This international conference wants to reflect on the interaction between local agents and the institutional State Building policies between the 17th and the 19th Centuries. The construction of the Modern State, far from being a top-down vertical process, has consisted of a debate, often tense - if not adverse - between the interests of local communities and the State apparatus or raison d'état. In this way, the aim is to achieve a much more complete knowledge of the construction of the Modern State based on the study of the local sphere. The conference presented here is undoubtedly boldly conceived: to bring together marginal orisolated aspects and intertwine them to revisit specific historiographical hypotheses.

Argument

This international conference wants to reflect on the interaction between localagents and the institutional State Building policies between the 17th and the 19th Centuries. The construction of the Modern State, far from being a top-down vertical process, has consisted of a debate, often tense -if not adverse- between the interests of local communities and the State apparatus or raison d'état. In this way, the aim is to achieve a much more complete knowledge of the construction of the Modern State based on the study of the local sphere. The conference presented here is undoubtedly boldly conceived: to bring together marginal or isolated aspects and intertwine them to revisit specific historiographical hypotheses.Following Michel Foucault's idea of order as an essential element of control, we aim to examine to which extent institutional polities controlled all the spaces of society to know the degree of concentration of power of the State. In this sense, Foucault himself evoked the idea of three epistemes: that of resemblance and similarity (from the 16th century onwards); that of the period of representation, identity and difference; and the modern one, which points out the limits and the thresholds. In this respect, we find clear examples throughout history of how resistance to state policies allows us to rethink the creation of identities and politicization. There pression of popular protests or strikes, the local or citizen refusal to pay taxes,or arms and goods smuggling underline an ongoing debate between those at the bottom and the institutional power. Based on the analysis of the "total" control of the polycentric network of peopleat the service of the administration, we invite colleagues to reflect on the following aspects that affect the everyday life of societies and help to understand the Statbuilding construction:

1. The common good, local interests and State conflicts: resistance and resilience.

2. Politicization: including both top-down and bottom-up perspectives.

3. Local and supranational discourses in dialogue: conflicts and identities.

4. How religion influenced social and territorial control.

5. Institutional and legal policies: their implementation and political purposes.

6. Historiography and comparative cases: institutional, territorial, and bordercontrol.

Submission guidelines

We welcome proposals of ca. 300 words concerning the topics mentioned above along with a short CV. The proposals must be sent tocg.other.voices.2024@uab.cat

until the 1st of April 2024,

Accepted proposals will be announced on the 15thof April 2024. The contributions presented during the workshop will be collectedfor publication by a leading publisher.

The conference will take place from 12 to 14 June 2024. 

Organising Committee

• Dr Oscar Jané Checa (Reader, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
• Dr Joan Pubill-Brugués (Margarita Salas Fellow, Universtat Autònoma deBarcelona)
• Dr Ricard Torra-Prat (Beatriu de Pinós Fellow, Universitat Autònoma deBarcelona)