Call for applications
for the International and Interdisciplinary Summer School

Old and New Borders in Europe

July, 7th to 10th 2009
Berlin – Potsdam – Frankfurt/Oder

Organised by the Centre Marc Bloch Berlin
and the Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt/Oder

Sponsored by the French Ministry of Foreign Affaires,
by the Service Scientifique et Technique de l´Ambassade de France
and by the Mission Historique Française en Allemagne

Topical Focus

While the European Union is expanding and evolving, its inner boundaries gradually seem to be loosing their relevance. Meanwhile, national borders still constitute essential frames of reference for political initiatives and societies on the continent. On the one hand, the end of the Cold War has led to the re-emergence of old cultural delimitations in the east, which soviet domination had “frozen” for many decades. On the other hand, former political borderlines, that were abolished in 1989, live on as “frontières fantômes” (Béatrice von Hirschhausen), as social, mental and spatial structures. The wall, that ceased to separate East- from West-Germany some twenty years ago, is an emblematic example of this phenomenon. The longevity of borders is a consequence of the historic processes of border making, that Peter Sahlins has analysed in his groundbreaking study Boundaries: The Making of France and Spain in the Pyrenees as being not only political, legal, administrative and military but also socio-economical and cognitive.

The vanishing, persisting and re-appearing of historical borders is coexistent with the formation of new territorial regimes that often transgress political boundaries. On the supranational level, the NATO, the G8, the Euro-zone have initiated the formation of new geopolitical units which spatially structure Europe in a new way. The Schengen treaty, for example, has led to the disappearance of customs checks at former checkpoints, but has subsequently led to re-location of police controls in the interior of European states. Thus, the transformation of border controls has led to a redefinition of homeland security.

Moreover, since the meetings of the Club of Rome and the publication of its report on the Limits to Growth the questions of global resources and environmental protection has been on the political agenda in many European states. Strategies for solutions have often been centred at a national level, even though questions of water resources, fishing quota, acid rain or, lately, climatic change call for new forms of international and interregional cooperation. In this context, border zones play a particularly important role in the rethinking of ecological policies in a transnational frame of reference.

Application

Up to 20 doctoral students of various disciplines who work on topics related to old and new borders in Europe will be invited for a four-day interdisciplinary workshop. The meeting will include paper presentations, discussions, meetings with leading specialists in the field and excursions. It will take place in Berlin, Potsdam and Frankfurt/Oder, within close range of old and new European borders.

The applicants should work on research projects that allow them to contribute to one of the following topics:

- “Border Making” and the historicity of borderlines in Europe
- Transformation and persistence of inner boundaries in Europe
- Climatic and environmental problems and political borders
- Fortification of Europe’s external borders and transformation of homeland security

The participants will be selected according to the thematic relevance of their contribution to the topics of the Summer School and of its academic quality. Working languages of the meeting will be French and English; active knowledge of one of these languages (and passive of the other) are thus a pre-requisite for participation.

Candidates are kindly requested to send in their applications, consisting of an application form, a brief description of their research project (one page) and a curriculum vitae by Mai, 10th 2009. The participants will be appointed by a committee formed of representatives of the organising institutions. Travel expenses and accommodation will be provided. Participants will need to submit a paper (approx. 10 pages) by June, 30th 2009, that will serve as a basis for their oral presentation and for the discussion of their papers. They will also agree to prepare comments of papers written by other participants.

French version: http://tinyurl.com/appel-francais

Application form: http://tinyurl.com/old-and-new-borders

Applications can be sent either by post or via email.