Call for Papers - National-Personal Autonomy, Non-Territorial Autonomy, Cultural Autonomy

Conference venue: Vienna
Period: January 8-10, 2015
Deadline for submitting abstracts: November 15, 2014

National-personal autonomy is a form of self-rule for ethnic groups based on ethnic belonging and not on territory. There have been various models and transformations of this concept over time and space. National-personal autonomy can be a system to organise multi-national states and/or a model to protect ethnic minorities in classical nation-states. This idea has developed in theory and in practice under very different political and ideological conditions. At the same time, models of national-personal autonomy have been widely criticised for their emphasis on national/ethnic affiliation and the potential ethnification of society.

The research project “The Theory, Practice, and Transfer of National-Personal Autonomy,” based at the University of Vienna and at the Central European University in Budapest, issues a call for papers for an interdisciplinary workshop to be held in Vienna from 8 to 10 January 2015. We aim to creating a network of scholars working in this field, and to familiarise ourselves with approaches to the topic in the disciplines of history, political science, law, and nationalism studies. Presenters will have 15 minutes to present an overview of their current research, after which will come sufficient time to discuss all projects at length. We will also have talks by senior scholars in the field.

Possible topics for papers:

Paper proposals with no connection to Eastern Europe or to Europe at all are warmly welcome.

If you are interested, please email an English or German abstract of your research project (max. 500 words) and a short CV by 15 November 2014. Graduate students and young PhDs are also very welcome to apply. For practical reasons, there is a limit on the number of participants. Those applying will be informed of the outcome within about a week of the deadline. The research project will provide free accommodation for all participants. There is a small budget for travel subsidies, but as a rule participants will have to cover travel expenses themselves.

Börries Kuzmany
Institute for Eastern European History
University of Vienna
e-mail: boerries.kuzmany@univie.ac.at