idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Workshop funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR)
More than four years have passed since Russia began its large-scale aggression against Ukraine, and twelve years have passed since the war in the Donbas region interrupted the country’s peaceful post-Soviet transition. The ongoing war in Ukraine has now become a regular topic of academic discourse. However, the high hopes for rethinking, decentering, diversifying, and opening up various hitherto hermetic disciplinary fields that were prevalent in 2022–23 have not resulted in deep, far-reaching change. One reason for this is the “ban on comparisons,” which isolates the Ukrainian case from comparable cases in the post-socialist space and thus largely prevents the productive transgressions of disciplinary and area studies borders. Along with the mythological rather than concrete historical, economic, and cultural view of Ukraine’s heroic resistance, this hinders our understanding of the war’s structural premises, driving forces, and traumas, as well as our search for possible peace perspectives and the conflict’s bifurcation points.
This comparative stance lies at the core of the workshop, which draws some 20 international participants from literary and cultural studies, sociology, history, and political science. The workshop marks the official start of the nascent research network, WARP (War and Peace in Post-Socialist Space). WARP builds on the joint project (Un)Disciplined—Pluralizing Ukrainian Studies, Understanding the War in Ukraine, also funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, and will be consolidated during a one-year transfer phase (2026–2027).
What theoretical and thematic links exist between the various disciplines and area studies that deal with different armed conflicts after socialism? In what ways are post-socialist wars influenced by post-socialist transformation? Are there any longue durée structures underlying the different types of post-socialist armed conflicts (e.g., secession and proxy wars vs. full-scale aggression) and their social, economic, and cultural effects, and how are these types comparable? How do culture and public discourse contribute to warmongering or, conversely, to reconciling conflicting parties in different post-socialist countries? How does the reception of “others’” wars influence one’s “own” internal cleavages and identity politics within the entangled post-socialist space? By addressing these and other related questions, the workshop aims to move beyond the solipsistic focus of area studies on their “own” wars. Instead, the goal is to create a broad, heterogeneous and differentiated panoramic picture that prioritizes interconnections and dynamic relationships over isolation and uniqueness claims, thus presenting post-socialist Eastern Europe as a polycentric yet coherent whole.
The workshop is organized by the WARP project in cooperation with the ZfL.
Information on participating / attending:
Date:
05/08/2026 08:30 - 05/09/2026 18:30
Event venue:
Leibniz-Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung, Ilse-Zimmermann-Saal, Pariser Straße 1
10719 Berlin
Berlin
Germany
Target group:
Journalists, Scientists and scholars
Email address:
Relevance:
regional
Subject areas:
Cultural sciences, History / archaeology, Philosophy / ethics, Politics, Social studies
Types of events:
Seminar / workshop / discussion
Entry:
04/30/2026
Sender/author:
Georgia Lummert
Department:
Leibniz-Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung Berlin (ZfL)
Event is free:
yes
Language of the text:
English
URL of this event: http://idw-online.de/en/event81504
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