Non-state actors and NGOs also did their share by lobbying CSCE staff and conference attendees for Human Rights and Religious Freedom violations behind the Iron Curtain or they started political discussion processes in the public sphere of their respective countries. Drawing on the most recent research on this topic (Badalassi and Snyder, The CSCE and the End of the Cold War: Diplomacy, Societies and Human Rights, 2019), this online workshop aims at further exploring human rights activists involved in the Helsinki process, at the interface between the Dissent and the Western public, and between state and other private networks. The focus of this workshop is on the religion, on religious networks and actors who advocate religious freedom and human rights in the CSCE process.

In 2021, a first workshop on this topic was held, from which a network of researchers was formed. A report on this has been published by Marie Snedker on HSozuKult.
In preparation for a larger research project and an international final conference in Helsinki in 2025, we are now organising a second, digital workshop.
The focus this year is on the following topics::

History and Networks of the Helsinki Committees and Helsinki Groups since the 1970s (in Central- and Eastern Europe)

- Religious Negotiation Processes and Controversies around Human Rights in the Helsinki Process

- Contributions from the Neutral States and their NGOs and Religious Actors (Switzerland, Finland, Austria, Sweden, Ireland, Malta, Vatican, and others)

- Concepts of European Security Policy discussed by Churches, Ecumenical Organisations and other Religious Actors

- “Division of Labour” between Ecumenical Organizations, Churches and other Organisations

- First-hand witnesses of journalists, who reported around the Helsinki- process at the time

- Other research topics that fit the general frame of the Workshop

To apply, please send a 300-word abstract of your proposal, along with a 100-word personal biographical statement. Abstracts may be submitted in either English or German. The working language of the workshop will be English.

The deadline for applications is May 2, 2022. Participants will be informed of the result until July 1 latest, and the workshop program will be published until September 15 latest.

We are looking forward to your contributions. Some contributions will be published as a special volume in 2024 in the peer-reviewed journal Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Religions- und Kulturgeschichte. Deadline: December 2023.