The Cold War is increasingly regarded as a global phenomenon, and its history has expanded into a vibrant and interdisciplinary research field. A range of new perspectives have been introduced to redefine and re-conceptualize the very meaning and role of "Cold War" in post-war history. This revitalization of the field has hinged not only on access to new archives, but also on cross-fertilization with other disciplines and approaches: 'new diplomatic history', transnational, social, and cultural history, the history of human rights, to name a few. The study of the Cold War is no longer the exclusive realm of traditional political and diplomatic historians.
Recent accounts of the Cold War have provided broader thematic and geographic scope. Whereas traditional studies were for a long time been resolutely centered on the bipolar contest between the United States and the Soviet Union, efforts to introduce a 'globalization' of Cold War concepts have drawn greater attention to the active role of other actors, be they in Europe or the Third World, in the process upsetting established periodizations, narratives, and agencies, and challenging the standard view that sees these regions as pawns in the superpower game.
However, these new approaches have been slow to enter into Cold War research on the Benelux region, despite the fact that Belgium and the Netherlands in particular were both prominent international actors, and both possessed societies actively engaged with Cold War issues and challenges. Recent international accounts of the Cold War, for their part, have largely bypassed these smaller powers even though their role in key developments such as détente, European integration, and Cold War diplomacy has been fully acknowledged.
To redress this 'perspective gap', create a research network of those interested in new approaches, and so contribute to a rejuvenation of Cold War historiography on the Benelux, we aim to bring together junior and senior scholars who focus on new topics, themes, and insights for an international history of Belgium and the Netherlands during the Cold War. We would like to receive proposals for articles of around 7000-8000 words that address new fields of research on the history of the Cold War in the Benelux region. The selected articles will be included in a publication planned for December 2015.
Possible questions could be:
What are the limitations of the traditional interpretations of the Cold War in the Benelux? How can new perspectives 'open up' new social, political, ideological, and economic vistas on the contest in these countries? How do these new perspectives introduce Cold War actors previously ignored or forgotten? How did decolonization influence diplomatic decisions and to what extend can we integrate Belgium and the Netherlands into the Global Cold War? What is the relevance of (new) Cold War accounts of the Benelux for understanding the broader international history of the post-war period? To what extent did national/regional experiences and patterns in the Benelux converge with/diverge from each other? Were regional or international convergences more obvious and important than national differences?
The special issue will be structured around seven important themes at the center of current innovative Cold War histories:
1. cultural / public diplomacy and the role of media
2. intelligence and anti-communism
3. European integration
4. transnational social movements and activism
5. economic history
6. intellectual and scientific histories
7. the Benelux and the Global Cold War
We welcome submissions from all historians of the Cold War whose work covers or connects with the political, social, cultural, and economic history of the Benelux nations.
Contributions should aim for the integration of Benelux countries into the new international histories of the Cold War.
Research Workshop: Once the proposals have been selected, a workshop will be organized in January 2015 to bring the participants together to present their work and discuss the issues, themes, and significance of their contributions, and the scope of the project as a whole. This will require draft versions of the papers being prepared by 20 December 2014, for pre-circulation to all participants. The exact date and location of this workshop can be decided on in consultation once the group is finalized.
TIME-TABLE
30 April 2014: Deadline for submission of proposals: 30 April 2014
1 June 2014: Notification of acceptance
20 December 2014: Deadline for draft versions of the papers (+/- 3000 words)
January 2015: Research workshop
31 March 2015: Deadline for final paper
Please send proposals of up to 3 pages (1000 words) to: coldwarbenelux@arts.kuleuven.be