Modernity is an essentially contested concept: depending on the research context, historians and social scientists understand \u201cmodernity\u201d as a historical period, as an (unfinished) project and, more recently, as an object of historical study in itself \u2013 an understanding that is linked to the considerable criticism the concept has received over the last twenty years. Particularly historians working on \u201cearly modern\u201d and medieval history have pointed out underlying normative biases, even going so far as to question the usefulness of modernity as a tool for historical analysis as such. The chronology inherent in the idea of modernity has attracted particular censure for perpetuating normative assumptions: pre- or non-modern times and spaces are considered deficient and backward, as not yet modern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In our workshop, we want to reassess the analytical potential of the meta-concept of \u201cmodernity\u201d and the idea of the modern. What are the benefits of \u201cmodernity\u201d as an analytical tool? Should the term be employed differently or should we stop using it altogether? Are alternatives to this meta-concept available, and what are the benefits (and pitfalls) of using these? As historiographical debates differ quite significantly both between historical sub-disciplines and cultural-linguistic contexts, our aim is to provide a platform for historians, but also social scientists, to both discuss the various criticisms levelled at the concept as well as to sound out its analytical potential or possible alternatives. By bringing together scholars from different academic disciplines, this conference reassesses the concept of modernity and the idea of the modern from a cross-epochal and interdisciplinary perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Contact & Registration
Christoph Haack
University of T\u00fcbingen
CRC 923 \u201cThreatened Order \u2013 Societies under Stress\u201d
christoph.haack@uni-tuebingen.de<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Almuth Ebke
University of Mannheim
Chair of Modern History
aebke@mail.uni-mannheim.de<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Programm<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n THURSDAY, 9th DECEMBER 11.30 AM\u20131.00 PM \/ PANEL I: KEY CONCEPTS OF MODERNITY 2.00\u20133.30 PM \/ KEYNOTE BY DIPESH CHAKRABARTY (CHICAGO) 4.00\u20135.30 PM \/ PANEL II: HISTORICISING HISTORICISM: 6.00\u20137.30 PM \/ KEYNOTE BY LYNN HUNT (LOS ANGELES) FRIDAY, 10th DECEMBER 11.00 AM\u201312.30 PM \/ PANEL IV: TIME AND THE MODERN 12.30\u20131.00 PM \/ FINAL DISCUSSION
11.00\u201311.30 AM \/ WELCOME & INTRODUCTION
Christoph Haack (T\u00fcbingen), Almuth Ebke (Mannheim)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chair: Martin Deuerlein (T\u00fcbingen)
Kinship and modernity
\u2013 Hans Hummer (Detroit)
Modern, postmodern, nomadic? Notions of nomadism in modernity
\u2013 Sina Steglich (London)
Comment by Peter Wagner (Barcelona)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Anthropocene and the ends of modernity
Introduction & Chair: Almuth Ebke (Mannheim)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
WRITING THE HISTORY OF THE MODERN
Chair: Ewald Frie (T\u00fcbingen)
\u2018Sattelzeit\u2019: The invention of \u2018Pre-Modern History\u2019 in the 1970s
\u2013 Julia Angster (Mannheim)
Coming to terms with modernity by historicising historicism
\u2013 Fernando Esposito (Konstanz)
Comment by Wolfgang Kn\u00f6bl (Hamburg)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Modernity and the future: Can we have one without the other?
Introduction & Chair: Christoph Haack (T\u00fcbingen)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9.00\u201310.30 AM \/ PANEL III: RELIGION, SECULARITY, AND THE MODERN
Chair: Thomas Kohl (T\u00fcbingen)
Coming to terms with the modern world: Continuations of the story of the fall of man in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times
\u2013 Beatrice von L\u00fcpke (Vienna)
Modernisation\/secularisation theories and Medieval Studies: Aspects of their entangled history
\u2013 Sita Steckel (M\u00fcnster)
Comment by Steffen Patzold (T\u00fcbingen)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chair: Christina Brauner (T\u00fcbingen)
The challenges of modern times and the search for a human present
\u2013 Julian Wright (Newcastle)
\u2018I\u2019m already here (Ik b\u00fcn all hier)\u2019: Modern pre-modernity or premodern modernity
\u2013 Anja Rathmann-Lutz (Basel)
Comment by Achim Landwehr (D\u00fcsseldorf)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Input by Christoph Haack (T\u00fcbingen) & Almuth Ebke (Mannheim)<\/p>\n\n\n\n