With a focus on Western Europe, this conference will explore ideological responses to the sustained period of Superpower tension between 1945 and 1989. Diplomatic studies of the Cold War have, of course, abounded and, more recently, there has been an increasing interest in the cultural aspects of the Cold War. Yet the Cold War was, in fundamental respects, a war of ideas and it these that this conference will seek to understand in greater depth. With coverage that includes Britain, it will consider Social Democracy, the New Left, Communism and Eurocommunism as well as labour and the trade union movement more widely. Anti-socialism and anti-communism will be prominent themes. This conference will further examine transnational trends through the impact of European integration and the development of human rights as well as reflecting on the diversity of national experiences. It will also consider American and Soviet views of West European Socialism in its various guises
This conference is sponsored by the Society for the Study of Labour History (SSLH) and the School of History and Anthropology at Queen’s University Belfast. It will include opportunities for sight-seeing in Belfast and offer a full programme of evening entertainment.