergence of new Cold War battlegrounds;

-the theoretical reflection on the nature of the international system and its main changes;

Participation on the panels is limited to junior scholars conducting new and original research (i.e.: participants must be 40 years and younger or have received their doctoral degree within the past seven years).

Each paper will be commented on by a senior scholar. Draft papers will have to be submitted at least one month before the date of the conference.

Procedure

Proposals must be sent via e-mail to Ms. Paola Malattia (paola.malattia@unibo.it, e-mail subject "1970s Conference"). The deadline for proposals is October 15th, 2008. Proposals must include a title, a one-page outline and a two-page cv. Proposals and papers can be in Italian and in English.

Following the acceptance of the proposals (end of October), participants will receive editorial guidelines.

The conveners will cover travel expenses and accommodation in Bologna for two nights.

The languages of the conference will be Italian and English. Simultaneous translation will be provided.

The peer-review Italian journal of contemporary History "Ricerche di Storia Politica" (www.arsp.it) will consider the possibility of publishing a selection of the papers presented at the conference. The organizers intend to successively publish a collection of the papers as an edited volume, in Italian and in English.

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