Research Committee # 5

International Political Science Association /  IPSA

 

 

This conference is organised by Sciences Po Bordeaux, in conjunction with the Institut d’histoire du temps présent (the Institute of Contemporary History, a Research Unit of the National Centre for Scientific Research-CNRS) and the Universities of Bordeaux III and Paris I-La Sorbonne.

 

Co-chairs:

Prof. Françoise Taliano-Des Garets, Professor of Contemporary History at Sciences Po Bordeaux.

Prof. Pascal Ory, Professor of Contemporary History at Paris I-La Sorbonne.

 

Presentations may be in French or English.

 

Call for Papers

 

The cultural history of cities remains incomplete. The purpose of this conference is to encourage new research and discussion on the Second World War period. Focusing on urban space and making ample room for comparative studies, this conference aims to underscore major trends in cultural life and policies, while paying particular attention to their variations according to periods and places. This approach should help in the drawing up of a typology.

 

We advocate the study of leading cities, which were the centres of political and economic power at the time and in which cultural facilities were concentrated. The emphasis should be placed on France—to the exclusion of Paris, but including Algeria, the French colonies and protectorates. The various zones of the French territory (the annexed zone, the occupied zone, the North, the forbidden zone, the Italian zone, the French zone…) should be taken into account. In addition, we encourage comparisons with a few foreign cities in other occupied countries.

In order to avoid the succession of disconnected monographs, we welcome regional studies, as well as work that compares two or more cities, providing either a comprehensive or a more specific comparison.

The year 1940 marks the conventional starting point of the period under study, while the end of it, loosely defined as the Liberation, depends on local situations.

 

Papers are invited on the three main themes of the conference:

 

Urban cultural life in wartime.

Papers could examine the various forms of cultural activity (creation, mediation, leisure activities…), focusing on their differences or similarities according to periods and places. Was cultural life modified, and how, across the different zones of the French territory, and/or during the different phases of the war? Predominantly, what changed in terms of content and form? Did people keep on socialising and meeting in the same places, or did new ones emerge?

Papers could focus on specific areas such as literature, the theatre, the cinema, folklore, popular culture, feasts, commemorations, museums, historic buildings, scholarly activity, the press or the radio. What remained? What disappeared? What was founded? Were there any breakthroughs? General ideas on social practices and representations should emerge from a few case studies.

 

Urban culture and politics during the Occupation.

This question could be examined from two angles. On the one hand, papers could focus on cultural policies as such:

What were the links between German propaganda and culture?

How was Vichy’s cultural plan implemented locally?

Did cultural policies at municipal level survive? Did they expand? Did new ones emerge?

They could also study cultural milieux (artists, scholars, journalists) and their links with the Collaboration or the Resistance. How deep was their involvement? To what extent did it vary according to the areas, institutions, companies, or personalities considered?

 

Urban cultures faced with the choice of breaking with the Occupation period or remembering it.

To what extent were cultural milieux affected by the purges at the end of the war? Was there a genuine renewal of these circles, with new networks taking control, or did more or less the same people remain influential, with only a few cosmetic changes? In the light of these questions, papers could focus on the presence of the cultural life and policies of this period in later representations. Has the memory of it been kept alive, obscured, obliterated or reassessed? Sometimes, a clear break with the past can be noticed, sometimes a form of continuity, and it would be interesting to explore the reasons accounting for this difference.

 

 

Proposals:

Paper proposals (of no more than one page, in French or in English) should be submitted to Françoise Taliano-des Garets (f.taliano@sciencespobordeaux.fr) by May 31^st, 2009. They should include your name, institutional affiliation and contact information, as well as a list of your recent publications.

Notification of the organisers’ decision will be made by July 30^th, 2009.

 

Publication:

The papers will be published in a collected volume. The final texts should be sent to Françoise Taliano-des Garets (f.taliano@sciencespobordeaux.fr) by March 30^th, 2009.

 

Scientific Programme Committee

 

Jean-Pierre Bertin-Maghit, Professor of Film Studies at the University of Bordeaux III.

Laurence Bertrand Dorléac, Professor in the Arts Department at the University of Picardy, Senior member of the Institut Universitaire de France (IUF).

Hubert Bonin, Professor of Contemporary History at Sciences Po Bordeaux.

Myriam Chimènes, Senior Researcher at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), IRPMF.

Christian Delporte, Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin.

Bernard Lachaise, Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Bordeaux III.

Jean-Yves Mollier, Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin.

François-Charles Mougel, Professor of Contemporary History at Sciences Po Bordeaux.

Pascal Ory, Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Paris I-La Sorbonne.

Philippe Poirrier, Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Burgundy.

Jean-Pierre Rioux, Honorary Chief Inspector of Schools.

Henry Rousso, Senior Researcher at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), IHTP.

Jean-François Sirinelli, Professor of Contemporary History at Sciences Po Paris.

Claude Sorbets, Senior Researcher at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), SPIRIT.

Françoise Taliano-des Garets, Professor of Contemporary History at Sciences Po Bordeaux.

Dr. Matthieu Trouvé, Senior Lecturer of Contemporary History at Sciences Po Bordeaux.

 

Conference co-chairs: Prof. Françoise Taliano-des Garets (f.taliano@sciencespobordeaux.fr, mobile phone: +33 632 630 933) and Prof. Pascal Ory (pascal.ory@wanadoo.fr)

Cities and culture under Nazi Occupation:

French experiences and comparative perspectives

 

2-3 December 2010

Sciences Po Bordeaux