Roma and Their History in the Shadow of the Iron Curtain – Call for Articles
3. 2. 2023 – One of the areas of historical research in the countries east of the former Iron Curtain that has achieved remarkable growth is the history of the local Roma population in the twentieth century. The newly awakened interest in their turbulent and often tragic fate has yielded many important findings. Above all, it has been possible to capture the overall contours of their history within individual national frameworks, to portray various aspects of their lives and to record a number of individual stories. At the same time, however, this research still suffers from fragmentation, lacking sufficient interconnectedness and deeper grounding in the mainstream of historical research.
It is with this deficit in mind that we have decided to conceive the thematic issue of Soudobé dějiny/CJCH No. 3/2023 on the history of the Roma in Central & Eastern Europe with a primary focus on the era of communist rule, but with possible and sometimes necessary overlaps with the wartime and interwar period, as well as with the period of post-communist transformation and the present. However, we are also happy to offer space for comparative analyses of the situation of Romani men and women in Western Europe, covering more general development trends or, conversely, mutual differences in countries with competing socio-economic systems. We also welcome texts emphasizing the specific methodological and ethical challenges associated with research and the formulation of research results focused on Roma history.
We see the history of Romani populations as an inseparable part of a more general history. We wish to give space to Romani men and women themselves as historical subjects and actors who have long been marginalized and relegated to the position of passive objects and recipients of external interventions and events. At the same time, however, we are interested in the goals, means, forms and transformations of state policies towards the Roma and the formation of mutual relations at various levels of the functioning of individual European states and regional communities. We are interested in the genesis of mental stereotypes of the “other” and manifestations of xenophobia, as well as the representation of “Gypsy”/Roma men and women in discursive frameworks that define their position and perception as players in public space, filtering the ways of perceiving them and establishing models of action towards them. We are also interested in Romani perspectives on the experience of a shared past, the formation and development of relations with non-Romani society and the state, and in exploring the ways in which the Roma have managed to promote their own visions of the future, equality and participation in local development or in addressing national issues related to the status and situation of Romani people as a group. We are convinced that the history of the Roma is one of the mirrors that allow us to shed a different light on national or state (Czech/Czechoslovak, Polish, Hungarian, Soviet, etc.) history and to identify its hitherto neglected or overlooked features. At the same time, we perceive the need to respond to contemporary calls to revise ethnocentric assumptions that reproduce historically established hierarchies of meaning and power in the relationship of non-Roma “majorities” to Roma “minorities”.
When we talk about the history of the Roma, we are referring to the Roma as a group, but we are aware of the heterogeneity of Romani society across states and historically established regional groups in terms of social status, socioeconomic status, etc., but also in terms of (self-)identification: not only in relation to Romaniness, but also in relation to the more general categories of race, class, and gender. A more generally formulated label using a generic masculine should not obscure this heterogeneity of attitudes and experiences when examining the history of the Roma as part of European society and its historical development.
For example, we ask ourselves the following questions:
1. To what extent and in what respect were the Roma victims of the communist regimes and their social experiments as a specifically identified group of “g/Gypsies”, but also as people punished for ideological reasons, for example as self-employed persons or free-thinking citizens? To what extent, on the other hand, did the radical change of conditions offer a certain part of Romani society the possibility of escaping from the historical position of socially excluded outsiders, and how did they take advantage of the offered chances? How would a similar balance sheet play out for the subsequent years of democratic capitalist transformation?
2. Which continuities persisted or even prevailed in the situation of Roma society, despite all the systemic transformations from the 1930s or 1940s to the 1990s? What major turning points can be identified when examining Roma history and how do they fit into the established chronologies of the “national” history of individual European states?
3. What role has shared collective memory played in the recent history of the Roma as a group, especially the experience of the Roma Holocaust, and how has this memory been (re)constructed and manifested? How in relation to the communist past? How have dominant (national) historical narratives and/or ideologically motivated interpretations of the past intervened in these processes?
4. What specific contents have the concepts of discrimination, equalization, stigmatization, emancipation, racism, assimilation, integration, solidarity, isolation, social mobility or social exclusion taken on in relation to Roma men and women?
5. How can our understanding and current interpretation of the history of the Roma during the communist period provide new insights into the development of the situation of the Roma in the countries on the other side of the Iron Curtain? What were the state approaches to the Roma communities which formed part of the post-war Western European states? In what ways did Roma men and women in these regions also become actors in the events that determined the state approaches to them?
We welcome articles and essays by historians, as well as by experts in the field of sociology, anthropology, cultural studies and other social science disciplines. The deadline for submission of manuscripts in English, in the range of 5,000 to 15,000 words, is 1 August 2023. Manuscripts should be submitted via our webpage (“for authors – submit manuscript”).
The Prague Forum for Romani History http://www.romanihistories.usd.cas.cz/cs/, a platform that supports research on Romani history and its presentation, is part of our Institute.
The End of Czechoslovakia: 30 Years Later – Call for Papers
11. 8. 2022 – The thirty years since the end of the common Czech and Slovak state seems to be the longest period of stable continuous development in the modern history of both nations since 1918, unmarked by major historical breaks and discontinuities. The entry of Czechia and Slovakia into the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance was a confirmation of the path taken in 1989 and 1993. The period of Vladimir Mečiar's "illiberal democracy" in Slovakia became just a small episode. The division of Czechoslovakia was also the last dramatic dilemma that the majority of its inhabitants intensely shared and experienced. Three decades constitute a sufficient distance from the events and processes of that time to allow contemporary historians to examine them in detail and in a broader context. The overall picture of the events surrounding the proclamation of the two independent republics has already been outlined and some of its important moments interpreted. Other issues are still a matter of dispute and await clarification.
To what extent was the division of Czechoslovakia a consequence of long-preserved problems of unitary state-law models and half-hearted federalism? To what extent were they triggered or accelerated by the new political, social and economic dynamics of post-November 1989 developments? And to what extent were these developments a resonance of the predatory wave of nationalism that disrupted all post-communist federations? Did the Czech and Slovak political elites fail to reach an acceptable compromise, despite hard negotiations, or was the division of the state a triumph of the will to power and pragmatism of some politicians? What were the economic costs and benefits of this radical state-building operation, and what was going on behind the scenes in the disputes over the division of federal property? What ideals and values did the two successor republics rely on in building a new statehood, which traditions, models and symbols were actualized or, conversely, which ones disappeared in the process? What has remained of Czechoslovak identity and how do both countries deal with the heritage of their common past?
How did the Czechoslovak divorce affect the everyday lives of people, what complications or benefits did it bring them? And have we, over the last thirty years, rid ourselves of mutual prejudices, misunderstandings, stereotypes and myths born out of our mutual coexistence, or are we piling more on top of them? For example, regarding the circumstances and causes of the division of Czechoslovakia?
We seek articles that analyse and reflect upon these and similar questions for the pages of Soudobé dějiny/CJCH and Historický časopis, to be published in 2023. In this joint project, we are not aiming to publish a single thematic issue, but we would like to include articles related to the round anniversary of the end of Czechoslovakia continuously in both journals throughout the year. We have chosen a "mirror" format, whereby we will publish the contributions of Slovak authors in Soudobé dějiny/CJCH and the articles of Czech authors will find a place in the Slovak Historický časopis. We welcome essays, studies, reflections, as well as texts focused on discussion or polemics, not only from historians, but also from experts in the field of sociology, political science, economics, law, etc. Manuscripts in Czech, Slovak and English can be submitted continuously until September 2023 via the journal’s online editorial system (FOR AUTHORS – SUBMIT MANUSCRIPT). For publication in the first issues of 2023, the deadline for submission is 31 December 2022.
Soudobé dějiny/CJCH is indexed in Scopus, CEEOL, Historický časopis is indexed in WoS, CCC, Scopus, CEEOL. Contacts: sd@usd.cas.cz, histcaso@gmail.com.
The Politics of History and Memory: Actors, Tools and Narratives - Call for Papers (thematic issue 3/2022)
15. 3. 2022 - The gradual collapse of authoritarian regimes in Europe and Latin America in the last third of the twentieth century was naturally followed by a revision of the relationship to the past, whether communist or fascist. This process became an organic part of social liberalization and was neither conflict-free nor painless. It created a dilemma between the demand for historical truth and for the restitution of historical justice on the one hand, and the need for social stability and a basic consensus on the other. In some countries, alongside systemic transformation, it is now possible to more openly discuss not too distant grievances, injustices and guilt. In others, however, society is being confronted by repressed historical traumas, with demands for at least a symbolic atonement for past wrongs and for the memory of the former losers and victims.
The transformation of historical self-reflection after the collapse of the old regimes could first be observed in the break with legitimizing historical narratives, the expansion of sources of information and the opening of taboo topics. Subsequently, the institutional base for research, school teaching and cultural institutions was transformed. Various foreign authorities, social science approaches and memorial actors came forward with their strategies and innovations. The pantheon of national heroes and commemorations have been transformed and different, at times even contradictory, versions of the past have started competing in the public space. Such plurality, however, began to hinder some political and intellectual elites who saw it as a potential threat to their own values, goals or social integrity and began to use conformist interpretations of the past as political capital in domestic and foreign policy. If the past is the natural battleground of contemporaries, it is no longer only scholarly arguments, value preferences or lived experiences that serve as ammunition, but also power claims and tools. The recent war in Ukraine, with its propagandistic justification, demonstrates how pernicious the potential of utilitarian historical constructs and manipulations can be.
In this thematic issue of Soudobé dějiny / Czech Journal of Contemporary History we would like to conceptualize this process of changing historical self-reflection, to capture its transnational context and national specificities and to scrutinize the metanarratives that accompany it. We do not limit ourselves solely to reflections on the post-communist world, and the editors also welcome texts on the experiences of Southern European and Latin American countries. The issues covered may include, for example, the following questions: Are the changes in the institutional basis of research and commemoration comparable across borders and time? How are state-established memory institutes and museums typical in relation to the representation of the authoritarian past and what is their impact on the memory of particular societies? What ideas about this past and its legacy are promoted by relevant political actors and what tools do they use? How are historical symbols and sites of memory invoked and transformed in the contestations over the past? What is the role of historians themselves in confronting the political instrumentalization of history?
Manuscripts in English should be submitted by 15 August 2022 via https://sd.usd.cas.cz (section “for authors – submit manuscript”). Authors are also welcome to send their abstracts and drafts of their intended texts.
Indexing: Scopus, CEEOL, ERIH+
Contact: sd@usd.cas.cz
Revisionism and Contemporary History Research – Call to Authors
10. 6. 2021 – The media controversy over revisionism in research on socialist Czechoslovakia drew attention to an important fact – that historiography, and the humanities and social studies in general, regularly revise the starting points and conclusions of their research. These revisions give rise to expert controversies, which often reflect current political disputes and may therefore spill over into debates far beyond the academic sphere. Issues in contemporary history have long been central themes of such controversies.
The debate on totalitarianism and revisionism in research on state socialism, most recently covered in Radek Buben and Martin Štefek’s article entitled Konceptuální labyrinty. Kolik pojetí totalitarismu znáš, tolikrát jsi revizionistou? [Conceptual labyrinths. For as many concepts of totalitarianism that you know, so many times are you a revisionist] (Soudobé dějiny 2/2021 https://sd.usd.cas.cz/corproof.php?tartkey=sod-000000-0019), is a famous and today archetypical polemic of this type. This was, however, only one of many similar disputes over methodological innovations and revisions of interpretations in contemporary history research. As a follow-up to the publication of the cited article, the editorial team of the Soudobé dějiny/CJCH journal invites authors to submit papers for a thematic issue dedicated to this phenomenon. The aim of the issue is to open up discussion on revisionism that would show the broad nature of this theme and point out, for example, the complicated history of the term revisionism, interaction between historiography and politics in controversies over interpretations of the recent past, or other “revisionist” disputes that so far have been overlooked in the current Czech debate.
The issues covered by the papers may include, for example, the following:
1) Revisionism – history of the term
2) Methodology of contemporary history research and the issue of revisionism
3) Historical revisions and study of expert controversies
4) Discussion on revisionism in Cold War research
5) Holocaust denial and other extreme forms of historical revision
6) Gender-inspired revisions of dominant historical concepts and actors
7) Revisionism and the media image of contemporary history research
8) Historical revisions and the politics of history
Manuscripts should be submitted by 15 February 2022 via the journal’s online editorial system at https://sd.usd.cas.cz, FOR AUTHORS – SUBMIT MANUSCRIPT
Call for papers in English
15. 2. 2021 – We are pleased to announce that as of 2021, the peer-reviewed journal Soudobé dějiny - Czech Journal of Contemporary History is published in two Czech and one English issue per year.
The editorial team is now accepting original article submissions in English exploring the history of the 20th and 21st century, with a primary focus on Czechoslovak and Czech themes in the broader international context, as well as the history of the wider Central and Eastern European region. Comparative and transnational perspectives are also welcome and the journal aims to cover a wide range of topics across political, social, intellectual and cultural history. The journal is open to contributions not only from historians, but also all scholars from related fields of the humanities and social sciences employing a historical perspective in their work.
The editors further invite English submissions of book reviews of recent monographs and edited volumes published in Czech, English or other languages related to contemporary Czech, Czechoslovak, as well as broader Central and East European history .
Soudobé dějiny - Czech Journal of Contemporary History is the leading scholarly journal in the field of Czech contemporary history and has been published by the Institute of Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences since 1993. The journal’s aim is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the recent past and to act as a platform for the exchange of the newest findings in the field, including conceptual and methodological innovations in contemporary history. Its new English edition aims to familiarize the broader scholarly community with the newest research on recent Czech and Czechoslovak history and serve as a medium of communication between Czech and international scholars.
The English issue is published in print in December of each year. The online version of the journal is fully Open Access (on a CC BY-NC license) and pre-print articles will be available on the journal’s website prior to print publication.