AMBITIONS AND REALITY: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY

German Historical Institute Paris, 25-26 May 2009

CALL FOR PAPERS
Submission deadline: 15 February 2009

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is one of the oldest, most controversial and most expensive common policies of the European Union. While the political and social motives for putting the policy into practice have been relatively well explored, the subsequent developments from the late 1960s to the early 1990s are less well researched. Crucially, the economic and social effects of the policy, e.g. the changing labour relations and conditions in the agricultural sector or the extra costs for consumers, have been neglected in the historiography so far. From agricultural trade unions to producer organisations, from member state governments to the European Commission, the parties pushing for a European-level agricultural policy were diverse, as were the parties who benefited from the policy. In an attempt to take stock of the studies being currently undertaken on the CAP, the German Historical Institute Paris will convene and host this conference devoted to the political, economic and social costs and benefits of the policy and the interests that were at stake. The conference will study the CAP in a long-term perspective, from the CAP's creation in the late 1950s to its first major reform in 1992 and beyond.

We especially welcome papers on the following themes: agricultural interest representation, for example trade unions and producer organisations; Community institutions and member state perspectives on the CAP; economic costs and social effects of the CAP; successive attempts of reforming the CAP: from the Mansholt Plan of 1968 to the MacSharry proposals in 1992.

The working language of the conference will be English. We welcome submissions from PhD students and researchers at any stage of their career. Accommodation and travel expenses will be covered by the organizers.

Proposals should include a one-page curriculum vitae and a brief description, in English, of the proposed paper of 500 words maximum. Candidates will be notified by mid-March at the latest. The full papers will be due by 11 May 2009.

Proposals should be submitted no later than 15 February 2009 to Carine Germond (cgermond@dhi-paris.fr) and Katja Seidel (kseidel@dhi-paris.fr).

This conference is supported by the Hans Böckler-Stiftung.