Call for papers “The Concepts of Republic: Local, Regional and International”

Conference venue: St Petersburg (Russia)
Period: Dec. 6-7, 2012
Deadline for submitting abstracts: Jun. 22, 2012
Deadline for submitting full papers: Nov. 1, 2012

The research center Res Publica, European University at St Petersburg,  has published a call for papers for its Research Training Seminar on “The Concepts of Republic: Local, Regional and International”. The event will take place in St Petersburg on December 6-7, 2012.
Republicanism seeks to conceive of forms of government that can secure freedom as non-domination and provide for wider political participation than the dominant paradigm of liberalism. This is partly the reason why republicanism has become a central concern in political theory and conceptual history in recent years. The aim of the seminar is to explore various understandings, conceptual change and re-description in the history of republic and republicanism.

Keynote lectures by Peter Haldén (Uppsala University), Martin van Gelderen (European University Institute, Florence) and Quentin Skinner (Queen Mary, University of London)

The Research Training Seminar will be followed by the conference on the history of European and Russian city republics "Republicanism: city, regional and comparative perspectives", which will take place on December 8-9, 2012. All participants are kindly invited to attend.

Contributions should address the history of the concept of republic in three distinct political settings: city-republics, regional powers and community of nations. The organizers are particularly interested in comparative conceptual histories of republicanism in the European Northern and Southern city-republics and Russian North-Western regions, in the late Middle Ages, early modern and modern periods. Submissions addressing the history of this concept in other regions are also encouraged. In addition to these regular forms of republics, aggregate-level analyses of real or imagined republics are also welcome. These may include conceptions of various political unions as aggregate republics, such as the “united States” (before 1777) and Europe, and discussions of the impacts a republican constitution might have on the relations among nations.

Contributions to the seminar may also focus on the conceptualizations of the institutional structures of republics, the shifts in identification of model republics by republican theorists, and the connection of republican constitution to its material infrastructure. At the international level, contributions may inquire into the debates on alternative forms of international political organization, which could ensure the basic principle of non-domination, but for various reasons disappeared from the list of viable options and key political terms. Submissions in the field of contextual and diachronic studies, where special attention is paid to rhetorical means of applying the concept of republic and adapting it to changing political circumstances, are equally welcome. The overall objective is to contribute to the debate over the role of republicanism in different political settings by drawing attention to non-conventional examples of republican forms and  new historical sources in textual domains, ranging from natural law, pamphlets and poetry to city statutes and charters.  

To apply please send your paper proposal (up to 300 words) and a short letter of intent (up to 300 words) explaining your interest in the topic and reflecting your previous research and publications. Selected participants will have to circulate their papers by November 1, 2012. The language of the seminar is English.

e-mail: republic.concepta2012@gmail.com