European Unity and Division: Regions, Religions, Civilisations
A Conference of the European and EU Centre, Monash University, in collaboration with the European University Institute
25-27 September 2006 Monash University Prato Centre, Prato, Italy
The twin themes of European unity and Europe's internal divisions are as topical as ever. Recent events have highlighted the ambitions and difficulties of an integrative project that aspires to transcend long-standing cultural or geopolitical boundaries. The debate on divisions has moved beyond an initial focus on states and nations; historical regions and religious traditions have been analysed from various angles. Civilisational approaches are less developed, although it is now widely recognized that the making of Europe can only be understood as an intercivilisational process. The aim of the conference is to explore the complex and changing relationships between the abovementioned sources of diversity, with particular emphasis on long-term historical dynamics, but with some reference to present constellations.
This broadly defined agenda will be structured around more specific questions. It seems appropriate to link the general problems at issue to the particular case of East Central Europe. The historical experience of this region (defined in different ways, broad or narrow, by different authors whose views merit further discussion) has been central to some of the most seminal work on European unity and divisions. Among other important contributions, the works of Oskar Halecki and Jen Szcs are perhaps the most representative. Distinctive traits of East Central European history have to do with intra-Christian developments and divergences (patterns of contact and conflict between Catholicism and Orthodoxy, as well as a particularly dramatic confrontation between Reformation and Counter-Reformation); with the long rule of the Habsburg Empire that redefined the religious and political profile of the region; and with exposure to Inner Eurasian currents as well as their indirect impact through the Russian and Ottoman Empires.
The concern with East Central Europe is reflected in several titles that already figure on the program, and the organizers are particularly interested in further contributions along such lines. But this focus is not meant to be exclusive. Some of the proposed papers approach the general themes from other regional vantage points; more such input will be welcomed, and is expected to generate a discussion of comparative perspectives. The combination of a primary regional reference with aspects of a broader picture will be maintained in the publication that should result from the conference.
Speakers include Johann Arnason, Miroslav Hroch, Hartmut Kaelble, Bo Strth, Stefan Troebst and Peter Wagner. See Speakers for information on the speakers and titles of their papers.
It is anticipated that a selection of the conference papers will form the basis of an edited volume.