The Sixth ENIUGH Congress, hosted by the Global History Laboratory at Åbo Akademi University under the general theme “Minorities, Cultures of Integration and Patterns of Exclusion”, was originally to take place in June 2020. The global spread of Covid-19 only a few months before the original opening of the congress put on hold the final preparations for an exciting academic programme that included about 100 panels organized along 8 thematic lines. Back in spring, the ENIUGH Steering and Organizing Committees decided to postpone the congress for a year.

Recently, they decided to change the format of the congress to profit from experiences gained in the last months. On the one hand, many people emphasize that personal contact is essential for a truly lively and inspiring exchange of opinions, for developing new projects and cooperation, and for building trust between researchers and research groups across institutions, countries, and generations. Direct contact is indispensable for innovative science. On the other hand, we have learned that technical tools such as video conferencing can make our academic communication easier, not only by reducing travel and CO2 emissions but also by gaining time for creative work at the desk and for family life, which all too often suffer from week- end meetings and conference travel. At the same time, we have observed that video conferencing makes it possible for people to meet over much greater distances than was possible before. This aspect is crucial for an organisation such as ENIUGH, which is concerned with world and global history, because one of our major aims is to bring as many different voices and views as possible from around the globe into a sustained dialogue.

Building on the experience of new formats in which scientific exchange has taken place since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Sixth ENIUGH Congress will now take place during an extended period from 14 June to 20 June 2021. The first three days will offer online sessions and allow distant participation and the remaining days will take place in situ in Turku as originally planned, but now with online video streaming.

While we will maintain the original programme as much as possible, we want to take advantage of the possibilities due this new format for inviting the submission of additional panels and individual papers. During the last months, many interesting debates and research questions have emerged in response to the current pandemic – often with a clear global perspective. At the same time, the main theme of the congress “Minorities, Cultures of Integration and Patterns of Exclusion” has also gained a new twist due to the challenges and responses to Covid-19.

We thus welcome proposals addressing the following – but not to be considered exhaustive – list of topics:

- the global history of epidemics, including diachronic and synchronic comparisons, taking into account related patterns of inclusion and exclusion;
- the change of connections and emergence of new transnational, transregional, and global entanglements in times of epidemics and in the context of the broad efforts to control contagion;
- processes of marginalization, political shifts, and the redistribution of power relations in response to pandemics in the past and present;
- the recalibration of global inequalities and challenges to practices of integration;
- the mobilization of public health structures on different scales and dynamics of social disintegration;
- discourses of newness related to the current crisis and its rhetorical framings; and
- effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on historical research and teaching, especially in regard to the massive increase of digital education and a digitalized practice of academic exchanges.

During the online part of the programme, the congress schedule will include timeslots in the early morning (according to Greenwich Mean Time) to meet the challenge of different time zones, which is difficult to deal with at in situ congresses. With this format, we want to create the opportunity for more intensive exchange with our colleagues in the Americas, Asia, and Africa, and therefore we invite especially all those who so far could not attend the congress for reasons of distance and travel expenses to submit panel or paper proposals.

Panel Proposals

We invite proposals for single panels comprising up to 4 participants plus commentators. In addition to the names, affilia- tions, and email addresses of the convenor(s), chair(s), participants, and commentator(s), proposals should include the title and abstract of the panel (200–600 words) and the title and abstract of each individual paper (100–300 words each).

Paper Proposals

We also cordially invite proposals for individual papers, which can either be included in open slots in the already accepted panels or form additional panels. Since the congress will be organized into two-hour panels, the ENIUGH Steering Commit- tee will choose paper proposals with a particular focus on their capacity to allow for fruitful discussions among panellists. In addition to providing a name, affiliation, and email address, the proposal should include the title and abstract of the paper (100–300 words).

Costs

The organization of a conference with an online and in situ programme requires both logistics and organization that are not less complicated than what we needed for our previous congresses. We therefore ask for your understanding that we have set a congress fee that allows ENIUGH to organize the congresses without financial risks.

Conference fee rates: https://research.uni-leipzig.de/~eniugh/congress/registration/

Submission

All proposals for panels and papers must be received by 15 February 2021 and submitted electronically through the ENIUGH congress website: www.eniugh.org/congress/additional-call

Dates and deadlines

December 2021: Opening of the additional call for panels and papers Closing of the additional call
15 February 2021: Closing of the additional call
15 February 2021: Congress registration opens
1 March 2021: Notification of the selected submissions
31 March 2021: End of the early bird rate

Inquiries

For information about the 6th ENIUGH Congress, please contact us:
Katja Castryck-Naumann, Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe, Leipzig
Matthias Middell, Global and European Studies Institute, Leipzig University
Holger Weiss, Global History Laboratory at Åbo Akademi University