The aim of this workshop is to develop histories of socialism as political thought in East Central Europe from the founding of the Second International in 1889 to the Soviet-led invasion of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic in 1968. To accomplish this goal, we particularly invite studies that reflect on the intellectual genealogies of socialist political thought in East Central Europe with a focus on the historicization of key concepts, debates, and questions. Put another way, we would like to solicit studies which address the conceptual components of socialist political thought in a given context and show how these elements were employed in certain polemics (and to which ends).

Broadly speaking, we are interested in contributions which attempt to recapture the rich, complex, and multilayered character of socialist political thought as it existed from the late nineteenth century through the middle of the twentieth century. In that way, we are happy to consider studies that, for example, give reinterpretations and recontextualizations of socialist thinkers known to greater or lesser extents, or address the intellectual contours of socialism as lived experience, in comparative, transnational, or global perspectives. Indeed, we are interested in exploring different modes of socialist thought, e.g., in its Christian, Marxist, feminist, populist, agrarian, or democratic varieties.

Some themes we hope to address are: socialist approaches to questions of collective identity (nation, class, religion, gender, …); the roles of concepts such as ‘the state,’ ‘labor,’ ‘revolution,’ and so on, in socialist political thought; as well as continuities, ruptures, and transformations among the varieties of socialist political thinking from the late nineteenth century, through the interwar period, and into the postwar period.

Initial paper proposals should be between 350–500 words in length. In addition, we ask that applicant include a short biographic summary with the applicant’s current institutional affiliation(s). We ask that final paper presentations strive to be between 20–25 minutes in length in order to allow for 15–20 minutes for Q&A sessions for each paper. The deadline for proposals is February 15, 2021.