Editors Note: This is an archived blog post from 17/5/2015.

‘Transnational Cultures of Petitioning from 1750 to the present’

29th and 30th June (Monday and Tuesday)

Call for Papers – abstracts due May 25

Petitioning was and is a universal phenomenon that transcends place and time. In pre-democratic periods it was frequently the most accessible form of popular political participation, but it has long been neglected by historians and political scientists pre-occupied with voting, elections and parties. The recent rise of e-petitioning and the crisis of traditional representative democracy across the Western world makes the study of alternative forms of popular representation and participation not only timely but urgent. This two day symposium brings together historians and social scientists to highlight future directions for research in this exciting emerging field.

The symposium will identify key questions for the study of petitioning in North America, Britain  and Europe from 1750 to the present, specifically focusing on the changing relationship between petitioning and participation, representation and democratic development.  In particular, the symposium seeks to promote the study of the transnational and comparative study of petitioning and place national and local studies in global perspective.

We welcome papers that address these broad themes from historians and social and political scientists.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

• The relationship between petitioning and representation, participation and democracy/ democratization
• E-petitioning and contemporary petitioning
• Comparative studies
• Cultural and political transfer of petitioning cultures
• Different methodological approaches to the study of petitioning
• The export and import of petitioning in national political constitutions
• Petitions to international organisations and the role of petitioning in supranational systems
• Imperial petitions/ petitions within empiresDr. Benoît Agnès (Paris/Sorbonne)Prof. Malcolm Chase (Leeds)Prof. James Jaffe (Wisconsin-Whitewater)Dr. Henry Miller (Manchester)Dr. Diego Palacios Cerezales (Stirling)Email abstracts of no more than 250 words to Dr. Henry Miller, henry.miller@manchester.ac.uk by 25 May 2015
• The organisers gratefully acknowledge the support of the Social History Society, the Manchester Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence and the History division, University of Manchester. This event is organised by the Cultures of Politics research group, History division, School of Arts, Languages and Cultures.
• Prof. David Zaret (Indiana)
• Dr. Maartje Janse (Leiden)
• Prof. Mark Knights (Warwick)
• Dr. Richard Huzzey (Liverpool)
• Prof. Daniel Carpenter (Harvard)
• Confirmed participants: