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The SSFH Annual Conference

The Society for the Study of French History will hold its 35th annual conference at the University of Liverpool, from 29 June - 1 July 2023. 

The theme of the conference is Freedom and Emancipation

Confirmed Keynote Speakers: Kate Astbury, Emmanuel Blanchard & Matthew Smith

France’s past is dominated by histories of freedom and emancipation, as people seeking personal and national liberties have fought for the right to live freely and without discrimination. The liberté of liberté, égalité, fraternité reflects the foundational status of freedom in republican universalism, but the Haitian Revolution – with its demonstration of the possibility of universal emancipation – makes it clear that the limits of the concept have been tested throughout the period since the French Revolution. This conference seeks to interrogate the personal and collective resistance in the French-speaking world to forms of discrimination, oppression, and dehumanization. Given Liverpool’s complex historical connection to questions of freedom and emancipation through its instrumental role in the transoceanic trafficking of enslaved Africans, we invite contributions relating to enslavement, indenture, and other forms of forced and unfree labour in the French-speaking world. Yet it is also important to consider how the freedom of citizens across the Francophone world has been limited in other ways too, and to reflect upon historical and contemporary struggles to end oppression and restrictions on autonomy based on race, ethnicity, class, disability, differences, gender, and sexual orientation.

Although the list is indicative and far from exhaustive, we invite papers or panels to consider any of the following themes:

  • Enslavement & Unfree Labour
  • Abolitionism and resistance of the enslaved
  • Decolonisation/independence movements
  • Philosophical approaches to freedom
  • Freedom of speech
  • Censorship and freedom of the press
  • Suffrage
  • Civil rights movements
  • Emancipation
  • Disability
  • Incarceration

  • We invite contributions from scholars at all career stages, but particularly from early career scholars. Papers in English or in French should last for 20 minutes. Please send an abstract of 300 words and a brief biography of 50-100 words to SSFHconference2023@liverpool.ac.uk by the extended deadline of 31st March 2023.

    Colloque SSFH, Université de Liverpool, 29 juin – 1 juillet 2023

    La Liberté et l’émancipation

    Conférenciers principaux confirmés : Kate Astbury, Emmanuel Blanchard et Matthew Smith

    Le passé de la France est dominé par des histoires de liberté et d'émancipation. Les Français en quête de libertés personnelles et nationales se sont battus pour le droit de vivre librement et sans discrimination. La « liberté » de liberté, égalité, fraternité de la devise nationale reflète le statut fondateur de la liberté dans l'universalisme républicain, mais la Révolution haïtienne – qui suggère la possibilité d'une émancipation universelle – montre clairement que les limites du concept ont été testées tout au long de la période depuis le Révolution française. Ce colloque vise à interroger les résistances personnelles et collectives de la francophonie face aux formes de discrimination, d'oppression et de déshumanisation. Étant donné le lien historique complexe qui existe entre Liverpool et les questions de liberté et d'émancipation à travers son rôle instrumental dans le trafic transocéanique d'Africains réduits en esclavage, nous sollicitons des contributions relatives à l'esclavage et à d'autres formes de travail forcé et non libre dans le monde francophone. Pourtant, nous voulons aussi considérer comment la liberté des citoyens à travers le monde francophone a été limitée d'autres manières, et réfléchir aux luttes historiques et contemporaines pour mettre fin à l'oppression et aux restrictions à l'autonomie fondées sur la race, l'ethnie, la classe, l’invalidité, les différences, le genre, et l'orientation sexuelle.

    Bien que la liste soit indicative et loin d'être exhaustive, nous vous invitons à considérer les thèmes suivants sous forme de contribution individuel ou panel complet :

  • Esclavage et travail non libre
  • Abolitionnisme et résistance des personnes en esclavage
  • Mouvements de décolonisation/indépendance
  • Approches philosophiques de la liberté
  • Liberté d'expression
  • Censure et liberté de la presse
  • Droit de vote
  • Mouvements des droits civiques
  • L'émancipation
  • L’invalidité
  • L’incarcération
  • Nous invitons des chercheurs à toutes les étapes de leur carrière à soumettre une proposition, mais nous voulons encourager surtout les chercheurs en début de carrière. Les interventions peuvent être en français ou en anglais et doivent être d’un maximum de 20 minutes. Veuillez envoyer des abstraits de 300 mots avec une courte biographie de 50-100 mots à SSFHconference2023@liverpool.ac.uk . Date limite : 31 mars 2023.

    Past Annual Conferences:

    35th Annual Conference at Exeter College, University of Oxford.
    Theme: Encounters
    [conference programme and details]

    34th Annual (Virtual) Conference at University of Westminster in collaboration with H-France.
    Theme: Power, Protest and Resistance
    [conference programme and details]

    33rd Annual Conference at University of Leeds.
    Theme: Legacies
    [conference programme and details]

    32nd Annual Conference at University of Warwick.
    Theme: Political Economy and Cultures of Inequality
    [conference programme and details]

    31st Annual Conference at University of Strathclyde.
    Theme: France, Europe, and the World
    [conference programme and details]

    30th Annual Conference at University of Chichester.
    Theme: High and Low Culture
    [conference programme and details]

    29th Annual Conference at University of St Andrews.
    Theme: Turning Points in French History
    [conference programme and details]

    28th Annual Conference at St John’s College, Durham, from 10-12 July 2014.
    Theme: History and the Senses
    [conference programme and details]

    27th Annual Conference at Cardiff University, Sunday 30 June to Tuesday 2 July 2013.
    Theme: Solidarities, Entanglements and Conflict in French History.
    [conference programme]

    26th Annual Conference at King’s Manor, University of York, 1-3 July 2012.
    Theme: France and Its Neighbours: Towards a Transnational History
    [conference programme]
    [watch video of plenary speakers]

    25th Annual Conference at Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge, 14-15 July 2011.
    Theme: Celebrating France
    [conference overview] [draft programme].

    24th Annual Conference at Newcastle University on 27-29 June 2010.
    [Programme] [Abstract]

    23rd Annual Conference at Trinity College Dublin, 29-30 June 2009
    [Programme] [Conference Website]

    22nd Annual Conference at the University of Aberystwyth, 3-4 July 2008
    [Programme] [Abstract]

    21st Annual Conference at the University of St Andrews, 1-3 July 2007
    [Programme] [Conference Website]

    20th Annual Conference at the University of Sussex, 3-4 July 2006
    [Programme] [Abstract]

    19th Annual Conference at the University of Southampton, 4-5 July 2005
    [Programme] [Abstract]

    18th Annual Conference at the University of Warwick, 1-2 April 2004
    [Programme] [Abstract]

    17th Annual Conference at the University of Nottingham, 10-11 April 2003
    [Programme] [Abstract]

    ...

    1st Annual Conference at the University of Liverpool, April 1987.
    Theme: 'The Growth of the French State'.

     

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