Call for Papers
Re-Visions of Entanglements in Daily Life in Central and Eastern Europe: Microhistorical Approaches and Inclusive Perspectives, 1840–1930
Final Conference of the Austrian Science Fund ESPRIT Project “Entanglements of Jews and non-Jews in Private Spaces” (FWF ESP120)
Organizer: Susanne Korbel (Center for Jewish Studies, University of Graz | Jewish Studies Program, Central European University Vienna)
Short Version: This final conference of the Austrian Science Fund ESPRIT Project 'Entanglements of Jews and Non-Jews in Private Spaces' (FWF ESP120), organized by Susanne Korbel (University of Graz | CEU Vienna), invites contributions that explore everyday encounters between people of different national, political, religious, or cultural affiliations in Central and Eastern Europe from 1840 to 1930. The aim is to gain a more adequate understanding of daily routines involving compromises that coexist alongside differences. The organizer particularly welcomes research that challenges conventional group-based narratives, employs inclusive perspectives, and draws on interdisciplinary approaches, particularly in the fields of Jewish–non-Jewish relations, gender history, disability studies, linguistic history and military history.
Processes of emancipation, migration and urbanization brought the diverse populations of Central and Eastern Europe into ever-closer contact. As a consequence, a multitude of everyday encounters and entanglements across ethnic, linguistic and religious boundaries impacted the living experiences of Habsburg society, especially from the 19th century onward. Beyond religious sites, new urban(ized) institutions and infrastructures shaped daily experiences: People from all social strata, with different religious, cultural, and other affiliations, lived side by side as neighbors or even roommates. They encountered each other when visiting department stores, markets, or post offices, and crossed paths outside apartments on corridors, on balconies, and likewise at their workplaces, schools and in the military.
In recent years, scholarship has increasingly examined these everyday interactions, moving beyond conventional group-based narratives in the Habsburg Empire, its successor states, and beyond. Recent findings on the impact of the physical and historical realities of mobility, settlement, peace and war on the peoples of the Habsburg lands have led historians to take a more nuanced approach to contacts, (dis/)exchanges, and the commonalities and differences within and between societies and communities. Micro-historical approaches—drawing on theoretical concepts that blur rigid religious, ethnic, national, or gender boundaries—have led to new understandings of coexistence and conflict, social inclusion and exclusion.
This international conference Re-Visions of Entanglements seeks to bring together innovative research on daily life in Central and Eastern Europe (1840–1930). Based on case studies, the conference invites joint reflection on theoretical concepts and
methodological decisions. We seek contributions that explore new social-historical perspectives and address questions such as:
• How does the perspective of everyday contacts and encounters alter group-based narratives, both in terms of coexistence and conflict?
• What inclusive interpretations of Habsburg and post-Habsburg societies do micro-historical approaches make possible, and how do they complicate our understanding of boundaries between religious, ethnic, and social groups?
• What sources do we use to “read conventional narratives against the grain”?
• In what ways can case studies of everyday life inform larger debates on integration, assimilation, acculturation, marginalization, or resistance?
• How did encounters in shared spaces (apartment buildings, workplaces, markets, schools, or leisure institutions) contribute to shaping social relations, hierarchies, networks of solidarity, or nourished sentiments?
• How do perspectives of gender, class, and disability enrich our understanding of entanglements and the negotiation of daily life?
Whether through the lenses of military history, Jewish–non-Jewish relations, linguistic history, disability studies, gender studies, or related fields, we encourage dialogue across disciplines and subfields.
The conference will take place at the University of Graz (Austria) on February 24-25, 2026. We look forward to receiving abstracts in English of no more than 300 words by researchers from all relevant disciplines. Please send an abstract and a short CV by e-mail (to susanne.korbel@uni-graz.at) by 30 November 2025.
We will provide travel allowances for participants who have no academic affiliation or are unable to cover their travel expenses. In the abstract, please indicate whether you would like to apply for a travel allowance.