The Baltic Connections 2021 will take place at the University of Helsinki, Finland, from April 20 to 21. It is hosted by the University of Helsinki and the discipline of Economic and Social History here. As with the earlier conferences in Helsinki and Jyväskylä, we aim to bring together scholars working on comparative, economic, social, global, and other types of history and related social sciences to address various “East-West” historical processes and events as well as comparative and transnational analysis, including at the Baltic region, Europe, and the world. Potential topics include but are not limited to trade, migration, comparative development, international political economy and the diffusion and transplantation of institutions, ideas and cultural influences. Moreover, we want to promote interdisciplinary encounters and discussions, with the goal of bringing together scholars working in Western, Nordic, Central and East European, Baltic, and Russian universities. We are open to proposals that incorporate new digital technologies and ideas for roundtables.
The second Riitta Hjerppe Lecture in Social Science History will be given by Joel Mokyr (Northwestern). Further solid keynotes will be delivered by Jenny Andersson (CNRS, Uppsala University), and Arja Turunen (University of Jyväskylä).
The deadline for proposals is February 15, 2021. In addition to individual papers, proposals for whole three to four paper panels are appreciated. The participants will be notified of acceptance on a rolling basis and on March 15 at the latest. Proposals can be submitted to balticsocsciencehist@gmail.com. All the papers accepted for the canceled 2020 conference are automatically accepted for the 2021 conference. We will contact the authors to ask for details and possible changes. We also announce a limited number of travel grants for participants coming from abroad. Please indicate in your submission if you want to apply.
The conference hosts a session track on History of Technology and Industry sponsored by the Finnish Society for the History of Technology. The session track accepts paper and session proposals about all aspects of history of technology and industry but focuses especially on the theme of transnational and regional histories in the Nordic and Baltic areas. To submit to this track, please email balticsocsciencehist+tech@gmail.com. Moreover, the Finnish Journal for the History of Technology, Tekniikan Waiheita, offers conference participants the possibility to submit their papers for fast track consideration in the Journal.
Due to the Coronavirus Disease situation, the Baltic Connections 2021 will be a hybrid conference, making it possible and safe to participate from everywhere around the world while concurrently allowing live participation for locals and those able to travel from safer regions. We will closely follow the Coronavirus situation and will switch to an online only mode if it is required to guarantee safe participation. Conferees can register without worrying about their mode of participation: we will inquire about live participation closer to the conference and take care of the arrangements on an as-needed basis.
The organizing institutions are University of Helsinki, University of Jyväskylä, the Finnish Society for the History of Technology, and the Finnish Economic History Association. For more information, please email balticsocsciencehist@gmail.com or Jari Eloranta and Olli Turunen directly.