The DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) and ANR (Agence nationale de la recherche) co-funded research project EUROPTT (Infrastructures, coopération infrastructurelle et continuité de l'intégration européenne : Der Europäische Post und Fernmeldeverein)
convenes an international workshop on international cooperation in infrastructures during the Second World War. This workshop will be the first of a series of two aiming at producing on this topic an edited book or a journal special issue - this will be decided by October 2018.
EUROPTT focuses mainly on the European Postal and Telecommunications Union (EPTU) that was established in 1942 on the basis of an italo-german initiative. An international organization during the Second World War is a contrast to the narrative of war being a caesura in international and more specifically European cooperation. The union shows that the Second World War did not necessarily constitute a historical rupture but also fostered coordination between European entities – here between the Post, Telegraph and Telephone (PTT) administrations; so-called “hidden integration of Europe” developed also during war times.
The research project is composed of three parts. They are:
- International postal and telecommunication cooperation during the Second World War
- Continuities and discontinuities of postal and telecommunication cooperation from the Interwar to the postwar period
- Comparison with other infrastructures: continuities and discontinuities in international cooperation in other infrastructure sectors during the war
The book project will focus on the comparison with other infrastructures and the continuities. The aim is to assess ongoing cooperation during war not only in different fields – such as rail, navigation, aviation, radio broadcasting – but also how these developments fit into the longue durée of international cooperation (in infrastructure sectors). We welcome proposals for contributions that examine the efforts to continue international cooperation during war times as well as the once placing them into a broader perspective of international infrastructure cooperation.
As for now, the dates are set as follows:
15.11.2018 Deadline Call for Proposals
20.02.2019 First Workshop in Paris (Presentation of ideas and discussion)
31.05.2019 Deadline for the paper drafts
End of September Second Workshop in Düsseldorf (Discussion of the papers)
End of December 2019 Deadline final papers.
Proposals should include the title of the tentative paper, a summary of the argument in a maximum of 3500 characters. The papers should be written in either English, French or German and be accompanied by a short CV giving career, present occupation and a list of the author’s publications. The selection panel will notify applicants of their acceptance by the end of November 2018. The selection panel will be composed of the project team: Valentine Aldebert (CNRS), Yves Bouvier (Sorbonne Université), Pascal Griset (Sorbonne Université), Christian Henrich-Franke (Universität Siegen), Leonard Laborie (CNRS, coord.), Martial Libera (Université de Strasbourg), Sabrina Proschmann (Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf) and Guido Thiemeyer (Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, coord.). The proposals should be sent to: sabrina.proschmann@hhu.de
You can find more information about the project by visiting our blog: https://europtt.hypotheses.org/.