Střed/Centre 1/2013 – Call for Papers

Issue Theme: Borders Between Us

Deadline for submissions: March 31, 2013

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Publication languages: Czech, English, German

Full text of the journal: www.ceeol.com

The topic of borders and their construction, understanding and effect has been one of the central topics of last two decades not only in academic research, but also in everyday political debates. The repeated redrawing of the political, ethnic and cultural borders that occurred in Central Europe during the last two hundred years was always accompanied by the transformation of the collective identities and horizons of thought of the local inhabitants. Borders remain a current phenomenon even today when the original concept of European integration as the creation of a space without inner borders is becoming more and more the
topic of scholarly as well as political discussions.

Therefore the journal Střed/Centre is devoting its first issue in 2013 to the broadly defined topic of borders and their influence on the development of Central Europe in the last two centuries. The editorial office accepts studies written in accordance with the guidelines for authors (http://www.mua.cas.cz/index.php/en/instructions-for-authors-and-reviewers) that will be concerned with one of the following topics:

- Borders as part of a diplomatic struggle – changing borders, border disputes and demarcation lines in Central Europe

- Overcoming borders; legal and illegal crossings in the context of the time; passport and visa politics and ways to go around them; border crossings as specific zones and border areas

- Cultural construction of borders, how they were understood and how they changed

- Border areas and their transformation in connection with the cultural landscape,abandoned and displaced border zones, their integrity with the interior and their crossborder interaction; the transformation of the character of borderland communities; the transformation of the cultural landscape, etc.

- Inner administrative borders, the transformation and development of administrative divisions, the role of inner borders in the life of a society

All topics may be pursued in the entire Central European area or its various regions. We also welcome comparative studies and studies focused on a single geographic space. The editorial office is also open to texts that won’t directly correspond with the outlined topics, but that nevertheless will touch on the central theme of borders in Central Europe in the 19th and 20th century.