Indeterminancy and Its Consequences<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\nJune<\/strong> 16-18 2027<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nUniversity of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nCall for Papers 2027 (pdf)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<\/p>\n
The Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS) and the University of Tartu invite proposals for the 17th Conference on Baltic Studies in Europe (CBSE)<\/strong>, held jointly with the 11th Annual Tartu Conference on East European and Eurasian Studies (TCEEES)<\/strong> on June 16\u201318, 2027, at the University of Tartu in Tartu, Estonia.<\/p>\nThe Conference on Baltic Studies in Europe (CBSE) is a leading interdisciplinary forum for scholars working on Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the wider Baltic region. Held in alternating years with the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS) Conference in North America, CBSE brings together research from the humanities, social sciences, and related fields.<\/p>\n
The Tartu Conference on East European and Eurasian Studies (TCEEES), held at the University of Tartu since 2016, is an established international venue for academic discussion of the cultural, social, economic, and political developments shaping Eastern Europe and Eurasia. It brings together scholars across disciplines, career stages, and countries to exchange ideas and engage in interdisciplinary dialogue.<\/p>\n
The 2027 joint conference will provide a broad interdisciplinary forum for scholarship on the Baltic region, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia.<\/p>\n
Conference Theme: Indeterminacy and Its Consequences<\/h2>\n
The contemporary world is increasingly shaped by indeterminacy<\/strong>: a condition in which established rules, expectations, trajectories, and sources of authority have become less certain. Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East have dramatically intensified this condition, exposing the fragility of security arrangements, borders, political assumptions, economic relationships, and expectations about the future. At the same time, shifting balances of power, great-power rivalry, renewed imperial ambitions, democratic contestation, technological change, economic volatility, increasing inequality, demographic pressures, and environmental challenges are transforming the contexts in which individuals and communities make decisions and understand their identities, histories, and possible futures.<\/p>\nIndeterminacy is experienced at multiple and interconnected levels. Internationally, it raises questions about the durability of institutions, alliances, legal norms, and the broader world order. States and societies face new choices concerning security, defence, borders, economic resilience, energy, demographics, migration, and political belonging. Regions and communities situated close to geopolitical or cultural boundaries may experience these pressures particularly intensely. Businesses and institutions must make strategic and investment decisions in conditions where future risks are difficult to assess. At the individual level, uncertainty about security, economic prospects, and social stability may shape decisions concerning work, education, mobility, finances, relationships, and family life.<\/p>\n
Yet indeterminacy is not only a condition to which actors respond. It can also be produced, managed, represented, exploited, and contested<\/strong>. Political actors may seek to reduce uncertainty through securitisation and stronger state intervention, or deliberately cultivate ambiguity and unpredictability. Laws and institutions attempt to create stability while themselves becoming sites of contestation. Literature, art, historical memory, and cultural production provide ways of interpreting disruption, imagining alternative futures, and making sense of worlds in which familiar certainties have weakened.<\/p>\nIn line with this theme, the 2027 keynote lecture<\/strong> will be delivered by Maria M\u00e4lksoo<\/strong>, Professor of International Relations at the University of Copenhagen. Prof. M\u00e4lksoo is the Principal Investigator of the European Research Council\u2019s Consolidator Grant RITUAL DETERRENCE (Ritual Action: Making Deterrence Matter in International Security and Memory Politics, 2022-2027). Her research interests cut across International Relations theory, Critical Security Studies, political anthropology and memory politics.<\/p>\nThe conference invites scholars across the humanities and social sciences to examine how indeterminacy is produced, experienced, represented, governed, and transformed, with a substantive focus on the Baltic region, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia<\/strong>. We particularly welcome contributions that explore how conditions of indeterminacy reshape choices, possibilities, and identities, from the individual to the global level.<\/p>\nPossible topics include, but are not limited to:<\/p>\n
\n- war, security, defence, alliances, and changing geopolitical orders;<\/li>\n
- borders, sovereignty, territoriality, empire, and political belonging;<\/li>\n
- democracy, authoritarianism, political contestation, polarisation, and legitimacy;<\/li>\n
- law, institutions, governance, and attempts to manage uncertainty;<\/li>\n
- economic volatility, inequality, labour, investment, and economic resilience;<\/li>\n
- technological change, artificial intelligence, digital transformation, and new forms of risk;<\/li>\n
- energy, climate change, environmental pressures, and sustainability;<\/li>\n
- migration, mobility, demographic change, and population decline;<\/li>\n
- identities, nationalism, minorities, language, and belonging;<\/li>\n
- historical memory, heritage, and changing interpretations of the past;<\/li>\n
- literature, art, visual culture, media, and cultural responses to disruption;<\/li>\n
- everyday life, education, careers, relationships, family life, and individual strategies under conditions of uncertainty;<\/li>\n
- expectations, imagined futures, resilience, adaptation, and alternative possibilities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The conference also welcomes proposals addressing other topics relevant to past and present developments across the Baltic region, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia<\/strong>. Comparative research focusing on the region and beyond, as well as interdisciplinary perspectives, is welcome.<\/p>\nSubmission Guidelines<\/h2>\n
The Programme Committee invites submissions for individual papers, full panels, roundtables and book presentations<\/strong>. All proposals will undergo review by the Programme Committee and Section Chairs. While individual paper proposals are welcome, full panel proposals are encouraged<\/strong>.<\/p>\nIndividual paper proposals<\/strong> should include an abstract of no more than 250 words<\/strong>, keywords, and the author\u2019s name, institutional affiliation, and contact information.<\/p>\nPanel proposals<\/strong> should include abstracts for three to four papers and an overall panel abstract, each of no more than 250 words<\/strong>, together with keywords for the panel and the names, institutional affiliations, and contact details of all paper authors. Where available, proposals should also include information about the chair and discussant; alternatively, these may be assigned later by the Programme Committee. Roundtable and book presentation proposals<\/strong> should include a session abstract of not more than 250 words and keywords, together with the names and institutional affiliations of four to five participants, including the session chair.<\/p>\nIn the formation of panels and roundtables, we are committed to promoting diversity in gender, career stage, disciplinary background, and institutional and country affiliations<\/strong>, with the aim of fostering a broad range of perspectives and enhancing scholarly dialogue.<\/p>\nImportant Dates<\/h2>\n
Deadline for proposals:<\/strong> January 10, 2027<\/p>\nNotification of acceptance:<\/strong> February 15, 2027<\/p>\nEarly bird registration deadline:<\/strong> March 31, 2027<\/strong><\/p>\nStandard registration deadline<\/strong>: April 30, 2027<\/p>\nGuest registration<\/strong> (for participants who do not appear in the programme):<\/strong> June 4, 2027<\/strong><\/p>\nConference:<\/strong> June 16\u201318, 2027<\/p>\nProposals should be submitted through the conference submission system: https:\/\/www.conftool.org\/tartuconference2027\/<\/a><\/p>\nWhen submitting a paper or panel proposal, please select the section that best fits your submission:<\/p>\n
\n- Culture, literature, language, film and media<\/li>\n
- History, memory and heritage<\/li>\n
- Migration, minorities, diaspora<\/li>\n
- Politics, international relations, governance<\/li>\n
- Sociology, anthropology, ethnography<\/li>\n
- Economics and law<\/li>\n
- Environment and technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Please see the conference website for the Rules of Participation<\/strong>, Important Dates<\/strong>, and further submission requirements.<\/p>\nRegistration and Participation<\/h2>\n
Accepted presenters, chairs, and discussants must register by April 30, 2027<\/strong>, and pay the applicable registration fee unless eligible for a fee waiver.<\/p>\nEarly bird registration fee (until March 31, 2027): \u20ac155<\/strong><\/p>\nEarly bird registration fee for<\/strong> AABS members<\/a> and scholars whose primary institutional affiliation is with the University of Tartu (until March 31, 2027): \u20ac110<\/strong><\/p>\nStandard registration fee (April 1\u201330, 2027): \u20ac175<\/strong>, including for AABS members and University of Tartu scholars.<\/p>\nStudent registration fee (during both registration periods): \u20ac80<\/strong><\/p>\nGuest registration fee (until June 4): \u20ac100<\/strong>, including coffee breaks. Guests are attendees who do not appear in the conference programme. The conference dinner may be booked separately, subject to availability.<\/p>\nThe registration fee includes coffee breaks and the conference dinner<\/strong>.<\/p>\nFor scholars whose primary institutional affiliation is with an institution in Ukraine, participation fees will be waived<\/strong>.<\/p>\nThe conference will be held in person at the University of Tartu<\/strong>. Participants are expected to attend in person, and the organisers are unable to accommodate requests for online participation or proposals for hybrid sessions.<\/p>\nAll participants should plan to make their own travel and accommodation arrangements<\/strong>. The organisers will issue visa invitation letters upon request<\/strong>.<\/p>\nThe conference language is English<\/strong>. Practical information regarding travel, accommodation, registration, and conference venues will be made available on the conference website: www.tartuconference.ut.ee<\/a>.<\/p>\n
University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Call for Papers 2027 (pdf)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n The Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS) and the University of Tartu invite proposals for the 17th Conference on Baltic Studies in Europe (CBSE)<\/strong>, held jointly with the 11th Annual Tartu Conference on East European and Eurasian Studies (TCEEES)<\/strong> on June 16\u201318, 2027, at the University of Tartu in Tartu, Estonia.<\/p>\n The Conference on Baltic Studies in Europe (CBSE) is a leading interdisciplinary forum for scholars working on Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the wider Baltic region. Held in alternating years with the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS) Conference in North America, CBSE brings together research from the humanities, social sciences, and related fields.<\/p>\n The Tartu Conference on East European and Eurasian Studies (TCEEES), held at the University of Tartu since 2016, is an established international venue for academic discussion of the cultural, social, economic, and political developments shaping Eastern Europe and Eurasia. It brings together scholars across disciplines, career stages, and countries to exchange ideas and engage in interdisciplinary dialogue.<\/p>\n The 2027 joint conference will provide a broad interdisciplinary forum for scholarship on the Baltic region, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia.<\/p>\n The contemporary world is increasingly shaped by indeterminacy<\/strong>: a condition in which established rules, expectations, trajectories, and sources of authority have become less certain. Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East have dramatically intensified this condition, exposing the fragility of security arrangements, borders, political assumptions, economic relationships, and expectations about the future. At the same time, shifting balances of power, great-power rivalry, renewed imperial ambitions, democratic contestation, technological change, economic volatility, increasing inequality, demographic pressures, and environmental challenges are transforming the contexts in which individuals and communities make decisions and understand their identities, histories, and possible futures.<\/p>\n Indeterminacy is experienced at multiple and interconnected levels. Internationally, it raises questions about the durability of institutions, alliances, legal norms, and the broader world order. States and societies face new choices concerning security, defence, borders, economic resilience, energy, demographics, migration, and political belonging. Regions and communities situated close to geopolitical or cultural boundaries may experience these pressures particularly intensely. Businesses and institutions must make strategic and investment decisions in conditions where future risks are difficult to assess. At the individual level, uncertainty about security, economic prospects, and social stability may shape decisions concerning work, education, mobility, finances, relationships, and family life.<\/p>\n Yet indeterminacy is not only a condition to which actors respond. It can also be produced, managed, represented, exploited, and contested<\/strong>. Political actors may seek to reduce uncertainty through securitisation and stronger state intervention, or deliberately cultivate ambiguity and unpredictability. Laws and institutions attempt to create stability while themselves becoming sites of contestation. Literature, art, historical memory, and cultural production provide ways of interpreting disruption, imagining alternative futures, and making sense of worlds in which familiar certainties have weakened.<\/p>\n In line with this theme, the 2027 keynote lecture<\/strong> will be delivered by Maria M\u00e4lksoo<\/strong>, Professor of International Relations at the University of Copenhagen. Prof. M\u00e4lksoo is the Principal Investigator of the European Research Council\u2019s Consolidator Grant RITUAL DETERRENCE (Ritual Action: Making Deterrence Matter in International Security and Memory Politics, 2022-2027). Her research interests cut across International Relations theory, Critical Security Studies, political anthropology and memory politics.<\/p>\n The conference invites scholars across the humanities and social sciences to examine how indeterminacy is produced, experienced, represented, governed, and transformed, with a substantive focus on the Baltic region, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia<\/strong>. We particularly welcome contributions that explore how conditions of indeterminacy reshape choices, possibilities, and identities, from the individual to the global level.<\/p>\n Possible topics include, but are not limited to:<\/p>\n The conference also welcomes proposals addressing other topics relevant to past and present developments across the Baltic region, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia<\/strong>. Comparative research focusing on the region and beyond, as well as interdisciplinary perspectives, is welcome.<\/p>\n The Programme Committee invites submissions for individual papers, full panels, roundtables and book presentations<\/strong>. All proposals will undergo review by the Programme Committee and Section Chairs. While individual paper proposals are welcome, full panel proposals are encouraged<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Individual paper proposals<\/strong> should include an abstract of no more than 250 words<\/strong>, keywords, and the author\u2019s name, institutional affiliation, and contact information.<\/p>\n Panel proposals<\/strong> should include abstracts for three to four papers and an overall panel abstract, each of no more than 250 words<\/strong>, together with keywords for the panel and the names, institutional affiliations, and contact details of all paper authors. Where available, proposals should also include information about the chair and discussant; alternatively, these may be assigned later by the Programme Committee. Roundtable and book presentation proposals<\/strong> should include a session abstract of not more than 250 words and keywords, together with the names and institutional affiliations of four to five participants, including the session chair.<\/p>\n In the formation of panels and roundtables, we are committed to promoting diversity in gender, career stage, disciplinary background, and institutional and country affiliations<\/strong>, with the aim of fostering a broad range of perspectives and enhancing scholarly dialogue.<\/p>\n Deadline for proposals:<\/strong> January 10, 2027<\/p>\n Notification of acceptance:<\/strong> February 15, 2027<\/p>\n Early bird registration deadline:<\/strong> March 31, 2027<\/strong><\/p>\n Standard registration deadline<\/strong>: April 30, 2027<\/p>\n Guest registration<\/strong> (for participants who do not appear in the programme):<\/strong> June 4, 2027<\/strong><\/p>\n Conference:<\/strong> June 16\u201318, 2027<\/p>\n Proposals should be submitted through the conference submission system: https:\/\/www.conftool.org\/tartuconference2027\/<\/a><\/p>\n When submitting a paper or panel proposal, please select the section that best fits your submission:<\/p>\n Please see the conference website for the Rules of Participation<\/strong>, Important Dates<\/strong>, and further submission requirements.<\/p>\n Accepted presenters, chairs, and discussants must register by April 30, 2027<\/strong>, and pay the applicable registration fee unless eligible for a fee waiver.<\/p>\n Early bird registration fee (until March 31, 2027): \u20ac155<\/strong><\/p>\n Early bird registration fee for<\/strong> AABS members<\/a> and scholars whose primary institutional affiliation is with the University of Tartu (until March 31, 2027): \u20ac110<\/strong><\/p>\n Standard registration fee (April 1\u201330, 2027): \u20ac175<\/strong>, including for AABS members and University of Tartu scholars.<\/p>\n Student registration fee (during both registration periods): \u20ac80<\/strong><\/p>\n Guest registration fee (until June 4): \u20ac100<\/strong>, including coffee breaks. Guests are attendees who do not appear in the conference programme. The conference dinner may be booked separately, subject to availability.<\/p>\n The registration fee includes coffee breaks and the conference dinner<\/strong>.<\/p>\n For scholars whose primary institutional affiliation is with an institution in Ukraine, participation fees will be waived<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The conference will be held in person at the University of Tartu<\/strong>. Participants are expected to attend in person, and the organisers are unable to accommodate requests for online participation or proposals for hybrid sessions.<\/p>\n All participants should plan to make their own travel and accommodation arrangements<\/strong>. The organisers will issue visa invitation letters upon request<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The conference language is English<\/strong>. Practical information regarding travel, accommodation, registration, and conference venues will be made available on the conference website: www.tartuconference.ut.ee<\/a>.<\/p>\nConference Theme: Indeterminacy and Its Consequences<\/h2>\n
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Submission Guidelines<\/h2>\n
Important Dates<\/h2>\n
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Registration and Participation<\/h2>\n
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