Via New Diplomatic History, we have the following
Call for Papers:
CALL FOR PAPERS
Training, Ideas and Practices. The Law of Nations in the Long
Eighteenth Century (Paris, 18-19 May 2017); DEADLINE 20 FEBRUARY 2017
The purpose of this conference is to explore the roots of
international law and the various concepts related to the “law of
nations” by looking at the legal language of diplomats and foreign
offices in Europe during the long eighteenth century. The conference
also aims to render the variety and complexity of specific mechanisms
through which the law of nations was applied for diplomatic use, to
explore social and cultural aspects, and to investigate the practical
questions that diplomats frequently faced (N. Drocourt & E.
Schnakenbourg (eds.), Thémis en diplomatie, PURennes, 2016).
The relationship between diplomacy and the law of nations is at best
ambiguous. On the one hand, the law of nations seems to be a hybrid
product of philosophical concepts and a digest of diplomatic practice.
Lawyers have difficulty resisting the temptation to write a purely
academic or genealogical history of the law of nations. The frequent
invocation of authors such as Vattel as an authority seems to support
this (P. Haggenmacher & V. Chetail (eds.), Vattel’s International
Law from a XXIst Century Perspective, Brill, 2011). On the other hand,
interaction in negotiations involves a lot more than invoked legal
principles. A thorough analysis of diplomatic practice often reveals
implicit rules within diplomacy as a social field (P. Bourdieu, Sur
l’Etat, Seuil, 2012). Legal arguments are a part of this microcosm, but
geopolitical determinants and state interests can bend and bow the use
of legal language.
One of the main issues of this conference will be whether law of
nations theories influenced diplomatic practice and at the same time
whether diplomatic practice altered traditional law of nations concepts.
Through fruitful dialogue between young legal historians, historians of
political thought and historians of politics from France, Germany and
other parts of Europe, we would like to explore and investigate three
different scenarios in which law of nations theories emerged both in the
practice and the doctrine of diplomacy:
1) Training of diplomats
Was the law of nations the basis of diplomatic education? Did
diplomats also receive specific, in-house, foreign affairs training? Was
it only theoretical or also based on practice and experience? Was there
already a form of professionalisation of diplomats, especially in view
of later developments in the 19th century (L. Nuzzo & M. Vec (dir.),
Constructing International Law – The Birth of a Discipline, V.
Klostermann, 2012)? Finally, to what extent can we envisage a common
European diplomatic culture?
2) Circulation of ideas and diplomatic networks
What was the legal and intellectual background of the various traités
du droit des gens? To what extent were legal expertise (G. Braun, La
connaissance du Saint-Empire en France du baroque aux Lumières
(1643-1756), De Gruyter, 2010) or legal rhetorics pragmatic tools used
in everyday politics? For whom did thinkers such as Abbé de Saint-Pierre
(1658-1743) write their treatises? The sovereign? Legal advisers?
Public opinion? If the law of nations formed a kind of a common
European diplomatic culture, how did it spread throughout Europe? Can we
identify the same use in various diplomatic flows of the time? How were
diplomatic networks organised? Can we find examples of specific
territories – such as the principalities of Walachia and Moldova,
between the Ottoman Empire and the “European” powers – functioning as
kinds of “diplomatic hubs”?
3) Transformation
Is the diplomatic habitus of the Vienna Congress a turning point?
Where did the transition from the 18th to the 19th century take place,
both in theory and in practice? How important was the impact of
Enlightenment and French Revolutionary thought (M. Bélissa, Fraternité
universelle et intérêt national, 1713-1795, Kimé, 1998)? How far can we
find echoes in diplomatic culture and correspondence?
We kindly invite young scholars (up to 6 years after PhD) to present
their new research within French-German and European perspectives. All
applications must be sent by 20 February 2017 with a short CV (5 to 10
lines) and a proposal of 400 words to diplomacyconference2017@gmail.com.
Results will be communicated by 15 March 2017. This conference has
received the generous support of the CIERA (Centre interdisciplinaire
d’études et de recherches sur l’Allemagne, www.ciera.fr) as a colloque
junior and will take place on the 18th (afternoon) and 19th (morning) of
May 2017.
Papers can be presented in English, French or German. A peer-reviewed publication of the proceedings is envisaged.
Organising Committee
Raphael Cahen (Orléans/VUB-FWO)
Frederik Dhondt (VUB/Antwerp/Ghent-FWO)
Elisabetta Fiocchi Malaspina
Scientific Committee
Jacques Bouineau (La Rochelle)
Paul De Hert (VUB)
Dirk Heirbaut (Ghent)
Christine Lebeau (Paris I)
Gabriella Silvestrini (Piemonte Orientale)
Matthias Schmoeckel (Bonn)
Antonio Trampus (Venezia)
Miloš Vec (Vienna)
