Families are at the heart of societies. In this way, they play a central role in the formation of pre-modern societies; they convey existing social norms, set role models and present the social
starting position of the individual.
In addition to emotional ties, family networks offer career prospects and financial security, especially in a wide variety of conflicts. These concern aspects of identity, legacy, resilience, or
legitimacy, challenging families throughout Antiquity.
Since family structures are continually changing, they respond to social and existential requirements as well as to personal expectations and individual lifestyles, showing that individuals more commonly defined their relationships beyond legal limitations.
Therefore, the examination of families as multifaced and multi-layered constructs and their reaction to varied conflict situations promises once again exciting insights into aspects of identity, mobility and migration.
The planned workshop shall give an interdisciplinary group of researchers, including those at an early stage of their career, a platform to discuss such questions of conflict in ancient families
from different perspectives.
Possible questions to cover the topic might be:
- What legal and/or societal limitations could lead up to conflict situations (e.g. problems of illegitimacy)? Were the legal status and the societal norm truly congruent or did one differ the other?
- What kind of effects do conflicts have on family structures?
- How did family identities shift over time? What was the reason for changes, and what were the consequences?
- Is it possible to define a resilience factor for ancient families?
Those interested in participating, please send an abstract of max. 600 words for a presentation of 15-20 minutes to Nadine Leisner PhD (nadine.leisner@uni-hamburg.de) [and/or
familyaffairs2021@gmx.de ] until 20.12.2020. Workshop languages are German and English.
Due to the ongoing SARS-CoV-19/COVID-19 pandemic, the workshop will be held online.