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Call for Papers: 1989's Loose Ends

10 June 2019

Invitation to submit proposals for the SSEES Conference '1989's Loose Ends' that will take place at University College London, 7/8 November 2019. Deadline CFP: 31 July 2019

loose ends

On its 30th anniversary, this interdisciplinary conference aims to challenge the understanding of 1989 as a fundamentally Eurocentric, Cold War event with established historicity and geography. Presentations and discussions will address the following questions: how can we reconcile the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Velvet Revolution with the onset of the Yugoslav crisis, Tiananmen Square, the beginning of the end of Apartheid, the collapse (and resurgence in some cases) of Latin American dictatorships, and the emergence of commercial internet, to name some examples? How might we address the impact of 1989 on art, history, literature, culture and philosophy, and how do these, in turn, inform our understanding of this event? And how might we observe these loose ends in a way that does not merely look back to the ‘good old days’, but addresses the bad new ones?

Scholars from all disciplines are invited to submit proposals for 30-minute presentations. Please send a title, abstract (300 words maximum), and short biography (approximately 100 words) to SSEES-Events@ucl.ac.uk. by 31 July 2019. There are a limited number of travel bursaries available for those living outside London. If you would like to apply, please contact the organisers.