Given the current global situation, this conference aims to examine the role of socio-military entities in conflicts that do not originate from their local community. The event offers a platform to consider the historical presence of armed groups and individuals in conventional and unconventional conflicts from ancient times to the conclusion of the Cold War. Additionally, the conference will be an opportunity to reflect on the categories by which we classify these entities which have been expressed in various forms. From a broad perspective, the individual or collective participation in a conflict abroad can be defined by a combination of ideals, religious beliefs, political or professional objectives and economic incentives. Recent war events demonstrate the continuity of these processes, which can mobilise means, men, and resources from all over the globe. The conference is designed for PhD students and junior scholars.
The aim is to promote a long-lasting debate on various topics with a focus on the connections, circularities, and contacts of actors on the move in transnational contexts and global wars:
- Military units at the service of foreign sovereigns or opposite religious confessions
- Military entrepreneurs: personal trajectories and activities
- Mercenary companies
- Privateering and piracy
- Multinational armies: problems of coexistence, representations, and imaginaries
- Foreign volunteers: paths, motivations, and contributions
- Military internationalism: between professionalisation, political culture and ideological mobilisation
- War, labour, and economic implications
- Gender issues in military units
- Political emigration and military engagement
- Managing mobility: political and military institutions for controlling, recruiting, and employing foreign forces
- Paramilitary movements, political violence, and public order management
- Citizenship and war: the foreign fighter in the political community
Applicant(s) should submit by the 1st of June 2024:
- Contribution proposal: maximum length 500 words
- Short presentation in a maximum of 150 words
Contributions in Italian, English, French and Spanish will be accepted. Panel proposals consisting of three papers and a discussant will be accepted. Materials should be sent to the email address: comitatodiformazione.sism@gmail.com
Selected participants will be contacted by email by the 15 th of July.
The conference will be held at the Department SARAS of the University of Rome “La Sapienza” on 21st - 22nd - 23rd of January 2025. The meeting will be held in presence. After a peer review evaluation, it will be possible to publish the papers on the open-access scientific journal “Nuova Antologia Militare. Interdisciplinary journal of the Italian Society of Military History” (ISSN 2704-9795).
For any other information, please write to: comitatodiformazione.sism@gmail.com
Organisation Committee
Francesco Biasi, PhD student - University of Salerno
Alessandro Carli, PhD student - University of Pisa and Siena
Luca Domizio, PhD student - University of Genoa
Dr. Mariella Terzoli, Postdoctoral scholar at the University of Rome “La Sapienza”