Prague Center for Romani Histories, Charles Univ. (Web) and ERC project “Inclusive History of East-Central Europe: Mid-19th Century to Present” (Web); Dalen Wakeley-Smith (Washington Univ. in Saint Louis); Vita Zalar (Charles Univ.); and Marko Pecak (Central European Univ.)
Time: 31.05.-02.06.2027
Venue: Villa Lanna, Prague
Proposals by: 15.12.2026
Questions around citizenship and belonging have marked the emancipatory struggles of marginalized communities in the 1800s and 1900s. Citizenship was (and still is) a deeply personal and embodied experience. A dizzying amount of paperwork, visual evidence, and documentation acted as a gatekeeper to healthcare, work, property, education, welfare, and political representation. At times claiming citizenship exposed marginalized individuals to repressive measures of the state. In other cases citizenship enabled mass participation and expansion of protections for communities formerly excluded from national belonging. This complicated dance of belonging has shaped the way formal and informal citizenship has expanded and contracted throughout the 1800s and 1900s.
This conference brings together histories of citizenship impacting different marginalized populations. As three core populations which have been left out of full citizenship across central and eastern Europe, we especially encourage submissions on the interrelated struggles of Roma, Jews, and people with disabilities. Papers should explore the material and discursive connections between multiple groups, and the different strategies utilized by states, organizations, and individuals to advocate for citizenship access, and the change in statuses throughout time. We also invite scholars who explore personal histories and the bottom-up agency of members of marginalized communities advocating for their rights as citizens. While we welcome scholars exploring questions around citizenship, belonging, and emancipation globally, we will prioritize case studies from Central and Eastern Europe.
The aim of this conference is to bring multiple fields of historical inquiry into conversation with one another: including, but not limited to Romani histories, Jewish histories, and histories of people with disability. While we will prioritize papers that address one or more of these three fields, we remain open and welcoming to papers that address other underrepresented populations. Continue reading

Univ. of Edinburgh; Elise Watson
Laura Kurz, Emmy-Noether-Forschungsgruppe „Ko-Konstruktionen von Lernen und Technik. Zum Wandel von ‚Lernsubjekten‘ im 20. Jahrhundert“, Institut für Geschichte, Technische Univ. Darmstadt
Institute for Ethnic Studies; Ljubljana
Paula Lange (Univ. of Vienna)
GENDER. Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft; Christina Brüning, Funda Hülagü, Mike Laufenberg, Johanna Leinius und Inga Nüthen