Call for Papers - "Political Exile from Central and Eastern Europe. Motives, Strategies, Activities and Perception in the East and the West 1945-1989"

Which were the significant waves of political exile between 1945-1989 in Eastern Europe? 
Are there transnational characteristics to be found among immigrants of the different waves?
Did the waves bring new thoughts or ideas into already established exile groups?
Did the representatives of these waves try to create new exile organisations or did they get involved in already established organisations?
How and to what degree did they integrate into the society of their new homeland?
What images of their homeland have these different exiled groups kept?
How did immigrant families’ relation to their homeland change over the decades?

Which groups, centres and individuals played a significant role and what was their political orientation (conservative, social democratic, liberal)?
Were there any problems relating to different political orientations, like disagreements or unwillingness to cooperate?
What understanding or vision of Europe existed among the exile groups? Were there any plans for a Federation of Central and Eastern European states?
How did they influence the view of Eastern Europe in democratic Western countries?
What about constitutional arrangement concepts?
Which role did prominent immigrants play in political exile?

How did communication take place between political exile groups from individual states and nations?
Which topics were regarded as crucial and common by these groups?
What were the relationships like between the representatives of exile groups from different states and nations? How did they cooperate or why not?
What importance was attached to ethnicity or nationality by groups living in one country (e.g. between Czechs and Slovaks, Ukrainians and other nations of the Soviet Union)?

How and for what reasons did immigrant and exile groups try to keep in touch with their home countries?
What influence did the media and exile journals have in delivering information to the “East” and getting information from the “West”?
How were exile journals and information received behind the Iron Curtain?
How did exile groups evaluate the chances and risks associated with overcoming communist regimes?
How did support for homeland oppositional movements and organisations happen?

What was the response of the communist and democratic governments to the activities of the political exile groups and individuals?
How did communist regimes regard the political exile and leaders abroad? How did they act against them and with what means (propaganda, influencing the “West”)?
Were there any plans or attempts to persecute people (e.g. members of the emigrants’ families)?

What was the role of the secret services in the “West” and the “East” in relation to  immigrants and exile groups? Which methods, strategies and actions were used?
How did different immigrant journalists perceive the secret service in the “West” and “East” and the détente policy? How did the détente policy influence the broadcasting of Radio Free Europe and other radio stations?
Were the communist secret services able to influence political exile groups with the aid of agents or by other means? In contrast, how did Western states and their secret services react to them?