Editorial

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Best wishes for the beginning of spring!
Yours Stefan Poser

 

Contents

I. Conferences 
II. Fellowships and Awards
III. Call for Submissions 
IV. Miscellaneous          

I. Conferences

25 April 2009
Regulierte Märkte. Zünfte und Kartelle / Marchés régulés. Corporations et cartels / Markets under Control. Guilds and Cartels. Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte, SGWSG; Société suisse d‘histoire économique et sociale, SSHES Neuchàtel
Université de Neuchâtel / Universität Neuenburg, Switzerland
Please find the program on http://www.hist-ecosoc.ch/
Please contact: Margrit Müller (Universität Zürich), marmu@hist.unizh.ch, Heinrich R. Schmidt (Universität Bern), heinrich-richard.schmidt@hist.unibe.ch, Laurent Tissot (Université de Neuchâtel), Laurent.Tissot@unine.ch

20-23 May 2009
Rethinking the Maritime Museum
Museum Sønderjylland - Kulturhistorie Aabenraa und Flensburger Schiffahrtsmuseum
Aabenraa, Danmark / Flensburg, Germany
Please find the program on:www.rethinking-the-maritime-museum.eu
Thomas Overdick, Flensburger Schiffahrtsmuseum, schiffahrtsmuseum@flensburg.de

3-4 September 2009
'Pleitiers' und 'Bankrotteure'. Zur Geschichte ökonomischen Scheiterns im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert / History of Economical Failures in the 19th and 20th Century
Universität Zürich
CFP – Deadline 15 March 2009
Please visit: http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/termine/id=10521
Please contact Roman Rossfeld, Forschungsstelle für Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte der Universität Zürich, Rossfeld@fsw.uzh.ch and Ingo Köhler, Institut für Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Ingo.Koehler@wiwi.uni-goettingen.de

 

4-5 September 2009
Workshop: Engineering Space in the 19th Century: environment, science, technology and the transformation of space
St. Andrews, Scottland
CFP - Deadline 10 March 2009

Environmental history has arisen as a historical discipline in the wake of post-1960’s environmentalism. Consequently, it has embraced a transnational perspective: although nation states are fundamentally important in addressing environmental issues, the global ecological commons requires a world civic political perspective. Innovations in overseas travel and communication have played a significant historical role in fostering global environmental consciousness. St Andrews School of History is uniquely placed to explore the complex historical relationships between nation-building, technological science, environment, and transnational politics. Past historical analyses have focused on the relationships between nation, nationalism and nation-building in relation to the role of print and other media, history and tradition, and the rise of technocracy. In addition, historians of science have examined space through a Foucauldian lens to understand the sites of knowledge production and the power relationships that lay behind them. Less well studied has been the role of environment in relation to new sciences and technologies that were applied to transform nature and to master space to create more coherent territorial – or even national – entities. In parts of empire, such as Canada or Tsarist Russia, railways and utilitarian science were at the heart of ‘inventing a nation’ and transforming imperial spaces. In nineteenth-century Britain, railways were initially seen as scars upon the landscape by nascent environmentalists. After the explosion in automobile ownership and motorway building in the twentieth century, the railway has been reassessed by historians as environmentally benign. This workshop will examine technologies, such as railway, canal, cartography, and telegraphy, which served state administration in order to foster the control of people, populations, and environment. Furthermore, the workshop asks to what extent these techniques were applied on national as well as transnational levels in order to transform past heterogeneous, fragmented spaces into more coherent, territorial (national or imperial) spaces. Therefore, the timeframe will be principally (but not exclusively) a “short” nineteenth century, from 1830 to 1914.

Guiding questions include:

• To what extent were science and technology used to “master” space?
• What were the spatial units the state and bureaucracy intended to transform via technology and science?
• What determined the use of new technologies to master space: political, economic, social aspects?
• What is the role of private enterprise and economic interest in the shaping of new spaces in the nineteenth century?
• To what extent did the environment shape national commitments to particular technologies?
• To what extent did new technologies – first used to foster state-building internally – create new transnational spaces by intensifying cross-border communication?
  

Please send proposals of no more than two pages as well as a brief biographical note to Bernhard Struck, bs50@st-andrews.ac.uk

Conditions All speakers will be accommodated at New Hall, University of St Andrews for the nights of 3, 4, and 5 September 2009. All meals will be provided for 4 and 5 September. We shall cover the costs of these arrangements. In addition, we shall pay travel expenses, under the following conditions:
For international speakers: flights to Scotland and travel to and from venue within Scotland. For UK speakers: travel to and from venue.

Please contact John Clark jfc2@st-andrews.ac.uk, Bernhard Struck bs50@st-andrews.ac.uk, at the University of St Andrews


2-4 October 2009
Workshop for the History of Environment, Agriculture, Technology and Science, WHEATS 2009
Mississippi State University
Starkville, Mississippi
CFP – Deadline 15 April 2009

The History Department at Mississippi State University is proud to host the sixth annual Workshop for the History of Environment, Agriculture, Technology & Science on October 2-4, 2009. This workshop will continue its tradition, begun at MIT in 2004, of bringing together history graduate students (or very recent PhDs, space permitting) who are studying the environment, agriculture, science, or technology. The format is particularly suitable for the presentation of work in progress. In conjunction with the workshop, organizers are planning professional development activities of interest to junior scholars. Due to logistical constraints, papers must be in English. MSU will provide housing, food, and some funding to help defray travel costs. Potential participants should submit a one-page abstract and short curriculum vitae by April 15, 2009.

Please visit http://www.msstate.edu/dept/history/WHEATS/Home.html
For further information, contact Jim Giesen at JGiesen@history.msstate.edu or Mark Hersey at MHersey@history.msstate.edu

6 – 7 November 2009
Workshop: The contribution of the commons. The effect of collective use and management of natural resources on environment and society in European history. Workshop in Pamplona-Iruñea (Spain, Universidad Pública de Navarra (Navarre Public University)
CFP - Deadline 31 April 2009

Collective ownership and resource management is currently an important research topic among historians, anthropologists, legal experts, economists, sociologists and political scientists, not in the least as a consequence of the challenges the world is facing regarding the management of natural resources. New research explicitly addressing the issue from one angle or another, as well as the existence of specifically focused research groups and networks show the omnipresence of this issue today. Historical analysis of common land regimes has over the last decade witnessed a clear shift in focus from the study of the abolition process of commons towards the analysis of the inside logic of their functioning and its implications in terms of collective identity. By doing so, historians have engaged increasingly in interdisciplinary debates on the sustainability of property rights regimes and have progressed in the application of methods and approaches from other disciplines to evaluate the functioning of commons. The growing interest of the social sciences in the so-called new commons has also given historical research new perspectives, in particular regarding the study of other natural resources than (wood)land. Therefore, this workshop does not only focus on common land in all its variations but also on other forms of collectively owned, used and managed natural resources, such as irrigation and drainage systems, fishing grounds etc.
Despite intense privatization efforts in Europe and the Americas since 1750, collective ownership use of natural resources is still omnipresent. The customs that have survived may not be merely dismissed as marginal relics of times gone by in run-down areas. The drive and vitality of communal customs in some regions and their compatibility with economic growth reveals a complex process of historical change. Their prolonged lifespan and the huge variety of communal modes defined by user type, access rules, limitations and prohibitions, etc, also invite researchers to appraise the efficiency of communal systems in adapting to different social and ecological environments. Despite the fact that these modes of cooperation have been able to offer their users advantages in terms of scale, sustainability and overall use of land, they are not exempt from social conflict nor do they guarantee a sustainable use of resources.
This meeting aims at assessing the effect of commons on the surrounding environment and society. Despite the reputation common property regimes have earned as being an inefficient way to manage natural resources both in economic and social terms, there are ample examples of communities of commoners that have shown their ability to adapt to changing contexts, and have been a driving force behind a balanced environmental and social development. Such issues have been well-studied in other social sciences, and can offer a source of inspiration for historical research.

The specific issues we expect to deal with in this workshop are the following:
1. Common Land and Environment: to what extend do property rights matter for sustainability?
We especially welcome papers that analyze different combinations of property rights (including both collectively and privately owned property), showing the way in which respective resources are managed and in which their property regimes affect the sustainability of these resources. This topic may be addressed either by studying the design of the regulating mechanisms of commons, or by studying the historical practices that enabled the maintenance of such a balance or have led to its deterioration.
2. Common property, social cohesion and social capital
One of the issues this meeting will address is the role of common land regime contributes in creating greater social cohesiveness. For this purpose, we suggest analyzing its relationship with the creation and proliferation of “social networks” and its contribution to the formation of “social capital”, through the redistribution of opportunities, both of a tangible (access to land and resources) and intangible nature (education, health, reputation). From this viewpoint it also makes sense to analyze participation in the decision-making mechanisms within the local political sphere and the relationship of the community with external political agents (the Feudal Domain, The Crown, the Nation-State).

The organizers encourage in particular submissions that introduce new historical source material and novel ways of using historical sources, inspired by other social sciences. The organizers welcome in particular quantitative and long-term studies that are also able to connect historical developments to current evolutions. All abstracts and papers will have to be submitted and presented in English.

Paper abstracts have to be submitted by the 31st of April. The final papers are due by the 15st of October. Travel and accommodation expenses of the (main) authors of the selected abstracts will be reimbursed. A selection of the best papers will be considered for publication as part of a special issue for a relevant peer-reviewed journal in the field (in English).

Organizing Committee:
Jose Miguel Lana (Public University of Navarra), Iñaki Iriarte-Goñi (University of Zaragoza), Antonio Ortega (University of Granada), Antonio M. Linares (University of Extremadura), Tine de Moor (Utrecht University), Erling Berge (Norwegian University of Science and Technology)
Please contact: josem.lana@unavarra.es

II. Fellowships and Awards

The Society for the History of Technology, SHOT, invites applicants for The Brooke Hindle Post-Doctoral Fellowship
Deadline 15 April 2009

The Brooke Hindle Postdoctoral Fellowship in the History of Technology honors the contribution of Brooke Hindle to the work of the Society for the History of Technology and is made possible thanks to the generosity of his family. The fellowship is for $10,000 and may be used, as further detailed below, for any purpose connected with research or writing in the history of technology for a period of not less than four months during the year following the award.
Applicants must hold a doctorate in the history of technology or a related field, normally awarded within the preceding four years, or expect to have graduated by the time of the award. (Those who graduated earlier and can demonstrate good reason why they should be considered as being at an early stage in their postdoctoral career—e.g., because of family commitments—may apply at the discretion of the committee chair.) Other awards may be held in conjunction with the Fellowship.
The proposal must be in a field related to the history of technology. Applicants should be intending either to prepare a dissertation for publication as articles or as a monograph, whether or not this involves fresh primary research, or to develop a new project based on primary research.
Applications must be in English. Please send a copy to each of the members of the committee, preferably by email, by April 15, 2009.

For those expecting to graduate, the application must include:

• A 2500–word (maximum) summary of the dissertation and a sample chapter (no more than 50 pages)
• A plan of work (1000–1500 words) for the period of the fellowship
• Two letters of recommendation, one from a scholar not on the applicant's dissertation committee or thesis advisory panel, and one as appropriate from the chair of the dissertation committee or the thesis supervisor, certifying that the applicant will complete the dissertation by the deadline and explaining the dissertation's strengths.

For those holding the doctoral degree and intending to publish their dissertation as articles or a book, the application should include:

• A 2500–word (maximum) summary of the dissertation and a sample chapter (no more than 50 pages)
• A plan of work (1000–1500 words) for the period of the fellowship
• Two letters of recommendation. For applicants in full-time employment, one letter must include confirmation that an appropriate period of release will be granted. Ideally, the second letter should come from a colleague outside the employing institution.

Applicants are strongly urged to also submit copies of letters of interest from potential publishers or similar supporting material.

For those holding the doctoral degree and working towards a new project beyond the dissertation, the application should include:

• A 2500–word (maximum) summary of the dissertation and a statement concerning published work derived from it
• An outline (2500–5000 words) of the new project's focus, relevant literature, source material, and a plan of work for the period of the fellowship
• Two letters of recommendation. For applicants in full-time employment, one letter must include confirmation that an appropriate period of release will be granted. Ideally, the second letter should come from a colleague outside the employing institution.

2009 Hindle Fellowship Committee
Daniel Holbrook (chair), Department of History, Marshall University, Huntington
holbrook@marshall.edu
Eric Schatzberg, Sewell Social Sciences Bldg., Madison, eschatzb@wisc.edu
Ann Johnson, Department of History, University of South Carolina, ajohnson@gwm.sc.edu

For more information, please contact the committee chair or Amy Bix, SHOT Secretary, shot@iastate.edu.

 Paul Bunge Prize 2010 of the German Chemical Society / Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker
Deadline 30 September 2009

The German Chemical Society (Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker) extends an invitation for international applications for the Paul Bunge Prize 2010, awarded by the Hans R. Jenemann Foundation, which is administered by the German Chemical Society and the German Bunsen Society for Physical Chemistry (Deutsche Bunsen-Gesellschaft für Physikalische Chemie).

The prize is endowed with 7.500 Euro and honours outstanding publications in German, English or French in all fields of the history of scientific instruments. In addition to the scientific work, applications should also include a curriculum vitae and a list of publications. The deadline for nominations and self-nominations is September 30, 2009. The Advisory Board of the Hans R. Jenemann Foundation will decide on the prize winner.

The prize is named after the most important designer of analytical, assay and high-performance precision balances in the second half of the 19th century, Paul Bunge. It will be awarded in May 2010 on the occasion of the conference of the Deutsche Bunsen-Gesellschaft für Physikalische Chemie in Bielefeld.

Please submit your nominations by September 30, 2009, to

Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker
Barbara Köhler, b.koehler@gdch.de
Varrentrappstr. 40-42
60486 Frankfurt/Main
Germany

 

III. Call for Submissions

Articles in English Language for NTM
The Journal „NTM, Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Wissenschaften, Technik und Medizin“, edited by the Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geschichte der Medizin, Naturwissenschaft und Technik e.V.(DGGMNT), accepts contributions in English and in German. Please visit the homepage of the DGGMNT www.dggmnt.de and contact Sybilla Nicolow, ntm@uni-bielefeld.de.

Images, Technology, and History: A Feature in History and Technology Posted in the net at 23 February; (the deadline is missing) Scholars are giving increased attention to images as historical evidence.  A new feature in “History and Technology” seeks to analyze images relating to technology, with two aims: To more fully integrate our understanding of technology into broader historical accounts and as a means to reflect on historical method. At a basic level, images may record a technology’s presence in history, depicting where, when, and how it was deployed, as well as the different social, artistic, and cultural contexts in which it was produced and encountered. In addition, images themselves are technological products that may act as catalysts, changing the paradigms through which we see and apprehend the world. Careful analyses of images, too, can highlight fundamental problems of historical explanation.  In their specificity, images address the production of knowledge and culture, as situated in a particular moment in time and space.  In their use of conventional codes of representation they speak to larger and enfolding social, cultural, and political structures.  Images, in concentrated fashion, push us to understand the interplay between the empirical and interpretation. The editors of “History and Technology” invite submissions of short essays (approx. 2000 words) that address the visual history of technology. Essays should focus on 1-3 visual representations, and might approach the images from a variety of different theoretical positions.  Possibilities include: the formal or iconographic content of the representations; the social and cultural implications of how different technologies are represented or who used them; the audience and reception of different representations of technologies; the history of different media and their technological antecedents; or the ways in which technology changed the sensory experience of the world.  Essays are preferred that discuss the historiographic issues raised through the analysis of images. Please send submissions or queries to Elizabeth Kessler, Image Editor, eakessler1@gmail.com or Martin Collins, Editor, collinsm@si.edu. For more information about “History and Technology”, please see the journal website
http://taylorandfrancis.co.uk/journals/titles/07341512.asp<https://webmail.ursinus.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://taylorandfrancis.co.uk/journals/titles/07341512.asp.

IV. Miscellaneous

The conference report on “Decoding Modern Consumer Societies: Preliminary Results, Ongoing Research, and Future Agendas”, held in November 2008 by the German Historical Institute inWashington, DC, might be interesting for colleagues who are working on the history of consuming. Please find the report in: H-Soz-u-Kult, 20.02.2009, http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/tagungsberichte/id=2530.