RETHINKING EUROPE IN SCANDINAVIA AND THE BALTIC SEA REGION - Calenda

RETHINKING EUROPE IN SCANDINAVIA AND THE BALTIC
SEA REGION
                                Târgu Mureș, Romania, 28-29 May 2020

Abbreviation: EURehink2020
Aims of the conference
„Cette Europe triomphante qui est née de l’échange de toutes choses spirituelles et matérielles, de la coopération
volontaire et involontaire des races, de la concurrence des religions, des systèmes, des intérêts, sur un territoire très
limité, m’apparaît aussi animée qu’un marché où toutes choses bonnes et précieuses sont apportées, comparées,
discutées, et changent de mains. C’est une Bourse où les doctrines, les idées, les découvertes, les dogmes les plus
divers, sont mobilisés, sont cotés, montent, descendent, sont l’objet des critiques les plus impitoyables et des
engouements les plus aveugles. Bientôt les apports les plus lointains arrivent abondamment sur ce marché. D’une
part, les terres nouvelles de l’Amérique, de l’Océanie et de l’Afrique, les antiques empires de l’Extrême-Orient
envoient à l’Europe leurs matières premières pour les soumettre à ces transformations étonnantes qu’elle seule sait
accomplir. D’autre part, les connaissances, les philosophies, les religions de l’ancienne Asie viennent alimenter les
esprits toujours en éveil, que l’Europe produit à chaque génération ; et cette machine puissante transforme les
conceptions plus ou moins étranges de l’Orient, en éprouve la profondeur, en retire les éléments utilisables.
Notre Europe, qui commence par un marché méditerranéen, devient ainsi une vaste usine ; usine au sens propre,
machine à transformations, mais encore usine intellectuelle incomparable. Cette usine intellectuelle reçoit de toutes
parts toutes les choses de l’esprit ; elle les distribue à ses innombrables organes. Les uns saisissent tout ce qui est
nouveauté avec espoir, avec avidité, en exagèrent la valeur ; les autres résistent, opposent à l’invasion des
nouveautés l’éclat et la solidité des richesses déjà constituées. Entre l’acquisition et la conservation, un équilibre
mobile doit se rétablir sans cesse, mais un sens critique toujours plus actif attaque l’une ou l’autre tendance, exerce
sans pitié les idées en possession et en faveur ; éprouve et discute sans pitié les tendances de cette régulation
toujours obtenue. ”

                                                                            Paul Valéry, “Note (ou L’Européen)” (1924)

Brexit has just happened and its consequences are not yet fully comprehended. Would
the outcome be a return to a status quo ante the Brentry of 1 January 1973 in British-
EU relations? Would Britain become a sort of bigger Norway tightly connected to the
EU, but yet not fully a member of the united organization? Would Britain really
continue to exist as such? Would Scotland, not to mention other territories, emulate
London and decide on their own Brexit, this time from the United Kingdom, in order
to rejoin the EU? Would actually Brexit become a pathway for other skeptical EU

nations? Would Brexit rocket exclusive forms of nationalisms? Wouldthe whole of
united Europe collapse, on the long run, as a result of Brexit as the League of Nations
had become toothless after the US Senate had vetoed the Pact of League of Nations?
But what effect is going to have Brexit on Scandinavian countries which historically
have been closely connected to Britain? How is it reflected in Scandinavian
intellectual milieus, in mass-media, in public discourses? What about the Baltic states
which received a strong support from Britain in key moments of their history, for
instance when Royal Navy came at the rescue of Estonian and Latvian independence
following World War I or in the process of re-enactment of Baltic sovereignty after
the collapse of the Soviet Union? Moreover, Britain was a key market for Baltic
products both during the interwar period and after 1990/1991. How are their elites and
public opinions reflecting on Brexit? What can they do in order to continue their
strong bonds in foreign and security policy, including Eastern neighborhood, and
close commercial ties? What would be the status of their co-citizens emigrated to
Britain? These are but a few questions which this conference aims at answering both
from a political science and international relations perspective and from a cultural,
historical, educational, social and economic perspective.
When approaching the rethinking of Europe we shouldn’t eschew the fact that Europe,
including Baltic and Nordic Europe, has changed quite dramatically in the past
hundreds of years, and this conference aims at digging ideationally in these layers of
history, even going further to the time when the Vikings recreated the European
networks as a result of their trade and pillage expeditions. The Hansa, the Kalmar
Union, the Swedish realm (some continue to this day calling it empire), the Russian
Empire, Norway’s independence in 1905, the First World War, the independence of
Finland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia a hundred years ago, the League of Nations, the
Second World War and the Soviet occupational regimes forced upon in the Baltic
states, the Cold War and the Iron Curtain, and finally the freedom regained by the
Baltic nations and the adhering by Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania to the
EU, and of the latter three countries to NATO had a tremendous impact on the region
and falls within the aims of this conference. How was this region recreated mentally,
how was it recomposed on the portative of decision makers, writers, intellectuals,
musicians, painters, architects, film makers, journalists, diplomats, and how much of
their thoughts found reflections in what actually happened in the region? Cultural

institutions and networks, language and its social content, various cultural currents
and political ideologies and doctrines would be closely investigated and discussed in
the keynote speeches and panels of the conference.

Conference proposed panels:

• The EU after the Brexit: perspectives on the future of Europe
• Perceptions of the Brexit process in Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea Region
• Rethinking Europe during the accession process of the the Baltic states, Finland and
Sweden at the EU
• Dividing Europe during the Cold War in the Baltic Sea Region: perspectives over
the Iron Curtain
• Imagining Europe in Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea Region during the two world
wars
• Crafting Europe during the peace conferences
• Rethinking Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea Region in Europe during the interwar
period
• Scandinavia, the Baltic Sea Region and the idea of Europe in history
• The Vikings and the reconnecting of Europe
• Rethinking Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea Region during the age of medieval
monarchies
• The emergence of modernity in Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea Region
• European lectureships at Nordic and Baltic universities
• Teaching in English versus teaching in smaller languages
• Recent influences of the English language on Scandinavian and Baltic languages
• European literary influences in the North
• Cultural relations between the Nordic and the Baltic countries and the rest of Europe
Roundtable

From the fall of Communism to Brexit: is the EU a success?

The Conference Schedule and Deadlines

• Publication of the call for papers: 1 February 2020

• Proposals for panels and roundtables (approx. 500 words): 15 March 2020
• Abstracts for individual papers (approx. 300 words): 15 March 2020
• Notification of acceptance: 25 March 2020
• Publication of the conference program: 30 March 2020
• Conference: 28-29 May 2020
• Deadline for submitting the conference articles: 30 June 2020
• Publication of conference articles: 30 September 2020 and 15 December 2020.
Organizing committee

Prof. Dr. Silviu Miloiu, The Romanian Association for Baltic and Nordic Studies &
Valahia University of Târgovişte – chair
Mr. Adrian Pogacian, ReThinking Europe – co-chair
Lect. Dr. Crina Leon, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași & The Romanian
Association for Baltic and Nordic Studies – co-chair
Scientific Committee

Prof. Dr. Kari Alenius, University of Oulu
Prof. Dr. Florin Anghel, Ovidius University of Constanța
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Enikő Molnár Bodrogi, Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca
Senior Researcher Dr. Bogdan Schipor, A.D. Xenopol Institute of History of the
Romanian Academy & The Romanian Association for Baltic and Nordic Studies
Lect. Dr. Crina Leon, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași & The Romanian
Association for Baltic and Nordic Studies
Steinar Lone, The Norwegian Association of Literary Translators and NonFiction
Writers and Translators Organisation
Prof. Dr. Silviu Miloiu, Valahia University of Targoviste & The Romanian
Association for Baltic and Nordic Studies
Prof. Dr. Sergiu Musteață, Ion Creangă Pedagogical University of Chișinău
Mr. Adrian Pogacian, ReThinking Europe
Dr. Octavian Țîcu, Institute of History, Academy of Science of the Republic of
Moldova
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Carmen Vioreanu, University of Bucharest
Program Committee

Prof. Dr. Silviu Miloiu, The Romanian Association for Baltic and Nordic Studies &
Valahia University of Târgovişte
Lect. Dr. Crina Leon, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași & The Romanian
Association for Baltic and Nordic Studies
Mr. Adrian Pogacian, ReThinking Europe
Secretary of the Scientific and Program Committee

Assist. Dr. Costel Coroban, The Romanian Association for Baltic and Nordic Studies
& Ovidius University of Constanța
Submission

The submission web page for EURethink2020
is https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=eurethink2020.
Publication

EURehink2020 proceedings will be published in The Romanian Journal for Baltic and
Nordic Studies, vol. 12, issue 1 and 2 (2020).

Keynote addresses

To be confirmed by 1 March 2020
Venue
The conference will be held in Târgu Mureș, in central Romania, some 120 km away
from Cluj-Napoca and 325 km from the capital of Romania, Bucharest.
The opening of the conference is scheduled on 28 May 2020, 11-12 AM, in the
glittering Small Hall of the Palace of Culture of Târgu Mureș.
The panels of the conference will be held on 28 May, from 2 to 7 PM, and on 29 May,
from 9 AM to 3 PM in the Medieval Citadel of Târgu Mureș.
The official reception offered by the organizers is scheduled on 28 May, 8 PM. In the
afternoon of 29 May a guided trip to the impressive UNESCO medieval citadel of
Sighisoara will be scheduled. All meals on 28 and 29 May will be offered by the
organizers. Please, inform us beforehand of your culinary preferences and we will
fully adapt to them.

Târgu Mureș hosts an airport that you may find convenient for your flights. However,
the nearest bigger air venue is „Avram Iancu” International Airport of Cluj Napoca.
The commution from the airports to the hotel will be provided by the organizers. It is
recommended that the arrival of the participants will take place on 27 May, but efforts
will be made to adapt our transportation possibilities to your flights.
The organizers have received special offers for accommodation for all participants.
Hotel Arena of Târgu Mureș will offer you a discounted rate of 40 Euros per night for
a superior single room, 50 Euros for a superior double room and 60 Euros for a 2
room apartment. The rate includes breakfast, free Wi-Fi, free parking access, free
access to the fitness room and sauna inside the hotel.
Grand Hotel of Târgu Mureș will provide you with a discounted rate of 60 Euros per
night for a single room, 75 Euros for a double room. The rate includes breakfast, free
Wi-Fi, free parking access.
For any questions related to the location of the event, accommodation, etc. please send
an email to welcome@rethinkingeurope.com.
Past conferences

The conference continues and develops a project that the Romanian Association for
Baltic and Nordic Studies (ARSBN) initiated in 2010, aiming at investigating,
comparing and describing the relations, encounters, intersections, confluences, mutual
influences and/or parallels between the Nordic and Baltic Sea areas, on the one hand,
and the Black Sea Region, on the other hand. The project was structured in annual
international conferences. Thus, the first conference, entitled “Romania and Lithuania
in the interwar international relations: bonds, intersections and encounters” was held
on 19-21 May 2010 in Târgoviște and concentrated, as the title suggests, on the
present and historical relations between the two countries belonging to these two
areas. The following editions of the annual ARSBN conference enlarged their scope,
being entitled “The Black Sea and the Baltic Sea regions: confluences, influences and
crosscurrents in the modern and contemporary ages” (Târgoviște, 20-22 May 2011),
“European networks: the Balkans, Scandinavia and the Baltic World in a time of
economic and ideological crisis” (Târgoviște, 25-27 May 2012), “Empire-building
and region-building in the Baltic, North and Black Sea areas” (Constanța, 24-26 May
2013), “A piece of culture, a culture of peace, re-imaging European communities in

the North Sea, Baltic Sea and Black Sea regions” (Târgoviște, 17-19 August 2014),
“Historical memory, the politics of memory and cultural identity: Romania,
Scandinavia and Baltic Sea Region in comparison” (Constanța, 22-23 May 2015),
“Good governance in Romania and the Nordic and Baltic countries” (Bucharest, 24-
25 November 2016), “Finland, Romania, Roma integration – Learning from each
other” (Bucharest, 9 October 2017), and “100 Years since Modern Independence and
Unification in the Baltic Sea Region and East-Central Europe” (Târgoviște, 15-16
November 2018) and „Dissent versus conformism in the Nordic, Baltic and Black Sea
areas” (Constanța, 6-8 June 2019).
During its previous ten editions, the ARSBN conference addressed fundamental
problems within the current agenda of the Nordic, Baltic and Black sea states and
contributed with fresh ideas and innovative research results to the general knowledge
in the scientific field. Moreover, the conference advanced draft proposals useful to the
European decision-makers of different fields.
While the participants to the first two editions of the conference concentrated rather
on the historical dimension of the relations, the following editions brought together
specialists from various fields (political science, economics, international relations,
minority studies, cultural studies, mnemonic studies, etc.) and addressed, besides the
historical aspect of relations, other aspects relevant to the present time, i.e. the global
economic crisis, the Balkan organized crime in Nordic Europe, region-building
processes, the minorities in the Baltic Sea area and in the Balkans, the Roma minority
integration, the remembrance of 1918, dissent and conformism, etc.
Contact

All questions about submissions should be emailed to baltoskandia@gmail.com or
welcome@rethinkingeurope.com.

Webpages of the conference

https://balticnordic.hypotheses.org/conference2020
http://www.rethinkingeurope.com