Histories of Scottish Politics in the Age of Union, c.1700-1945
Tuesday 23 – Wednesday 24 July 2024 | Durham University, Durham, UK
Call for Papers, deadline – Friday 1 March 2024
This two-day conference will be the first dedicated to histories of Scotland and politics in the Age of Union, encompassing a period of massive political, constitutional, economic, religious and social change in Scotland, the UK and the empire. It aims to connect a wide range of scholars, at all career levels, working across three centuries of Scottish history. It hopes to stimulate discussion about the place of politics and the meaning of the political in Scottish historiography. It also seeks to emphasise the importance of Scottish politics, formal and quotidian, to ‘British’ political history, the major trends in which have typically been Anglocentric.
A keynote address will be given by Professor Ewen Cameron (University of Edinburgh), on ‘Where did the nineteenth century go?’. A roundtable plenary will consider future directions in Scottish political history.
We invite proposals for individual papers on topics and approaches related to the history of Scotland and politics, in Scotland, Britain and Ireland, the diaspora and the empire. These could include but are not limited to:
- Politicians, parties, elections, institutions
- Popular politics, activism, protest, networks, community
- Political thought, opinion, knowledge, practices
- Constitution, devolution, independence, Scotland and the UK nations
- Empire, (de)colonisation, decolonising Scottish political history
- Economy, land, environment, industry, labour, class
- Race, immigration, emigration
- Religion, the churches
- Gender, sexuality, family
- Education, health, welfare, disability
- Spaces, senses, languages, material and visual cultures
- Cultures, experiences, identities, emotions, memories
We encourage potential contributors to interpret the theme broadly and innovatively, and explorations of the impact of politics on other areas of Scottish life would be welcome. We particularly encourage proposals relating to subjects and methods, sources and archives, traditionally underrepresented in Scottish and British political history.
Please send proposals of c.250-300 words for 20-minute papers to naomi.lloyd-jones@durham.ac.uk. The deadline for submissions is Friday 1 March 2024.
Further information about the conference, including an intended hybrid set-up and potential bursaries, will be announced in spring 2024. If you have any questions, please contact the conference organiser, Naomi Lloyd-Jones.
Image: National Galleries Scotland