Communism, Nationalism and State Building in Post-War Europe

Communism, Nationalism and State Building in Post-War Europe
History of Communism in Europe, new series, vol. III/2012
(http://www.zetabooks.com/history-of-communism-in-europe.html)

The forthcoming issue of History of Communism in Europe will focus on the topic of Communism, Nationalism and State Building in Post-War Europe. The emergence of communism as praxis after the Second World War overlapped with the need of certain nations to reinforce their claim for statehood. This gave rise to a series of historical phenomena that reshaped post-war Europe. In this context, any research on these transformations must address a series of questions: What is the role of national ideology in postwar state formation? How do various ideologies (e.g. communism and nationalism) interact in the complex processes presupposed by state building? Is there a pattern of state formation in communist Europe in comparison with Western Europe or elsewhere? If so, which were the short and long term consequences of it within a post-conflict landscape? Which narratives of identity were employed as post-1945 Europe took shape? Which were the incumbent tensions as a Soviet bloc of socialist nations came about? Nevertheless, the main issue to be addressed remains that of the differences that appeared from 1945 onwards between the institutionalization of communist polities on the basis of national communities and the consolidation of a supposedly unitary camp of Marxist-Leninist regimes. Moreover, at the end of the day, the legacies of the second half of the twentieth century could be better explained if analyzed from the point of view of the tribulations of nationalizing nation-states (to use Rogers Brubaker?s coinage) across the East and West divide.

The next issue of History of Communism in Europe welcomes original contributions that discuss and engage such general issues apparent from the interplay of communism and nationalism in the context of state-building. Ideally, the authors should address the topics in question from a comparative viewpoint. The editors encourage young scholars, in particular, to make use of historical, cultural, and political information recently available with the gradual opening of the archives in Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Poland, former GDR or various states of the former Yugoslavia and the USSR.

Senior scholars, junior researchers and PhD students are invited to submit their proposals on one of the following topics:

• Internationalism vs. Nationalism
  
• Sovietization and Empire Building in Eastern Europe
  
• Socialist Nations and Contemporary Theories of Nationalism
  
• Socialist Patriotism and Soviet Hegemony
  
• Nation Building in Post-war Europe
  
• Cultural Transfers
  
• Politics of Homogenization
  
• Narratives of Identity in Literature, Science, and the Arts
  
• Ethnic Minorities, Self-determination, and Socialist States
  
• Myths of Origins: Continuities Beyond 1945
  
• Communist Constitutions
  
• Modernity, nationalism and communism

The contributors are kindly asked to write abstracts that do not exceed 500 words. Deadline: April 1st, 2012. You may submit your proposals at: office@iiccr.ro or marius.stan@iiccr.ro Selected authors will be notified by April 15th. The deadline for the final draft of the paper is June 1st, 2012.