“Russia’s Statehood: The Authorities and Society during the Twentieth Century”. 30-31.05.2013, St. Petersburg
On 30-31 May 2013, St. Petersburg State University’s Faculty of History will hold an international research conference entitled “Russia’s Statehood: The Authorities and Society during the Twentieth Century.”
This idea builds off of our already successful experience in October 2010 hosting an international conference dedicated to the study of late Stalinism and the epoch of N.S. Khrushchev and we hope to, within the parameters of this future conference, continue our scientific dialogue with historians from different countries who also study Russia’s contemporary history.
The creation and development of the Russian state remain questions of great importance even as they have been studied in many ways by Russian historians and their foreign colleagues. Already this year (2012), the attention of scientific circles within the Russian Federation has been drawn to the 1150th anniversary of the birth of the Russian state. Now, research is set to continue in 2013—a meaningful year if ever there was one for that area of knowledge. Four hundred years ago, began the rule of Romanovs which to significant extent determined the particularities of Russia’s subsequent development as a state. The year 2013 should also attract the attention of historians for it was 100 years ago that a period of relatively stable growth for our country ended and the First World War and Bolshevik Revolution began a new era of for the development Russia’s statehood.
We invite you to take part in the discussion of questions that remain hotly debated especially as the Russian Federation continues to experience developments connected to the ongoing formation of a new form of statehood. This conference has already received support from the St. Petersburg City Government’s Committee for External Ties as well as the B.N. Yeltsin Presidential Library. During the conference’s proceedings we hope to examine the following “blocks” of problems:
1. Russia’s revolutions and wars of the 20th and 21st Centuries
2. Transformations of the political system, the economy, and society
3. Problems building a nation-state and the collapse of states
4. Issues involving culture including relationships between the intelligentsia, the authorities, and the people
The language of the conference is Russian. Those scholars selected to participate in the conference may elect to have the Organizing Committee translate their presentations from their language of choice to Russian in the months prior to the conference’s taking place. The articles off of which these presentations are based may also be translated into Russian for publication in a conference compendium to appear at a later date.
The conference’s Organizing Committee plans also to take upon itself the costs of two-nights lodging plus breakfast for those historians selected to participate in the conference.
If you are interested in participating, please send a short e-mail explaining your presentation topic by 1 February 2013 to Dr. Ludmila K. Riabova, Associate Professor of History, Istoricheskii Fakul’tet (Otdel’ Istochnikovedeniia istorii Rossii), Sankt-Peterburgskii Gosudarstvennyi Universitet, Mendeleevskaia Linia d. 5, g. Sankt-Peterburg, Rossiiskaia Federatsiia, 199034. (e-mail:lryabovaspb@gmail.com).