First PanEur1970s Public Workshop – 23-25 November 2017
The first public Workshop of the ERC Project PanEur1970s took place on 23 – 25 November 2017 at the EUI premises in Florence. As the first public discussion of our work in progress, it was meant to assess methodological and organizational aspects, research questions, coordination of individual contributions, so as to take stock of early achievements, spot weaknesses, suggest improvements, and plan the team’s future work.
Each team member presented her/his individual project to an audience that included invited experts (Suvi Kansikas, Pavel Kolář, Gottfried Niedhart, Svetozar Rajak, André Steiner, Vladislav Zubok) and other colleagues in attendance. A pre-assigned discussant then commented the specific project and provided feedback in terms of content, methodology, sources, and consistency. Then the floor was open to suggestions, questions, and comments from the other colleagues.
As PanEur1970s team members are at different stages of their research, the group had several brainstorming meetings and discussion in preparation for this workshop, and agreed on harmonising the structure of the papers and the presentations, without prejudicing the peculiarities of the individual cases. During the workshop, team members have also been able to provide cross-references and evidence in support of each other’s works. This has also contributed to give discussants and other participants a clearer sense of our team effort, which constitutes the essence of the PanEur1970s project.
In a final roundtable, the discussants provided comments, suggestions, and warnings for the whole PanEur1970s project and its next steps. They emphasised the importance for PanEur1970s to duly consider the broader picture (e.g., international processes, intra–bloc dynamics) and other important actors (e.g. the Soviet Union) that did affect the debates in the socialist countries.
Finally, the workshop also benefitted from the participation of two invited speakers – Victor Petrov and Max Trecker – who presented their current research on topics that are intertwined with PanEur1970s’ interests.
Draft papers – password protected