The mob, the crowd, the people, the union – what roles has it played in turning points in Europe’s history ? This workshop will aim to explore the role played by ‘people’ in protest, in uprising, in disobedience, even in revolution, seeking underlying factors and themes to help us study and explain such phenomena in our politics and history. It will also mark the 50th anniversary of a year deemed politically, socially and culturally significant across Europe for different reasons, from Paris and London to Warsaw and Prague, with dramatic popular protests, and 100 years after the suffragette protests brought votes for women. It will also explore populist movements on both Left and Right – including the new wave of populist movements across Europe today, including Podemos, the Front Nationale, En Marche, Fidesz, UKIP, Syriza, Five Star Movement and many others.
As with all Europaeum activities, this will be participatory and engaging, with talks and lectures from experts and academics, as well as younger scholars, with working groups, discussions and debates.
Speakers will include Professors Martin Conway (Oxford), Lucy Wooding (Oxford), Bart van der Steen (Leiden) Senia Paseta (Oxford), Jacques Rupnik (Paris), Sir Adam Roberts (Oxford), and Robin Briggs (Oxford) on the rise of Fascism, peasant protests in middle ages, the rise of Croquants, the suffragette movement, ’68 protests in Prague, Warsaw and Paris, and non-violent revolt.
PROGRAMME:
Day 1: THURSDAY, 10TH MAY
Venue: MAISON FRANÇAISE D’OXFORD, 2-10 Norham Road, OX2 6SE Oxford, United Kingdom
AM Arrivals
14.00 Coffee and registration
14.30 Welcome and Introduction
Dr Frédéric Thibault Starzyk (Director, Maison Française d’Oxford)
Dr Hartmut Mayer (Director (Acting) The Europaeum / Oxford)
Dr Paul Flather (Europaeum / Mansfield College, Oxford)
Sovereignty and the People – the ideas of Rousseau Speaker: Dr. Michael Drolet (Oxford)
Discussants: Morgan French (Leiden) + Thomas Winn (Barcelona)15.45 Panel: People and Protests
Chair: Dr Tracey Sowerby (Europaeum / Oxford)The Pilgrimage of Grace 1536 – a peasants’ revolt ? Speaker: Dr Lucy Wooding (Oxford)
Discussants: Beryl Prenen (Leiden) + Jan Géryk (Prague)
The great age of French popular revolts, 1630 – 1660 Speaker: Professor Robin Briggs (Oxford)
Discussants: William Mitchell (Leiden) + Magdalena Tendera (Krakow)
17.00 Tea / Coffee break
17.15 Panel: Protest and Revolution
Chair: tbaThe Narodniks and anti-authoritarianism Speaker: Dr Robert Harris (New College, Oxford)
Discussants: Arnold Nell (Leiden) + Zoé Mangin (Krakow)Where were the people in the Russian revolution ? Speaker: Professor Steve Smith (All Souls College, Oxford)
Discussants: Caspar Gelderblom (Leiden) + Monika Mazur-Bubak (Krakow) 19.00 Dinner at St. Antony’s College, OxfordMain Hall (NB: service closes at 19:30)
20.15 After-Dinner discussion
Senior Common Room (with coffee and wine served)People and Populism – convenor Paul Flather Speakers: Professor Peter Pulzer (All Souls College, Oxford)
Professor Sir Adam Roberts (Balliol College, Oxford)
Professor Ruth Harris (All Souls College, Oxford)
Discussants: Isabella Morgott (Paris) + Nina Little (Leiden)
Day 2: FRIDAY, 11th May
Venue: MAISON FRANÇAISE D’OXFORD, 2-10 Norham Road, OX2 6SE Oxford, United Kingdom
09.30 Graduate Working Groups A, B, C, D: Session I – Moderated by Dr Paul Flather
A: When is protest – or disobedience – legitimate ? B: How and why is leadership significant in populist protests ? C: How has the role of ‘the people’ in the French Revolution shaped Europe since ? D: How has colonialism and migration reshaped notions of people and citizens ? E: What is driving the return of populist politics in Europe today ?10.30 Panel: Rights and Equality ? (1)
Chair: Dr Bart van der Steen (Leiden)The Suffragettes and equal rights Speaker: Professor Senia Paseta (St Hugh’s College, Oxford)
Discussants: Anna Simbartlová (Prague) + Arnold Nell (Leiden)
Women’s Pilgrimages in C20th Britain
Speaker: Rosanne Schot (Leiden)
Discussants: Lobke Tilmans (Leiden) + Giovanna di Mauro (St Andrews)
11.45 Coffee Break12.00 Panel : Rights and Equality ? (2)
Chair: tbaVolunteers on Anti-Strike Duty in 1926: Class Enemies or Patriots? Speaker: Johana Kudrnová (Prague)
Discussants: Gijs van Gent (Leiden) + Paula Díaz Altozano (Madrid)Dutch radical gay and lesbian organizations of the late 1970s and 1980s
Speaker: Nina Littel (Leiden)
Discussants: Dagmara Sikora (Krakow) + Kateřina Pacáková (Prague)
13.00 Buffet Lunch – at the MFO
13.45 Panel: 1968 and its Legacy
Chair: tbaStudents in revolt – the road to 1968 in the Netherlands Speaker: Dr Bart van der Steen (Leiden)
Discussants: Petr Pospšil (Prague) + Thomas Winn (Barcelona)What can contemporary populism teach us about the failure of May 1968?
Speaker: David Sanchez Piñiero (Barcelona)
Utopian imagination, political demands, and the legacy of 1968
Speaker: Jan Géryk (Prague)
Break
15.00 Panel: Populist protests since 1968
Chair: Dr Hartmut Mayer (Oxford)Bio-politics of protest in the Balkans: Populism, student protest and Yugoslavian legacy in Serbian Politics Speaker: Magdalena Tendera (Krakow) Discussants: Leandro Netzell-Cerón (Paris) + Ahmed Mazlom (Leiden)
Populism, elections and a divided society; the Czech Republic today Speaker: Anna Simbartlová (Prague)
Discussants: Dali Malnoury (Krakow) + Johana Kudrnová (Prague)16.00 Tea / Coffee break
Graduate Working Groups: Session II – moderated by Dr Paul Flather
St. Antony’s College, at European Studies Centre17.00 Keynote Lecture: Poland between Europeanism and Nationalism – National
Exception or Regional Norm? Chair: Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford) Speakers: Professor Jacques Rupnik (Paris)19.00 Evening Walking Tour – Oxford city centre
20.15 Dinner at Al-Shami Restaurant
Day 3: SATURDAY, 12th May
Venue: MAISON FRANÇAISE D’OXFORD, 2-10 Norham Road, OX2 6SE Oxford, United Kingdom
09.15 Graduate Working Groups: Session III
10.15 Keynote Lecture
Chair: Dr Paul Flather (Mansfield College, Oxford/Europaeum)Fascism: The ‘Real Populism’ ? Speaker: Professor Martin Conway (Chair, History Faculty, Oxford)
Discussants: Alexandra Fergen (Oxford) + David Sanchez Piñeiro (Barcelona) 11.30 Coffee break11.45 Working Group Reports & Conclusions
13.20 Buffet lunch– at the MFO Optional additional panel (could be added here if there is interest / demand ?)14.30 Optional excursion:
Punting (weather permitting)
B. Visit to Blenheim Palace (*Students to bring valid ID card)
– Via S3 bus. It offers 30% discount to enter Blenheim. Ask the driver for the discount or keep the ticket with you and show it at the entrance.
Prices (with the 30% discount): – Bus ticket is around £2
– Complete Palace access: £17.40 (adults), 14.60 (students)
– Park & Gardens admission only: £8.60 (adults), £6.80 (students)
PM Departures
