Politics of Sedition in Long 19thC Britain

Call for Papers

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Politics of Sedition in Long Nineteenth Century Britain:

A Social and Cultural Discourse

Saturday 10th November 2018, University of Warwick 

 

The dawn of the nineteenth century broke upon a world changed by revolution and war. In Britain, an industrial revolution had irrevocably sewn within its fabric the principles of capitalism and consumerism. Across the Channel, the French Revolution had coincided with and further inspired a revolution of ideas throughout Europe, introducing new concepts of reason, progress, and the natural rights of man. For Britain, the long nineteenth century was a prolonged battle to reconcile the traditions and conventions of the old system with emergent ideologies of socialism and liberalism. Unlike many of its contemporaries in Europe, the island state did not undergo a political revolution. Nevertheless, Britain was inevitably engaging with and influenced by revolutionary ideals travelling over from Europe, both in support of these new concepts and in resistance to them. What ensued was ‘the Age of Reform’ as the British people negotiated, both within established systems and outside of them, the extent to which these new ideals would influence the nineteenth century portrait of British society. An emergent socio-political discourse of resistance became a prominent feature. 

 

This conference, funded by an HRC Doctoral Fellowship Award and a Royal Historical Society Conference Grant, welcomes proposals for papers exploring the means through which political sedition was demonstrated across society and the discourses emerging from these shows of resistance. The conference organisers wish to cultivate an inter-disciplinary approach to the topic and so welcome papers from History, Literary Studies, Economics, Political Sciences, Sociology, Psychology and any other relevant disciplines. Papers are invited on, but by no means limited to, the following topics:

- The politics of sedition and their origins. - New social and political discourses emerging in the nineteenth century. - Sites of resistance and protest. - The emergence of the mass platform - Contesting the status quo through literature and writing. - Artistic and literary imaginings of new socio-political models. - The assertion of and attempt to establish new economic and social models.

The conference organisers also wish to bring together postgraduate, early career and established researchers to share their expertise on this topic. They would therefore welcome papers from academics at all stages of their careers. Please send proposals of 300 words for 20 minute papers, along with a short biography, to politicsofsedition@outlook.com by 31st July 2018.