Everyday Rituals in the British Empire and After, 1880-1980 | A one-day workshop at the University of Nottingham, 2 June 2023
Call for Papers, deadline – 1 March 2023
This one-day workshop will explore the historical function of everyday rituals in the context of the British Empire. Ordinary daily practices have long been recognised as essential to the maintenance of cultural identities. From combing one’s hair to using the correct fork, notions of civility have been essential to constructions of social and racial difference and the perpetuation of those hierarchies within everyday life. At the same time, the reclaiming of certain daily practices has been an important expression of colonial resistances and a means through which to fashion identities within a post-colonial context.
This workshop seeks to gather scholars whose work explores the function, performance, and contestation of daily practices within a range of imperial and post-imperial contexts. These rituals might relate to the most intimate private self or to the functioning of larger social groups. Topics might include:
- Health, illness, diet, exercise
- Beauty, hair care, clothing, and adornment
- Domestic rituals, family life, practices of care, relationships with servants
- Socialising, parties, shopping, and retail
This list is not meant to be exhaustive or prescriptive.
We welcome proposals for twenty-minute paper presentations from across the historical disciplines. Please submit an abstract (c.350 words) with short biographical details (c.150 words) by 1 March 2023 to overtheglobalcounter@nottingham.ac.uk. We aim to inform participants of outcomes by 15 March.
This event is the first in a workshop series organised as part of the AHRC project ”Chemists to the Nation, Pharmacy to the World’: Exploring the Global Dimensions of British Healthcare and Beauty with Boots The Chemists, 1919-1980′. Please contact Dr Hilary Ingram via overtheglobalcounter@nottingham.ac.uk with any questions or expressions of interest.
We anticipate that most workshop attendees will attend in person but do indicate if a remote option would support participation in the event