The outsourcing of much military labour – to the private sector, and to other publics – has a long-standing historical basis that raises serious questions about the relationship between war, the state and society. Yet, were the boundaries between public and private ever clear? If the global wars of the twentieth century were "total" for some belligerents, what of the millions who served for other kings, other countries and other empires prior to the emergence of the nation state? While much military history and military sociology has been written in national frames, did these frames ever adequately explain the nature of war? What of the private and supranational armies who played such important roles in the making of the modern world?

Argument

The increasing use of private military contractors is proving a controversial feature of twenty-first century war. In Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, contractors have played significant and varied roles supporting, supplementing and sometimes replacing regular troops. Other deployments blur the distinction between private and public: supranational peacekeeping and humanitarian organisations not only employ private contractors, but the growth of such missions increasingly relies on hired regular troops from the global south. In both war-fighting and peace-keeping, then, the boundaries between the public and the private appear increasingly blurred in the twenty-first century.

The outsourcing of much military labour – to the private sector, and to other publics – has a long-standing historical basis that raises serious questions about the relationship between war, the state and society. Yet, were the boundaries between public and private ever clear? If the global wars of the twentieth century were ‘total’ for some belligerents, what of the millions who served for other kings, other countries and other empires prior to the emergence of the nation state? While much military history and military sociology has been written in national frames, did these frames ever adequately explain the nature of war? What of the private and supranational armies who played such important roles in the making of the modern world?

This conference addresses these questions through a critical historical analysis of the varied role(s) of the public and the private in warfare.  We welcome proposals for papers, panels and roundtables that address – but are not limited to – one or several of the following themes:

• When, where, how and why has war been ‘privatized’?
• When – and how – did war and its histories become nationalised?
• What is the legacy/memory of private war? How has experience of these wars shaped the way society understands the social contract and the legitimacy of public/private war?
• How have political elites and states sought to control or eliminate 'private' warfare?
• How is the social contract affected by the outsourcing of military labour?
• Mercenaries, soldiers of fortune, foreign fighters: timeless phenomena, or historically-specific actors?
• How have public/private divides framed intelligence collection and war?
• How do the states, and soldiers, of the global south engage with, and shape, contemporary conflicts?
• What does the outsourcing of military and security functions tell us about the nature of war and economy in the contemporary world?
• When did military expertise and capacity become globalized? When, and how, were they financialized? How did these processes happen?
• What role(s) do international organisations – charities, NGOs, institutions – play in the economy of contemporary warfare?
• If war – and the capacity to wage it – was central to the making (and breaking) of modern states, what does the nature of conflict tell us about the relationship between war and the state in the modern world?

Keynote speakers

• Hervé Drévillon (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne – Service historique de la Défense): “The private analogy and the theory of war in the 19^th century”.
• David Edgerton (King’s College London): “How British Historians Nationalized the British Experience of the Second World War, 1945-2000”.
• Beatrice Heuser (Glasgow University): “What the past tells us about future war”

Submission process

We welcome proposals for individual papers, themed panels, round tables and would also be pleased to hear from people who wish to present on war and history more broadly:

• Individual paper proposals are welcome and must include a paper title, 300-word abstract of the paper, and one-page CV with contact information and email address. If accepted, individual papers will be assigned by the program committee to an appropriate panel with a chair and commentator.
• Panel proposals must include a panel title and 300-word abstract summarizing the theme of the panel; paper title and a 300-word abstract for each paper proposed; and a one-page CV for each panellist (including the chair and commentator).
• Roundtable proposals must include a roundtable title, a 300-word abstract summarizing the roundtable’s themes and points of discussion, and a one-page CV for each participant (including the moderator, if any).

Please send all the relevant paperwork to: to info@show.org.uk, making it clear that you are responding to the Sciences Po CfP.

Deadline for submission is 1st December 2019.

Any questions about the Call for Papers can be directed to info@show.org.uk. More information about the conference – pricing, accommodation, travel, grants etc – will be published before 1^st December 2019.

The programme for the event will be announced before 16^th December 2019. The conference will take place at Sciences Po, Reims Campus – 20–21 March 2020.

Scientific committee

• Guillaume Piketty (Center for History at Sciences Po / CHSP)
• Camille Mahé (Center for History at Sciences Po / CHSP)
• Paul Lenormand (CHSP)
• Géraud Létang (CHSP
• Matteo Bendati (Sciences Po, Reims campus)
• Maya Lameche (Sciences Po, Reims campus)