This symposium, organized by the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut in collaboration with the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, seeks to discuss different conceptualizations, experiences and knowledge transfers concerning the concept of dictatorship during the nineteenth century.

The concepts of “dictator” and “dictatorship” experienced an important increase in use during the French Revolution when they were rescued from a register of theoretical language and brought into popular, political and everyday use. The Napoleonic experience underscored this trend, but especially since the Wars of Independence in Spanish America they became something real.
Starting from the assumption that dictatorship has its own history within the nineteenth century, leaving behind the ancient Roman paradigm and not reaching twentieth-century totalitarian rules, the symposium aims at establishing both a dialogue among different disciplines like history, history of art, philosophy of law and literary studies and between Latin America and Europe.

The symposium will deal with the following questions:

1. Conceptualizatons of Nineteenth-Century Dictatorship
How do the concepts of “dictator” and “dictatorship” develop along the nineteenth century? To what extent do they serve as a category of analysis? What role does the nineteenth century play for the history of dictatorship? What relevance does the Roman paradigm hold?

2. Dictatorial Experiences during the Nineteenth Century
¿What regimes are considered dictatorships and why? ¿What factors are favourable to the genesis of a dictatorship? How are revolutionary and counterrevolutionary discourses articulated around dictatorships?

3. Transfer of Knowledge on Dictatorship
Nineteenth-century revolutionary and dictatorial upheavals on both shores of the Atlantic raise the question on possible interdependences between Europe and the Americas. What kind of transfer of knowledge related to dictatorship took place during this epoch? What paths and disciplines were responsible for the circulation of this knowledge? How could this provide or detract legitimacy to a particular dictatorial regime? What emotions were mobilized and for what purpose?

The symposium will take place on the 12th and 13th of July 2018 in Berlin.

Please send an abstract of one sheet maximum and a brief CV to Moisés Prieto at <moises.prieto@hu-berlin.de> by 28 February 2018. The committee considers the publication of the proceedings.